From 87927e56d36485e2e0201b617d8db3f874107568 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Shameem Reza <shameemreza776@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2026 17:41:43 +0600
Subject: [PATCH] Fix add-meta AJAX side effects on auto-drafts

Adding a custom field to an auto-draft via the Custom Fields meta box
runs wp_ajax_add_meta(), which promoted the post through edit_post().
That call added the meta a first time from the $_POST data before
wp_ajax_add_meta() added it again, and _wp_translate_postdata()
defaulted the missing comment and ping status to 'closed'. The block
editor never resends comment_status over the REST API, so the closed
status stuck after publishing.

Promote the auto-draft with wp_update_post() instead. The meta is added
exactly once and the post keeps its comment and ping status.

See https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/66016
---
 src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php     | 32 ++++++----
 tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxAddMeta.php | 71 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 90 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
index 747bcc75e53eb..fb50754696dc8 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/ajax-actions.php
@@ -1649,21 +1649,25 @@ function wp_ajax_add_meta() {
 
 		// If the post is an autodraft, save the post as a draft and then attempt to save the meta.
 		if ( 'auto-draft' === $post->post_status ) {
-			$post_data                = array();
-			$post_data['action']      = 'draft'; // Warning fix.
-			$post_data['post_ID']     = $post_id;
-			$post_data['post_type']   = $post->post_type;
-			$post_data['post_status'] = 'draft';
-			$now                      = time();
-
-			$post_data['post_title'] = sprintf(
-				/* translators: 1: Post creation date, 2: Post creation time. */
-				__( 'Draft created on %1$s at %2$s' ),
-				gmdate( __( 'F j, Y' ), $now ),
-				gmdate( __( 'g:i a' ), $now )
+			$now = time();
+
+			/*
+			 * Update the post directly instead of via edit_post(), which would
+			 * add the meta a second time from the $_POST data and reset the
+			 * comment and ping status of the post to 'closed'. See #66016.
+			 */
+			$post_data = array(
+				'ID'          => $post_id,
+				'post_status' => 'draft',
+				'post_title'  => sprintf(
+					/* translators: 1: Post creation date, 2: Post creation time. */
+					__( 'Draft created on %1$s at %2$s' ),
+					gmdate( __( 'F j, Y' ), $now ),
+					gmdate( __( 'g:i a' ), $now )
+				),
 			);
 
-			$post_id = edit_post( $post_data );
+			$post_id = wp_update_post( $post_data, true );
 
 			if ( $post_id ) {
 				if ( is_wp_error( $post_id ) ) {
@@ -1676,6 +1680,8 @@ function wp_ajax_add_meta() {
 					$response->send();
 				}
 
+				update_post_meta( $post_id, '_edit_last', get_current_user_id() );
+
 				$meta_id = add_meta( $post_id );
 
 				if ( ! $meta_id ) {
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxAddMeta.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxAddMeta.php
index dbaee104baea5..4f759c7da72a9 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxAddMeta.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/ajax/wpAjaxAddMeta.php
@@ -75,4 +75,75 @@ public function test_wp_ajax_add_meta_allows_empty_values_on_updating() {
 
 		$this->assertSame( '', get_post_meta( $post, 'testkey', true ) );
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Adding meta to an auto-draft should only create the meta once.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 66016
+	 */
+	public function test_adding_meta_to_an_auto_draft_should_not_duplicate_the_meta() {
+		$post = self::factory()->post->create(
+			array(
+				'post_status' => 'auto-draft',
+			)
+		);
+
+		// Become an administrator.
+		$this->_setRole( 'administrator' );
+
+		$_POST = array(
+			'post_id'              => $post,
+			'metakeyinput'         => 'testkey',
+			'metavalue'            => 'testvalue',
+			'_ajax_nonce-add-meta' => wp_create_nonce( 'add-meta' ),
+		);
+
+		// Make the request.
+		try {
+			$this->_handleAjax( 'add-meta' );
+		} catch ( WPAjaxDieContinueException $e ) {
+			unset( $e );
+		}
+
+		$this->assertSame( array( 'testvalue' ), get_post_meta( $post, 'testkey' ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Adding meta to an auto-draft should save the post as a draft
+	 * without changing its comment or ping status.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 66016
+	 */
+	public function test_adding_meta_to_an_auto_draft_should_not_change_the_comment_and_ping_status() {
+		$post = self::factory()->post->create(
+			array(
+				'post_status'    => 'auto-draft',
+				'comment_status' => 'open',
+				'ping_status'    => 'open',
+			)
+		);
+
+		// Become an administrator.
+		$this->_setRole( 'administrator' );
+
+		$_POST = array(
+			'post_id'              => $post,
+			'metakeyinput'         => 'testkey',
+			'metavalue'            => 'testvalue',
+			'_ajax_nonce-add-meta' => wp_create_nonce( 'add-meta' ),
+		);
+
+		// Make the request.
+		try {
+			$this->_handleAjax( 'add-meta' );
+		} catch ( WPAjaxDieContinueException $e ) {
+			unset( $e );
+		}
+
+		$post = get_post( $post );
+
+		$this->assertSame( 'draft', $post->post_status, 'The auto-draft should have been saved as a draft.' );
+		$this->assertSame( 'open', $post->comment_status, 'The comment status of the post should not have changed.' );
+		$this->assertSame( 'open', $post->ping_status, 'The ping status of the post should not have changed.' );
+	}
 }