Disable Autoload for Large or Infrequently Used Options

// ❌ add_option() defaults to autoload=yes — this loads on EVERY page
add_option( 'my_plugin_cached_products', $huge_product_array );
// If this is 500KB, it's loaded and deserialized on every request
 
// ❌ update_option() inherits autoload=yes from the existing option
update_option( 'my_plugin_analytics_log', $growing_log_array );
// Log grows over time → autoloaded data grows → every page gets slower
 
// ❌ Storing entire API responses as options
$api_data = wp_remote_retrieve_body( wp_remote_get( 'https://api.example.com/catalog' ) );
update_option( 'my_plugin_catalog_cache', json_decode( $api_data, true ) );
// Could be megabytes of data, loaded on every request

// ✅ Disable autoload for large or infrequently used data
add_option( 'my_plugin_cached_products', $product_array, '', 'no' );
// Fourth parameter = deprecated, fifth = autoload
 
// ✅ For WordPress 6.6+: update_option accepts autoload parameter
update_option( 'my_plugin_catalog_cache', $data, false ); // autoload=false
 
// ✅ For existing options, fix autoload status
global $wpdb;
$wpdb->update(
    $wpdb->options,
    [ 'autoload' => 'no' ],
    [ 'option_name' => 'my_plugin_cached_products' ]
);
 
// ✅ Small, frequently needed settings: autoload is fine (the default)
add_option( 'my_plugin_api_key', $api_key );           // Small string, needed on every request
add_option( 'my_plugin_enabled', 'yes' );               // Tiny value, checked constantly
 
// ✅ Use transients instead of options for cached data
// Transients have built-in expiration and can use persistent object cache
set_transient( 'my_plugin_catalog', $data, HOUR_IN_SECONDS );

-- Find the largest autoloaded options
SELECT option_name, LENGTH(option_value) as size
FROM wp_options
WHERE autoload = 'yes'
ORDER BY size DESC
LIMIT 20;
 
-- Total autoloaded data size
SELECT SUM(LENGTH(option_value)) / 1024 / 1024 as total_mb
FROM wp_options
WHERE autoload = 'yes';

# Find add_option without explicit autoload=no
grep -rn "add_option\s*(" wp-content/plugins/ --include="*.php" | grep -v "'no'\s*)"
# Find update_option storing arrays (likely large)
grep -rn "update_option.*\\\$.*array\|update_option.*json_decode" wp-content/plugins/ --include="*.php"