wp cache get

Overview

Retrieve a single cached value by its key and group. Use this to inspect what WordPress has stored in memory for a specific cache entry — invaluable for debugging stale data, plugin caching behavior, and verifying cache warming.

What It Does

wp cache get calls wp_cache_get() and outputs the stored value. If the key doesn't exist, it returns a "no cache key found" error.

Syntax

wp cache get <key> [<group>]

Arguments

Argument	Description
KEY	The cache key to retrieve
GROUP	Cache group (namespace) — optional, defaults to default

Basic Usage

Get a cached option value

wp cache get alloptions options

Get from the default group

wp cache get my_custom_cache_key

Get a post cache entry

wp cache get 42 posts

Common Cache Groups

Group	Holds
options	WordPress options (alloptions, etc.)
posts	Post objects by ID
users	User objects
terms	Term objects
transient	Transient values
site-transient	Network-wide transients
counts	Comment/post counts

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Inspect if a plugin's cache entry exists

wp cache get "woocommerce_product_count" "counts"

Scenario 2: Debug stale options

# Check if alloptions is cached
wp cache get alloptions options
# If value shows old URL → cache is stale → flush
wp cache flush

Scenario 3: Verify a custom cache key after setting

wp cache set my_key "hello world" default 3600
wp cache get my_key default
# Output: hello world

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Error: Object cache returned a non-boolean value	Cache miss	Key doesn't exist yet — check if it was set
Output is empty	Cache expired or no persistent backend	Check wp cache type
Returns stale data	Cache not flushed after update	Run wp cache flush

Quick Reference

wp cache get <key>                   # Default group
wp cache get <key> <group>           # Specific group
wp cache get alloptions options      # Inspect options cache

Next Steps

• wp cache set — write a value to the cache.
• wp cache delete — remove a specific cache key.
• wp cache flush — clear everything.