[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #48478: Allow omitting meta keys from the REST API response if they do not exist

[WordPress Trac]

#48478: Allow omitting meta keys from the REST API response if they do not exist
--------------------------------+-----------------------------
 Reporter:  TimothyBlynJacobs   |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement         |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal              |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Options, Meta APIs  |    Version:  4.7
 Severity:  normal              |   Keywords:  needs-patch
  Focuses:  rest-api            |
--------------------------------+-----------------------------
 Currently, the REST API will include all `show_in_rest` registered meta
 keys in a response, even if that meta key has no value. When the meta key
 has no value, either the empty value or a custom default in
 `show_in_rest.schema.default` is used.

 If an API client PUTs back this response, the meta key will be created
 with this default value. This may be undesirable if a user hasn't actually
 interacted with that meta key.

 This could be addressed by allowing the user to specify that the meta key
 should not be included in the REST API if it does not exist. For instance,
 `show_in_rest.omit_if_not_exists`.

 Related Gutenberg ticket:
 https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/17864

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/48478>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform