How to Get All Shipping Methods Calculated Using the WooCommerce API
As a WordPress developer, you may often need to retrieve the shipping methods calculated for a WooCommerce order programmatically. This could be for a variety of reasons, such as building a custom shipping calculator, integrating with a third-party shipping service, or analyzing shipping data.
However, when you try to do this using the WooCommerce API, you may find that there is no straightforward way to get this information. The default WooCommerce API response for an order only includes the chosen shipping method, not all the calculated options.
In this article, we'll dive deep into the WooCommerce API and show you how to retrieve all the shipping methods calculated for a WooCommerce order. We'll provide you with real-world code examples and step-by-step instructions to help you implement this functionality in your own projects.
Understanding the WooCommerce Shipping API
The WooCommerce API provides a way to interact with your WooCommerce store programmatically. When it comes to shipping, the API exposes several endpoints that allow you to retrieve and manage shipping-related data.
The relevant endpoint for our use case is the "Orders" endpoint, which allows you to retrieve information about orders placed in your store. When you make a request to this endpoint and retrieve an order, you'll see that the response includes a "shipping_lines" field, which contains information about the chosen shipping method.
However, as mentioned earlier, this "shipping_lines" field only includes the shipping method that was actually selected by the customer, not all the calculated options.
To get all the calculated shipping methods, we need to dig deeper into the WooCommerce API and leverage some additional functionality.
Retrieving All Shipping Methods for an Order
To retrieve all the shipping methods calculated for a WooCommerce order, we'll need to make use of the "Calculate order taxes and shipping" endpoint provided by the WooCommerce API.
This endpoint allows you to simulate the order calculation process, which will return all the available shipping methods and their corresponding rates.
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to do this:
-
Prepare the order data: First, you'll need to gather the necessary information about the order, such as the customer's address, the items in the cart, and any other relevant data. You can either use an existing order or create a new order object programmatically.
-
Make a request to the "Calculate order taxes and shipping" endpoint: Using the order data you've prepared, make a POST request to the "Calculate order taxes and shipping" endpoint. This endpoint is located at https://example.com/wp-json/wc/v3/orders/calculate
.
Here's an example of how you might make this request using the popular Guzzle HTTP client in PHP:
$client = new \Guzzle\Http\Client();
$response = $client->post('https://example.com/wp-json/wc/v3/orders/calculate', [
'body' => json_encode($orderData),
'headers' => [
'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
'Authorization' => 'Basic ' . base64_encode('consumer_key:consumer_secret')
]
]);
- Inspect the response: The response from the "Calculate order taxes and shipping" endpoint will include a "shipping_rates" field, which contains an array of all the calculated shipping methods and their corresponding rates.
Here's an example of what the response might look like:
{
"shipping_rates": [
{
"rate_id": "flat_rate:1",
"name": "Flat Rate",
"total": "10.00"
},
{
"rate_id": "free_shipping:1",
"name": "Free Shipping",
"total": "0.00"
},
{
"rate_id": "local_pickup:1",
"name": "Local Pickup",
"total": "5.00"
}
]
}
As you can see, this response includes all three shipping methods that were calculated for the order, along with their corresponding rates.
- Process the shipping methods: Once you have the "shipping_rates" data, you can process it as needed for your specific use case. For example, you could display the available shipping options to the customer, or use the information to integrate with a third-party shipping service.
Real-world Example: Building a Custom Shipping Calculator
Now that you understand the process of retrieving all the shipping methods calculated for a WooCommerce order, let's look at a real-world example of how you might use this functionality.
Imagine you're building a custom shipping calculator for your WooCommerce store. This calculator would allow customers to enter their shipping details and see all the available shipping options and rates before they complete their order.
Here's how you might implement this using the WooCommerce API:
- Create a custom endpoint: First, you'll need to create a custom endpoint in your WordPress theme or plugin that will handle the shipping calculation request. This endpoint should accept the necessary order data (e.g., customer address, cart contents) and return the calculated shipping methods.
Here's an example of how you might implement this in PHP:
add_action('rest_api_init', function () {
register_rest_route('custom/v1', '/shipping-calculator', [
'methods' => 'POST',
'callback' => 'custom_shipping_calculator',
'permission_callback' => '__return_true',
]);
});
function custom_shipping_calculator($request) {
$orderData = $request->get_json_params();
$client = new \Guzzle\Http\Client();
$response = $client->post('https://example.com/wp-json/wc/v3/orders/calculate', [
'body' => json_encode($orderData),
'headers' => [
'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
'Authorization' => 'Basic ' . base64_encode('consumer_key:consumer_secret')
]
]);
$data = json_decode($response->getBody(), true);
return rest_ensure_response($data);
}
- Integrate the custom endpoint into your frontend: Now that you have the custom endpoint set up, you can integrate it into your frontend application. This might involve creating a form where the customer can enter their shipping details, making an AJAX request to the custom endpoint, and then displaying the calculated shipping methods and rates to the customer.
Here's an example of how you might implement this in JavaScript using the Fetch API:
// Get the shipping details from the form
const shippingDetails = {
country: 'US',
state: 'CA',
city: 'San Francisco',
postcode: '94103'
};
// Make the request to the custom endpoint
fetch('/wp-json/custom/v1/shipping-calculator', {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
},
body: JSON.stringify(shippingDetails)
})
.then(response => response.json())
.then(data => {
// Display the calculated shipping methods and rates
const shippingRates = data.shipping_rates;
shippingRates.forEach(rate => {
console.log(`${rate.name}: ${rate.total}`);
});
})
.catch(error => console.error(error));
By implementing this custom shipping calculator, you can provide your customers with a more transparent and flexible shipping experience, allowing them to see all the available shipping options and make an informed decision before completing their order.
Conclusion
Retrieving all the shipping methods calculated for a WooCommerce order can be a tricky task, as the default WooCommerce API response only includes the chosen shipping method. However, by leveraging the "Calculate order taxes and shipping" endpoint, you can get a complete list of all the available shipping options and their corresponding rates.
In this article, we've provided you with a step-by-step guide on how to do this, along with real-world code examples. By implementing this functionality in your own projects, you can build more advanced and user-friendly shipping experiences for your WooCommerce customers.
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