---
title: "Product Tabs Developer Reference: Hooks, Filters and Meta Keys"
description: "Developer reference for WooCommerce custom product tabs: actions, filters and stored meta keys."
url: "https://wpfactory.com/docs/product-tabs-developer-hooks-filters/"
updated: "2026-09-25"
category: Developers
---

# Product Tabs Developer Reference: Hooks, Filters and Meta Keys

## Hooks, filters and meta keys in Product Tabs

This reference lists the actions, filters and stored data exposed by [Additional Custom Product Tabs for WooCommerce](https://wpfactory.com/item/product-tabs-for-woocommerce-plugin/), for developers extending the plugin. Every name below is taken from the plugin source for version 1.7.5.

### Actions

| Action | Arguments | When it fires |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `alg_wc_product_tabs_core_loaded` | `$core` (the core object) | After the core class is constructed. Use it to hold a reference to the core instance. |

### Filters

| Filter | Arguments | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `alg_wc_product_tabs_global` | `$count` (int, default 1) | Number of global (all products) custom tabs to render and to show settings for. Pro returns the value of `alg_custom_product_tabs_global_total_number`. |
| `alg_wc_product_tabs_local` | `$value`, `$product_id` | Number of per-product custom tabs for a given product. Pro returns the product meta `_alg_custom_product_tabs_local_total_number`. |
| `alg_wc_product_tabs_local_default` | `$value` (int, default 1) | Fallback per-product tab count when a product has no stored value. Pro returns `alg_custom_product_tabs_local_total_number_default`. |
| `alg_wc_product_tabs_settings` | `$value`, `$type`, `$args` | Internal Pro gating filter. In the free version the "tab number" fields stay read only through this filter; Pro overrides it to make them editable. Documented for completeness. |

**Note:** the `alg_wc_product_tabs_global`, `alg_wc_product_tabs_local` and `alg_wc_product_tabs_local_default` filters are how the Pro version lifts the one-tab limit. Overriding them yourself changes how many tab slots render, but the extra global tab options are only saved when the Pro settings expose them.

### Example: hold a reference to the core object

```
add_action( 'alg_wc_product_tabs_core_loaded', function( $core ) {
    // $core is the Alg_WC_Product_Tabs_Core instance.
    // e.g. inspect $core->get_custom_tab_ids() on a product page.
} );
```

### WooCommerce hook used by the plugin

Product Tabs builds its tab list on the standard WooCommerce filter `woocommerce_product_tabs` at priority 98. If another plugin or your theme also filters product tabs, priority order decides the final result.

### Per-product tab meta keys

Per-product tabs are stored as post meta on the product. These keys are useful for imports, exports or programmatic setup. The index `{i}` starts at 1.

| Meta key | Stores |
| --- | --- |
| `_alg_custom_product_tabs_title_local_{i}` | Tab title |
| `_alg_custom_product_tabs_id_local_{i}` | Tab ID (link key) |
| `_alg_custom_product_tabs_priority_local_{i}` | Position (order number) |
| `_alg_custom_product_tabs_content_local_{i}` | Tab content |
| `_alg_custom_product_tabs_local_total_number` | Number of per-product tabs on this product |

### Global tab option keys

Global tabs are stored as site options, indexed by tab number `{i}`: `alg_custom_product_tabs_title_global_{i}`, `alg_custom_product_tabs_id_global_{i}`, `alg_custom_product_tabs_priority_global_{i}` and `alg_custom_product_tabs_content_global_{i}`, plus the show and hide options `alg_custom_product_tabs_title_global_show_in_cats_ids_{i}` and `alg_custom_product_tabs_title_global_hide_in_cats_ids_{i}` for categories, and the product variants (with `_id` or `_sku` suffixes depending on the selected input type).

### Shortcodes

The plugin registers `[alg_wc_pt_product_function]`, `[alg_wc_pt_product_meta]` and `[alg_wc_pt_translate]` (with the deprecated alias `[alg_wc_cpt_translate]`). Full attribute tables are in the [product tabs shortcodes reference](https://wpfactory.com/docs/).

### Need a hand?

For questions about extending Product Tabs, our team answers every ticket on the [WPFactory support](https://wpfactory.com/support/) page.

Related articles

- [Product Tabs Shortcodes Reference](https://wpfactory.com/docs/product-tabs-shortcodes-reference/)
- [How to Show or Hide a Product Tab by Product or Category](https://wpfactory.com/docs/show-hide-product-tabs-by-product-category/)
- [How to Reset a Product Tabs Settings Section](https://wpfactory.com/docs/reset-product-tabs-settings/)
- [How to Create Multilingual Product Tabs with WPML or Polylang](https://wpfactory.com/docs/multilingual-product-tabs-wpml-polylang/)
- [How to Display Dynamic Product Data in a Tab](https://wpfactory.com/docs/display-dynamic-product-data-in-tabs/)