helsingborg-stad / wpmu-acf-fatal-error-when-used-too-early

0.2.0 2026-09-18 13:33 UTC

Requires

• php: >=7.4
• composer/installers: ^2.3

MIT

• Sebastian Thulin

Published on Packagist.org on 2026-09-18 13:33 UTC

README

An MU plugin that makes early Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) access fail loudly.

When ACF triggers its acf/get_invalid_field_value hook before WordPress has run the init action, this plugin inspects the call stack. If the invalid value originated from get_field(), it throws an exception containing the function name, file, and line number.

Requirements

• WordPress with must-use plugins enabled.
• Advanced Custom Fields (ACF).

Installation

1. Place wpmu-acf-fatal-error-when-used-too-early.php in the WordPress wp-content/mu-plugins/ directory.
2. Reproduce the request that accesses an ACF field too early.
3. Use the exception's file and line number to move the get_field() call to init or a later WordPress hook.

MU plugins load automatically and cannot be activated or deactivated from the WordPress administration interface.

Scope

The plugin only raises an exception when all of the following are true:

• WordPress has not yet completed the init action.
• ACF emits acf/get_invalid_field_value.
• The call stack contains get_field().

It does not affect valid ACF field access or field access that happens after init.

Removing the Plugin

Remove wpmu-acf-fatal-error-when-used-too-early.php from wp-content/mu-plugins/ to stop this diagnostic behavior.