WordPress · westonruter · May 18, 2026 · May 8, 2026 · May 8, 2026 · May 8, 2026
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        php: ['8.1', '8.0', '7.4', '7.3', '7.2']
+        php: ['8.1', '8.0', '7.4']
         wp: ['latest']
         coverage: [false]
         include:

diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ Every file, function, class, method constant, and global variable must have an a
 
 Follow coding conventions in WordPress core. Namespaces are generally not used, as they are not normally used in WordPress core code. Procedural programming patterns are favored where classes play a supporting role, rather than everything being written in OOP.
 
-Whenever possible, the most specific PHP type hints should be used, when backward compatible with PHP 7.2, the minimum version of PHP supported by WordPress and this repository. When native PHP type cannot be used, PHPStan's [PHPDoc Types](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types) should be used, including not only the basic types but also subtypes like `non-empty-string`, [integer ranges](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types#integer-ranges), [general arrays](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types#general-arrays), and especially [array shapes](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types#array-shapes). The types should comply with PHPStan's level 10. The one exception for using PHP types is whenever a function is used as a filter. Since plugins can supply any value at all when filtering, use the expected type with a union to `mixed`. The first statement in the function in this case must always check the type, and if it is not the expected type, override it to be so.
+Whenever possible, the most specific PHP type hints should be used, when backward compatible with PHP 7.4, the minimum version of PHP supported by WordPress and this repository. When native PHP type cannot be used, PHPStan's [PHPDoc Types](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types) should be used, including not only the basic types but also subtypes like `non-empty-string`, [integer ranges](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types#integer-ranges), [general arrays](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types#general-arrays), and especially [array shapes](https://phpstan.org/writing-php-code/phpdoc-types#array-shapes). The types should comply with PHPStan's level 10. The one exception for using PHP types is whenever a function is used as a filter. Since plugins can supply any value at all when filtering, use the expected type with a union to `mixed`. The first statement in the function in this case must always check the type, and if it is not the expected type, override it to be so.
 
 Never render HTML `SCRIPT` tags directly in HTML. Always use the relevant APIs in WordPress for adding scripts, including `wp_enqueue_script()`, `wp_add_inline_script()`, `wp_localize_script()`, `wp_print_script_tag()`, `wp_print_inline_script_tag()`, `wp_enqueue_script_module()` among others. Favor modules over classic scripts.
 

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Thank you for your interest in contributing to the Performance Lab plugin! Compl
 In general, all code must follow the [WordPress Coding Standards and best practices](https://developer.wordpress.org/coding-standards/). All code in the Performance Lab plugin must follow these requirements:
 
 - **WordPress**: As of Performance Lab v3.3.0, released July 15, 2024, the plugin's minimum WordPress version requirement is 6.5.
-- **PHP**: Always match the latest WordPress version. The minimum required version right now is 7.2.
+- **PHP**: Always match the latest WordPress version. The minimum required version right now is 7.4.
 
 ## Guidelines
 

diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 		"issues": "https://github.com/WordPress/performance/issues"
 	},
 	"require": {
-		"php": "^7.2 || ^8.0",
+		"php": "^7.4 || ^8.0",
 		"ext-json": "*"
 	},
 	"suggest": {
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 			"composer/installers": true
 		},
 		"platform": {
-			"php": "7.2"
+			"php": "7.4"
 		}
 	},
 	"scripts": {

diff --git a/composer.lock b/composer.lock
diff --git a/phpstan.neon.dist b/phpstan.neon.dist
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ parameters:
 	scanDirectories:
 		- vendor/wp-phpunit/wp-phpunit/
 	scanFiles:
-		# These are needed due config.platform.php being 7.2 in composer.json and wordpress-stubs not including polyfills.
+		# These are needed due config.platform.php being 7.4 in composer.json and wordpress-stubs not including polyfills.
 		# See <https://github.com/php-stubs/wordpress-stubs/issues/100>.
 		- vendor/phpstan/php-8-stubs/stubs/ext/standard/str_contains.php
 		- vendor/phpstan/php-8-stubs/stubs/ext/standard/str_starts_with.php

