Customising the WordPress REST API URL prefix (wp-json) is quite simple and can be done through a single filter, as demonstrated in the video below.
Why would you want to set a custom REST API base?
For the most part, it comes down to personal preference. You may prefer the look or brevity of /api or /wp-json. It’s not uncommon for REST API’s to start with /api as the intention is quite clear.
Personally, if I were using WordPress to build a SaaS product that offered a public API, I would prefer the API didn’t start with /wp-json — it just doesn’t feel quite as slick or clear as /api. It also might not be quite that obvious to any developer interacting with the web application who doesn’t have a background in WordPress so we can consider /api to be a little more generic and universally understood.
Code snippet to change wp-json REST API base
The following code snippet will customise the URL to suit your needs. The code will work in your theme’s functions.php file but, as I cover in the video, putting this into a configuration plugin would be a better choice as it would ensure the customisation survives any theme changes over the life of the website.
Be sure to flush your rewrite rules after adding to your site as the wp-json rewrite rules are cached in WordPress’ options table. This change will not take affect until the rewrite rules are cleared.
