REST API: Fix status-only comment update route never running

[HasnainAshfaq]

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64248

Description

When only status is changed via the REST API (PUT /wp/v2/comments/{id}), update_item() is supposed to take a lightweight path through handle_status_param() rather than a full wp_update_comment() call:

if ( empty( $prepared_args ) && isset( $request['status'] ) ) {
    // Only the comment status is being changed.
    $change = $this->handle_status_param( $request['status'], $id );
    ...
}

This path never runs because prepare_item_for_database() unconditionally sets comment_author_IP — falling back to $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] or '127.0.0.1' — so $prepared_args is always non-empty.

The bug was introduced in #38819 and has existed since 4.7.

Fix

In update_item(), after calling prepare_item_for_database(), unset comment_author_IP and comment_agent from $prepared_args unless the caller explicitly included author_ip or author_user_agent in the request body. This restores the intended routing without changing create behaviour.

Testing

Two new PHPUnit tests added to WP_Test_REST_Comments_Controller:

• test_update_comment_status_only_does_not_overwrite_existing_fields() — verifies that a status-only PUT does not overwrite the stored IP, agent, or content.
• test_update_comment_status_only_uses_handle_status_param_path() — verifies that wp_update_comment_data filter is not triggered (i.e. wp_update_comment() is not called) on a status-only update.

Use of AI Tools

Generated with Claude Sonnet and adjusted/reviewed manually.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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