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Plugin URI: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/tree/trunk/plugins/auto-sizes
  * Description: Improves responsive images with better sizes calculations and auto-sizes for lazy-loaded images.
  * Requires at least: 6.8
- * Requires PHP: 7.2
+ * Requires PHP: 7.4
  * Version: 1.7.0
  * Author: WordPress Performance Team
  * Author URI: https://make.wordpress.org/performance/

diff --git a/plugins/dominant-color-images/load.php b/plugins/dominant-color-images/load.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Plugin URI: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/tree/trunk/plugins/dominant-color-images
  * Description: Displays placeholders based on an image's dominant color while the image is loading.
  * Requires at least: 6.6
- * Requires PHP: 7.2
+ * Requires PHP: 7.4
  * Version: 1.2.1
  * Author: WordPress Performance Team
  * Author URI: https://make.wordpress.org/performance/

@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ final class Embed_Optimizer_Tag_Visitor {
 	 *
 	 * @var bool
 	 */
-	private $added_lazy_script = false;
+	private bool $added_lazy_script = false;
 
 	/**
 	 * Determines whether the processor is currently at a figure.wp-block-embed tag.

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Plugin URI: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/tree/trunk/plugins/embed-optimizer
  * Description: Optimizes the performance of embeds through lazy-loading, adding dns-prefetch links, and reserving space to reduce layout shifts.
  * Requires at least: 6.6
- * Requires PHP: 7.2
+ * Requires PHP: 7.4
  * Version: 1.0.0-beta5
  * Author: WordPress Performance Team
  * Author URI: https://make.wordpress.org/performance/

@@ -43,15 +43,17 @@ final class Image_Prioritizer_Background_Image_Styled_Tag_Visitor extends Image_
 	 * @since 0.3.0
 	 * @var bool
 	 */
-	private $added_lazy_assets = false;
+	private bool $added_lazy_assets = false;
 
 	/**
 	 * Tuples of URL Metric group and the common LCP element external background image.
 	 *
+	 * Lazily populated in {@see self::maybe_preload_external_lcp_background_image()}.
+	 *
 	 * @since 0.3.0
-	 * @var array<array{OD_URL_Metric_Group, LcpElementExternalBackgroundImage}>
+	 * @var array<array{OD_URL_Metric_Group, LcpElementExternalBackgroundImage}>|null
 	 */
-	private $group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images;
+	private ?array $group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images = null;
 
 	/**
 	 * Visits a tag.
@@ -146,7 +148,7 @@ private function maybe_preload_external_lcp_background_image( OD_Tag_Visitor_Con
 		// Gather the tuples of URL Metric group and the common LCP element external background image.
 		// Note the groups of URL Metrics do not change across invocations, we just need to compute this once for all.
 		// TODO: Instead of populating this here, it could be done once per invocation during the od_start_template_optimization action since the page's OD_URL_Metric_Group_Collection is available there.
-		if ( ! is_array( $this->group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images ) ) {
+		if ( null === $this->group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images ) {
 			$this->group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images = array();
 			foreach ( $context->url_metric_group_collection as $group ) {
 				$common = $this->get_common_lcp_element_external_background_image( $group );
@@ -156,15 +158,17 @@ private function maybe_preload_external_lcp_background_image( OD_Tag_Visitor_Con
 			}
 		}
 
+		$tuples = $this->group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images;
+
 		// There are no common LCP background images, so abort.
-		if ( count( $this->group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images ) === 0 ) {
+		if ( count( $tuples ) === 0 ) {
 			return;
 		}
 
 		$processor = $context->processor;
 		$tag_name  = strtoupper( (string) $processor->get_tag() );
-		foreach ( array_keys( $this->group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images ) as $i ) {
-			list( $group, $common ) = $this->group_common_lcp_element_external_background_images[ $i ];
+		foreach ( array_keys( $tuples ) as $i ) {
+			list( $group, $common ) = $tuples[ $i ];
 			if (
 				// Note that the browser may send a lower-case tag name in the case of XHTML or embedded SVG/MathML, but
 				// the HTML Tag Processor is currently normalizing to all upper-case. The HTML Processor on the other

