WordPress API call returns HTML instead of expected data - why?

Other Questions API
1

I’m working on a WooCommerce plugin and I’m stuck. I’ve got a function that’s supposed to make an API call using jQuery AJAX when a user clicks a button. But something’s not right. Instead of getting the data I need, I’m getting HTML back.

Here’s a simplified version of what I’m trying to do:

function fetch_data() {
    $endpoint = 'https://example.com/api';
    $user = 'myuser';
    $pass = 'mypass';

    $args = array(
        'headers' => array('Content-Type' => 'application/json'),
        'body' => json_encode(array('user' => $user, 'pass' => $pass))
    );

    $response = wp_remote_post($endpoint, $args);

    if (!is_wp_error($response) && $response['response']['code'] == 200) {
        $data = json_decode($response['body'], true);
        return isset($data['result']) ? $data['result'] : false;
    }
    return false;
}

And here’s the JavaScript:

jQuery('#getData').on('click', function() {
    jQuery.ajax({
        url: ajaxurl,
        type: 'POST',
        data: {action: 'fetch_data'},
        success: function(response) {
            console.log(response);
        },
        error: function(xhr, status, error) {
            console.error('Error:', error);
        }
    });
});

Any ideas what could be causing this? I’m pretty sure my API credentials are correct. Could it be a WordPress configuration issue?

2

I’ve encountered this issue before, and it can be frustrating. From what you’ve described, it sounds like your AJAX request might be hitting a WordPress hook instead of your intended endpoint. This often happens when the ‘ajaxurl’ isn’t properly defined or when there’s a conflict with WordPress’s built-in AJAX handling.

Here’s what I’d suggest:

First, make sure ‘ajaxurl’ is correctly defined in your script. You can do this by adding var ajaxurl = '<?php echo admin_url('admin-ajax.php'); ?>'; to your JavaScript file or inline script.

Next, check if you’ve properly hooked your PHP function to handle the AJAX request. You should have something like this in your plugin:

add_action('wp_ajax_fetch_data', 'fetch_data');
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_fetch_data', 'fetch_data');

Also, ensure your function is actually returning the data, not just processing it. Try adding wp_send_json($data); at the end of your PHP function to properly format the response.

If none of these solve the issue, it might be worth checking your server’s error logs or enabling WP_DEBUG to get more information about what’s happening behind the scenes.

3

Have you considered that the issue might be with how WordPress is handling the AJAX request? Sometimes, if the server isn’t configured correctly or there’s a plugin conflict, WordPress can return the entire page instead of just the AJAX response.

One thing you could try is to add a die() or exit() statement at the end of your fetch_data() function. This ensures that WordPress doesn’t continue processing and potentially output unwanted HTML. Like this:

wp_send_json($data);
die();

Also, double-check that your endpoint URL is correct and accessible. You might want to test it directly with a tool like Postman to ensure it’s returning the expected JSON data.

If these don’t work, you might need to dig deeper into your server configuration or check for any plugins that could be interfering with AJAX requests.

4

yo, i had a similar issue. check ur php.ini file. sometimes the output_buffering setting can mess with ajax responses. also, try adding ‘dataType: ‘json’’ to ur ajax call. it forces jquery to expect json. if that dont work, maybe ur api is acutally returning html? double check the endpoint url n credentials.