WP_Query::get_queried_object │ public │ WP 1.5.0

Retrieves the currently queried object.

If queried object is not set, then the queried object will be set from the category, tag, taxonomy, posts page, single post, page, or author query variable. After it is set up, it will be returned.

Method of the class: WP_Query{}

No Hooks.

Returns

WP_Term|WP_Post_Type|WP_Post|WP_User|null. The queried object.

Usage

global $wp_query;
$wp_query->get_queried_object();

Changelog

Since 1.5.0 Introduced.

WP_Query::get_queried_object() code WP 6.9.1

wp-includes/class-wp-query.php 
public function get_queried_object() {
	if ( isset( $this->queried_object ) ) {
		return $this->queried_object;
	}

	$this->queried_object    = null;
	$this->queried_object_id = null;

	if ( $this->is_category || $this->is_tag || $this->is_tax ) {
		if ( $this->is_category ) {
			$cat           = $this->get( 'cat' );
			$category_name = $this->get( 'category_name' );

			if ( $cat ) {
				$term = get_term( $cat, 'category' );
			} elseif ( $category_name ) {
				$term = get_term_by( 'slug', $category_name, 'category' );
			}
		} elseif ( $this->is_tag ) {
			$tag_id = $this->get( 'tag_id' );
			$tag    = $this->get( 'tag' );

			if ( $tag_id ) {
				$term = get_term( $tag_id, 'post_tag' );
			} elseif ( $tag ) {
				$term = get_term_by( 'slug', $tag, 'post_tag' );
			}
		} else {
			// For other tax queries, grab the first term from the first clause.
			if ( ! empty( $this->tax_query->queried_terms ) ) {
				$queried_taxonomies = array_keys( $this->tax_query->queried_terms );
				$matched_taxonomy   = reset( $queried_taxonomies );
				$query              = $this->tax_query->queried_terms[ $matched_taxonomy ];

				if ( ! empty( $query['terms'] ) ) {
					if ( 'term_id' === $query['field'] ) {
						$term = get_term( reset( $query['terms'] ), $matched_taxonomy );
					} else {
						$term = get_term_by( $query['field'], reset( $query['terms'] ), $matched_taxonomy );
					}
				}
			}
		}

		if ( ! empty( $term ) && ! is_wp_error( $term ) ) {
			$this->queried_object    = $term;
			$this->queried_object_id = (int) $term->term_id;

			if ( $this->is_category && 'category' === $this->queried_object->taxonomy ) {
				_make_cat_compat( $this->queried_object );
			}
		}
	} elseif ( $this->is_post_type_archive ) {
		$post_type = $this->get( 'post_type' );

		if ( is_array( $post_type ) ) {
			$post_type = reset( $post_type );
		}

		$this->queried_object = get_post_type_object( $post_type );
	} elseif ( $this->is_posts_page ) {
		$page_for_posts = get_option( 'page_for_posts' );

		$this->queried_object    = get_post( $page_for_posts );
		$this->queried_object_id = (int) $this->queried_object->ID;
	} elseif ( $this->is_singular && ! empty( $this->post ) ) {
		$this->queried_object    = $this->post;
		$this->queried_object_id = (int) $this->post->ID;
	} elseif ( $this->is_author ) {
		$author      = (int) $this->get( 'author' );
		$author_name = $this->get( 'author_name' );

		if ( $author ) {
			$this->queried_object_id = $author;
		} elseif ( $author_name ) {
			$user = get_user_by( 'slug', $author_name );

			if ( $user ) {
				$this->queried_object_id = $user->ID;
			}
		}

		$this->queried_object = get_userdata( $this->queried_object_id );
	}

	return $this->queried_object;
}