Customize JetSmartFilters queries safely

Prefer the most local hook. Native JSF Listing filters expose the listing object and can be scoped by saved listing ID. Generic query hooks affect the shared JSF parser and require provider/query ID guards.

Native JSF Listing hooks

Use the raw-args filter for stable defaults:

add_filter(
    'jet-smart-filters/listing/render/raw-query-args',
    static function ( $args, $listing ) {
        if ( 123 !== (int) $listing->get_id() ) {
            return $args;
        }

        $args['posts_per_page'] = 12;
        $args['post_status']    = 'publish';

        return $args;
    },
    10,
    2
);

Important listing surfaces:

Hook	Purpose
listing/render/raw-query-args	Modify stored args before query construction
listing/render/get/query-settings	Modify presentation/query settings
listing/render/query	Inspect or replace the query object
listing/render/items	Modify returned items before card rendering
listing/render/init-listing	React when one saved listing initializes
listing/render/setup-query-object	Publish each current item to dynamic renderers
listing/render/reset-query-object	Clear that item context

Always return the same value type the filter received. If filtering listing/render/items, preserve objects that the card renderer and query type's get_item_id() understand.

Generic parsed-query hook

jet-smart-filters/query/final-query receives only the parsed query array. Read provider context from the JSF query manager:

add_filter( 'jet-smart-filters/query/final-query', static function ( $query ) {
    $context = jet_smart_filters()->query->get_current_provider();

    if (
        ! is_array( $context )
        || 'jsf-listing' !== ( $context['provider'] ?? '' )
        || 'catalog-listing' !== ( $context['query_id'] ?? '' )
    ) {
        return $query;
    }

    $query['posts_per_page'] = min(
        48,
        max( 1, absint( $query['posts_per_page'] ?? 12 ) )
    );

    return $query;
} );

Do not use final-query as a global pre_get_posts replacement. If provider context is unavailable, return unchanged.

Parser hook map

• jet-smart-filters/query/request: raw request before JSF parses it; use only for a deliberate compatibility adapter.
• jet-smart-filters/query/vars: register an additional parsed query family.
• jet-smart-filters/query/add-var: transform a value for such an additional family; receives value, key, var, and query manager.
• jet-smart-filters/query/meta-query-row: validate/adjust one meta-query row.
• jet-smart-filters/query/final-query: last parsed argument array.
• jet-smart-filters/apply-suffix/{filter_type}: type-specific suffix processing.
• jet-smart-filters/render/query-vars and jet-smart-filters/render/set-query-var: reload/permalink parsing.

Security and performance rules

• Allowlist field names, taxonomy names, sort keys, comparison operators, and directions. A JSF request is public input.
• Normalize arrays and bound page size, offset, and range values.
• Never concatenate request values into SQL. Return structured query args and let the target query API prepare them.
• Do not call a remote service or run an unbounded lookup in a hook invoked for every filter request.
• Merge tax_query and meta_query intentionally; a shallow assignment can remove the listing's existing constraints.
• Test both AJAX and reload paths, because they reconstruct context at different points.

References

Verified against JetSmartFilters 3.8.3.1 source:

• includes/query.php:55-150,390-475,565-782,1140-1180
• includes/render.php:117-220,297-343
• includes/listing/render/listing-base.php:89-183,335-366
• includes/listing/render/controller.php:18-120
• includes/providers/jsf-listing.php:118-220