@@ -331,9 +331,7 @@ private function get_valid_src( OD_HTML_Tag_Processor $processor, string $attrib
 	private function add_image_preload_link_for_lcp_element_groups( OD_Tag_Visitor_Context $context, string $xpath, array $attributes ): void {
 		$attributes = array_filter(
 			$attributes,
-			static function ( $attribute_value ) {
-				return is_string( $attribute_value ) && '' !== $attribute_value;
-			}
+			static fn ( $attribute_value ) => is_string( $attribute_value ) && '' !== $attribute_value
 		);
 
 		/**

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ final class Image_Prioritizer_Video_Tag_Visitor extends Image_Prioritizer_Tag_Vi
 	 * @since 0.2.0
 	 * @var bool
 	 */
-	protected $added_lazy_script = false;
+	protected bool $added_lazy_script = false;
 
 	/**
 	 * Visits a tag.

@@ -174,9 +174,7 @@ function image_prioritizer_validate_background_image_url( string $url ) {
 	}
 
 	$allowed_hosts = array_map(
-		static function ( $host ) {
-			return wp_parse_url( $host, PHP_URL_HOST );
-		},
+		static fn ( $host ) => wp_parse_url( $host, PHP_URL_HOST ),
 		get_allowed_http_origins()
 	);
 

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * Plugin URI: https://github.com/WordPress/performance/tree/trunk/plugins/image-prioritizer
  * Description: Prioritizes the loading of images and videos based on how visible they are to actual visitors; adds <code>fetchpriority</code> and applies lazy-loading.
  * Requires at least: 6.6
- * Requires PHP: 7.2
+ * Requires PHP: 7.4
  * Requires Plugins: optimization-detective
  * Version: 1.0.0-beta3
  * Author: WordPress Performance Team

@@ -32,15 +32,15 @@ class OD_Element implements ArrayAccess, JsonSerializable {
 	 * @since 0.7.0
 	 * @var ElementData
 	 */
-	protected $data;
+	protected array $data;
 
 	/**
 	 * URL Metric that this element belongs to.
 	 *
 	 * @since 0.7.0
 	 * @var OD_URL_Metric
 	 */
-	protected $url_metric;
+	protected OD_URL_Metric $url_metric;
 
 	/**
 	 * Constructor.

@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ final class OD_HTML_Tag_Processor extends WP_HTML_Tag_Processor {
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var non-empty-string[]
 	 */
-	private $open_stack_tags = array();
+	private array $open_stack_tags = array();
 
 	/**
 	 * Stack of the attributes for open tags.
@@ -163,15 +163,15 @@ final class OD_HTML_Tag_Processor extends WP_HTML_Tag_Processor {
 	 * @since 1.0.0
 	 * @var array<array<non-empty-string, string>>
 	 */
-	private $open_stack_attributes = array();
+	private array $open_stack_attributes = array();
 
 	/**
 	 * Open stack indices.
 	 *
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var non-negative-int[]
 	 */
-	private $open_stack_indices = array();
+	private array $open_stack_indices = array();
 
 	/**
 	 * Bookmarked open stacks.
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ final class OD_HTML_Tag_Processor extends WP_HTML_Tag_Processor {
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var array<string, array{tags: non-empty-string[], attributes: array<array<non-empty-string, string>>, indices: non-negative-int[]}>
 	 */
-	private $bookmarked_open_stacks = array();
+	private array $bookmarked_open_stacks = array();
 
 	/**
 	 * (Transitional) XPath for the current tag.
@@ -195,23 +195,23 @@ final class OD_HTML_Tag_Processor extends WP_HTML_Tag_Processor {
 	 * @since 1.0.0
 	 * @var string|null
 	 */
-	private $current_xpath = null;
+	private ?string $current_xpath = null;
 
