WooCommerce 10.5 is officially pulling the plug on the AccessiblePrivateMethods trait. If you have been following the core development cycles, you know this was deprecated in version 9.6, but for many plugin authors, this is the moment where legacy code finally meets its breaking point.
The AccessiblePrivateMethods trait was originally introduced as a workaround to allow private methods to be used as WordPress hooks. However, it lived in an internal namespace, signaling that it was never meant for long-term third-party use. Continuing to use it now is a major liability for your store stability.
The Architectural Shift in WooCommerce 10.5
The core team has decided to simplify. Instead of using a trait to bypass PHP’s visibility constraints, the new standard is to make hook-target methods public but mark them with an @internal PHPDoc annotation. This approach is cleaner, more performant, and follows modern PHP development standards for the WooCommerce ecosystem.
If you have extensions relying on this trait, they will throw a fatal error when WooCommerce 10.5 is activated. This can lead to a white screen of death during a routine update, which is why immediate refactoring is essential for all developers and store owners.
How to Refactor Your Code
The fix is straightforward. You need to remove the usage of the trait and update your method visibility to public. This ensures compatibility with the latest WooCommerce standards while still indicating to other developers that the method is not part of the public API.
<?php
// Refactored Approach for WooCommerce 10.5
class My_New_Plugin {
public function __construct() {
add_action( 'init', array( $this, 'my_internal_logic' ) );
}
/**
* @internal This method is not part of the public API and may change.
*/
public function my_internal_logic() {
// Your logic here
}
}Checking for Impact
Search your plugins directory for the trait usage. If you find any hits, refactor before the 10.5 release. Technical debt always comes due, and this change ensures a more stable internal architecture for WooCommerce. By following the official developer guidelines, you can ensure your store remains secure and functional through future updates.
