WooCommerce Catalog & Products

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Web-search site:developer.woocommerce.com products for product documentation
2. Fetch https://woocommerce.github.io/code-reference/ for class reference
3. Web-search woocommerce custom product type implementation for custom product types

Product Types

Built-In Types

Type	Class	Description
Simple	WC_Product_Simple	Single product, no options
Variable	WC_Product_Variable	Product with variations (size, color)
Variation	WC_Product_Variation	Individual variation of a variable product
Grouped	WC_Product_Grouped	Collection of related simple products
External/Affiliate	WC_Product_External	Linked to external URL

Virtual & Downloadable Flags

Any product can be marked:

• Virtual — no shipping (services, memberships)
• Downloadable — digital delivery (files, licenses)

Custom Product Types

1. Extend WC_Product (or WC_Product_Simple)
2. Register the type via woocommerce_product_type_selector filter
3. Register the class via woocommerce_product_class filter or woocommerce_product_type_{type} class name filter

Product Factory

WC_Product_Factory resolves a product ID to the correct class:

• wc_get_product( $id ) — returns the correct WC_Product_* subclass
• Uses woocommerce_product_class filter to allow custom type resolution

Product CRUD

Creating Products

$product = new WC_Product_Simple();
$product->set_name( 'My Product' );
$product->set_regular_price( '29.99' );
$product->set_status( 'publish' );
$product->save();

Querying Products

wc_get_products( $args ) — primary query method:

• type — product type(s)
• status — post status
• sku — SKU lookup
• category — category slug(s)
• tag — tag slug(s)
• limit, page, offset — pagination
• orderby, order — sorting
• meta_key, meta_value — meta queries
• return — 'objects' (default) or 'ids'

WC_Product_Query

Object-oriented query builder — same as wc_get_products() but chainable.

Categories & Taxonomies

Product Categories

Taxonomy: product_cat (hierarchical)

• wp_set_object_terms( $product_id, $term_ids, 'product_cat' )
• get_the_terms( $product_id, 'product_cat' )
• Or CRUD: $product->set_category_ids( [ 12, 15 ] )

Product Tags

Taxonomy: product_tag (non-hierarchical)

• $product->set_tag_ids( [ 5, 8 ] )

Product Type

Taxonomy: product_type — internal, determines the product class.

Custom Taxonomies

Register with register_taxonomy() associated with product post type. Set show_in_rest => true for block editor and API support.

Product Visibility

Catalog Visibility

$product->set_catalog_visibility( $visibility ):

• visible — shop and search
• catalog — shop only
• search — search only
• hidden — not visible (accessible via direct URL)

Stock Status

$product->set_stock_status( $status ):

• instock, outofstock, onbackorder
• Controls visibility when "Hide out of stock" setting is enabled

Product Images

• $product->set_image_id( $attachment_id ) — featured image
• $product->set_gallery_image_ids( [ $id1, $id2 ] ) — gallery

Variable Products & Variations

Variable Product Setup

1. Create WC_Product_Variable
2. Define attributes with set_attributes() (mark as variation = true)
3. Create WC_Product_Variation for each combination
4. Each variation has its own price, SKU, stock, image

Variation Attributes

Each variation specifies attribute values:

• $variation->set_attributes( [ 'pa_color' => 'red', 'pa_size' => 'large' ] )
• Empty value = "Any" (matches all)

Related Products & Upsells

• $product->set_upsell_ids( $ids ) — upsell products
• $product->set_cross_sell_ids( $ids ) — cross-sells (shown in cart)
• Related products auto-calculated from shared categories/tags (filterable via woocommerce_related_products filter)

Best Practices

• Use wc_get_product() to load products — never new WC_Product( $id ) directly
• Use wc_get_products() for queries — not WP_Query with post_type => 'product'
• Use CRUD methods for all property access
• Declare product type support: show_if_simple, show_if_variable classes on admin tabs
• Cache product data when iterating over large collections
• Use wc_clean() to sanitize product input data

Fetch the WooCommerce product documentation and code reference for exact method signatures, query parameters, and product type registration patterns before implementing.