Force a 404 when no sitemap provider is found

[romainmrhenry]

Currently WordPress does not force a 404 when no sitemap provider is found and instead continues down the regular template hierarchy.

This can be tested with:

• /wp-sitemap-foo-1.xml
• ?sitemap=foo

Where foo is not a registered provider.

I would expect a 404 when the url matches the sitemap url patterns but no provider is gound.

Trac ticket: [](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/62777#ticket)

[samiamnot]

See the related #61293.

[thabotswana]

Reproduction Report

I'm currently unable to reproduce the problem.

Environment

• OS: macOS 15.2
• Web Server: PHP.wasm
• PHP: 7.4.31-dev
• WordPress: 6.8-alpha-20250103.134745
• Browser: Firefox 133.0.3
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five
• Active Plugins: None activated

Actual Results

• ❌ Error condition does not occur (unexpected).

[romainmrhenry]

@thabotswana That is unexpected :)

Did you see this test? ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/8085/files#diff-6a57f412101368a64c09359f72a1007cc7b027db986f454a4666648b801b9f14

It fails when removing the patch.

How are permalinks configured during your manual test?

[thabotswana]

Replying to romainmrhenry:

@thabotswana That is unexpected :)

Did you see this test? ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/8085/files#diff-6a57f412101368a64c09359f72a1007cc7b027db986f454a4666648b801b9f14

It fails when removing the patch.

How are permalinks configured during your manual test?

The permalink structure is set to Day and name

https://playground.wordpress.net/scope:calm-chic-park/2025/01/08/sample-post/

Maybe the difference is I'm using a WordPress Playground instance? 🤷🏾‍♂️

[tremidkhar]

Reproduction Report

Description

During the Test Team triage, we observed that the current behavior involves navigating through the template hierarchy when no sitemap provider matches the expected behavior, forcing a 404 error prematurely could lead to unexpected results. Further investigation may be required to fully understand the issue and determine if any adjustments are needed.

Environment

• WordPress: 6.7.1
• PHP: 8.3.6
• Server: Apache/2.4.62 (Win64) OpenSSL/3.1.6 PHP/8.3.6 mod_fcgid/2.3.10-dev
• Database: mysqli (Server: 11.1.2-MariaDB / Client: mysqlnd 8.3.6)
• Browser: Chrome 131.0.0.0
• OS: Windows 10/11

Actual Results

1. A 404 page is displayed when no sitemap provider is found.

[romainmrhenry]

Replying to tremidkhar:

Reproduction Report

Description

During the Test Team triage, we observed that the current behavior involves navigating through the template hierarchy when no sitemap provider matches the expected behavior, forcing a 404 error prematurely could lead to unexpected results. Further investigation may be required to fully understand the issue and determine if any adjustments are needed.

Environment

• WordPress: 6.7.1
• PHP: 8.3.6
• Server: Apache/2.4.62 (Win64) OpenSSL/3.1.6 PHP/8.3.6 mod_fcgid/2.3.10-dev
• Database: mysqli (Server: 11.1.2-MariaDB / Client: mysqlnd 8.3.6)
• Browser: Chrome 131.0.0.0
• OS: Windows 10/11

Actual Results

1. A 404 page is displayed when no sitemap provider is found.

The same could be said for the other conditions where a 404 is already being forced in the render_sitemaps function.
Only in this very specific scenario is the template hierarchy used.
This behavior has no test coverage, no explaining comment and no discussion as far as I can tell.

There also are better escape hatches to disable or manipulate the rendering of sitemaps.

[wildworks]

I checked this ticket in preparation for the 6.9 dry run.

I would like to remove the version number, as this issue is not the first to occur, at least not in unreleased development versions.

[ozgursar]

Test Report

Description

This report validates whether the indicated patch works as expected.

Patch tested: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/8085

Environment

• WordPress: 7.0-alpha-61215-src
• PHP: 8.2.29
• Server: nginx/1.29.4
• Database: mysqli (Server: 8.4.7 / Client: mysqlnd 8.2.29)
• Browser: Chrome 143.0.0.0
• OS: macOS
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five 1.4
• MU Plugins: None activated
• Plugins:
  • Classic Editor 1.6.7
  • Test Reports 1.2.1

Steps to Reproduce

1. Settings > Permalinks > Choose Post name and Save Changes
2. Visit /wp-sitemap-foo-1.xml (E.g.: ​http://localhost:8889/wp-sitemap-foo-1.xml)
3. 404 page is not displayed
4. Repeat the same for Plain to test /?sitemap=foo

Actual Results

1. ✅ Issue resolved with patch for /wp-sitemap-foo-1.xml
2. ​http://localhost:8889/wp-sitemap-foo-1.xml displays 404 page (When permalink set to Post Name)
3. ​http://localhost:8889/?sitemap=foo displays 404 page (When permalink set to Plain)

Additional Notes

• I tested both URLs with Permalinks set to Plain and Post name.
• I didn't test other Permalink scenarios.

Supplemental Artifacts

Before	After