 	/**
 	 * Whether the previous tag does not expect a closer.
 	 *
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var bool
 	 */
-	private $previous_tag_without_closer = false;
+	private bool $previous_tag_without_closer = false;
 
 	/**
 	 * Mapping of bookmark name to a list of HTML strings which will be inserted at the time get_updated_html() is called.
 	 *
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var array<non-empty-string, string[]>
 	 */
-	private $buffered_text_replacements = array();
+	private array $buffered_text_replacements = array();
 
 	/**
 	 * Whether the end of the document was reached.
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ final class OD_HTML_Tag_Processor extends WP_HTML_Tag_Processor {
 	 * @see self::next_token()
 	 * @var bool
 	 */
-	private $reached_end_of_document = false;
+	private bool $reached_end_of_document = false;
 
 	/**
 	 * Count for the number of times that the cursor was moved.
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ final class OD_HTML_Tag_Processor extends WP_HTML_Tag_Processor {
 	 * @see self::next_token()
 	 * @see self::seek()
 	 */
-	private $cursor_move_count = 0;
+	private int $cursor_move_count = 0;
 
 	/**
 	 * Finds the next tag.

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ final class OD_Link_Collection implements Countable {
 	 *
 	 * @var array<string, Link[]>
 	 */
-	private $links_by_rel = array();
+	private array $links_by_rel = array();
 
 	/**
 	 * Adds link.
@@ -128,18 +128,10 @@ public function add_link( array $attributes, ?int $minimum_viewport_width = null
 	 * @return LinkAttributes[] Prepared links with adjacent-duplicates merged together and media attributes added.
 	 */
 	private function get_prepared_links(): array {
-		$links_by_rel = array_values( $this->links_by_rel );
-		if ( count( $links_by_rel ) === 0 ) {
-			// This condition is needed for PHP 7.2 and PHP 7.3 in which array_merge() fails if passed a spread empty array: 'array_merge() expects at least 1 parameter, 0 given'.
-			return array();
-		}
-
 		return array_merge(
 			...array_map(
-				function ( array $links ): array {
-					return $this->merge_consecutive_links( $links );
-				},
-				$links_by_rel
+				fn ( array $links ): array => $this->merge_consecutive_links( $links ),
+				array_values( $this->links_by_rel )
 			)
 		);
 	}

@@ -33,23 +33,23 @@ final class OD_Tag_Visitor_Context {
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var OD_HTML_Tag_Processor
 	 */
-	private $processor;
+	private OD_HTML_Tag_Processor $processor;
 
 	/**
 	 * URL Metric group collection.
 	 *
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var OD_URL_Metric_Group_Collection
 	 */
-	private $url_metric_group_collection;
+	private OD_URL_Metric_Group_Collection $url_metric_group_collection;
 
 	/**
 	 * Link collection.
 	 *
 	 * @since 0.4.0
 	 * @var OD_Link_Collection
 	 */
-	private $link_collection;
+	private OD_Link_Collection $link_collection;
 
 	/**
 	 * ID for the od_url_metrics post which provided the URL Metrics in the collection.
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ final class OD_Tag_Visitor_Context {
 	 * @since 1.0.0
 	 * @var positive-int|null
 	 */
-	private $url_metrics_id;
+	private ?int $url_metrics_id;
 
 	/**
 	 * Visited tag state.
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ final class OD_Tag_Visitor_Context {
 	 * @since 1.0.0
 	 * @var OD_Visited_Tag_State
 	 */
-	private $visited_tag_state;
+	private OD_Visited_Tag_State $visited_tag_state;
 
 	/**
 	 * Constructor.

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ final class OD_Tag_Visitor_Registry implements Countable, IteratorAggregate {
 	 *
 	 * @var array<non-empty-string, TagVisitorCallback>
 	 */
-	private $visitors = array();
+	private array $visitors = array();
 
 	/**
 	 * Registers a tag visitor.