Deprecate WP_Http_Curl and WP_Http_Streams classes

[SergeyBiryukov]

Background: #33055, #43414, #52622.

Since the Requests library was introduced in [37428], the WP_Http_Curl and WP_Http_Streams classes are no longer used by WordPress core.

The only two methods referencing these classes are:

• WP_Http::_get_first_available_transport()
• WP_Http::_dispatch_request()

::_dispatch_request() was marked as deprecated in favor of WP_Http::request() in [42766] & [44346] / #43414.

To avoid confusion:

• WP_Http_Curl and WP_Http_Streams classes should be marked as deprecated in favor of WP_Http.
• WP_Http::_get_first_available_transport() should be marked as deprecated too, its purpose is now served by \WpOrg\Requests\Requests::get_transport_class().

Deprecating WP_Http_Curl and WP_Http_Streams classes for 6.4

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58705

LGTM 👍 Thank you @Rajinsharwar for your contribution!

[hellofromTonya]

The patch ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/5002 LGTM and seems to address each of the TODOs @SergeyBiryukov listed in the description.

Marking for commit.

[desrosj]

I think this looks good to commit as well.

Before I land it, I wanted to call out that there are ​77 instances of WP_Http_Stream and ​215 instances of WP_Http_Curl.

I don't think any of these are particularly concerning. But this definitely should be mentioned in a miscellaneous changes developer note.

[desrosj]

In 56655:

HTTP API: Deprecate WP_Http_Curl and WP_Http_Streams classes.

These classes have not been used in WordPress Core since the Requests library was introduced in [37428]. These classes are now deprecated in favor of WP_Http.

There are two remaining spots in Core that reference these classes:

• The WP_Http::_dispatch_request() method, which was marked as deprecated in favor of WP_Http::request() in [42766]/[44346].
• The WP_Http::_get_first_available_transport().

That latter is now also marked as deprecated in favor of \WpOrg\Requests\Requests::get_transport_class().

Props SergeyBiryukov, rajinsharwar, hellofromTonya.
Fixes #58705.

[desrosj]

Reopening this to consider one final adjustment related to this.

The http_api_transports filter is within WP_Http::_get_first_available_transport() and is only used within that method (nowhere else in Core).

I think it's worth also deprecating this filter.

Merged in https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/56655

[hellofromTonya]

Replying to desrosj:

Reopening this to consider one final adjustment related to this.

The http_api_transports filter is within WP_Http::_get_first_available_transport() and is only used within that method (nowhere else in Core).

I think it's worth also deprecating this filter.

As the public method is now deprecated, yes, I agree with you @desrosj that it makes sense to also deprecate the filter.

Here's a search query of the plugins using that filter ​https://wpdirectory.net/search/01HB6Y1MTDKR9BTT9JAP3XD3H1.

[SergeyBiryukov]

In 56723:

HTTP API: Deprecate the http_api_transports filter.

The filter is only used within the WP_Http::_get_first_available_transport() method, which has been marked as deprecated in favor of \WpOrg\Requests\Requests::get_transport_class().

Follow-up to [56655]

Props desrosj, hellofromTonya.
Fixes #58705.

[webcommsat]

@desrosj from reading this ticket, is this one planned to have a dev note in a cluster of tickets or rather than a single dev note?
Update: comment in the ticket for a call out in Miscellaneous Dev Note.

My understanding of this is that this fix removes references to WP_Http_Curl and WP_Http_Streams classes which are no longer used by WordPress core since the Requests library was introduced in [37428].

Documentation [tracker]​https://github.com/WordPress/Documentation-Issue-Tracker/issues/1165. Thanks.

[webcommsat]

This has been added to the Field Guide as single bullet point on deprecating based on the commit message. We will keep the dev note as needed, and be grateful if when ready for review it can be added to the tracker link above. The field guide can be updated post-publication with references to this ticket too. Thanks.