Upload a local file as a WordPress attachment, placing it in the Media library. Supports images, PDFs, and other file types.

rs_upload_from_path.php

<?php

/**
* This function uploads from a local file path.
* To upload from a URL instead
* @see: https://gist.github.com/RadGH/966f8c756c5e142a5f489e86e751eacb
*
* Example usage: Upload photo from file, display the attachment as as html <img>
*   $attachment_id = rs_upload_from_path( "/images/photo.png" );
*   echo wp_get_attachment_image( $attachment_id, 'large' );
*
*/

/**
 * Takes a local file path and uploads it to the WordPress media gallery.
 *
 * @version 1.2
 *
 * @param string      $path   File path to be uploaded
 * @param null|string $title  If set, used as the post_title
 *
 * @return int|false
 */
function rs_upload_from_path( $path, $title = null ) {
	if ( !file_exists($path) ) return false;
	
	// Include file and attachment utilities that are used below
	require_once( ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/file.php' );
	require_once( ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/includes/image.php' );
	
	// mynotes.txt -> mynotes, txt
	$filename = basename($path);
	$extension = strtolower(pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_EXTENSION));
	
	// Pretend to upload a file using the traditional $_FILES global.
	// We use a temporary file because uploading this way deletes the existing file in order to put it in the uploads folder.
	// We do not want the original to be deleted, so the temporary file we use gets deleted instead
	$tmp = tmpfile();
	$tmp_path = stream_get_meta_data($tmp)['uri'];
	$tmp_filename = basename($tmp_path);
	fwrite($tmp, file_get_contents( $path ));
	fseek($tmp, 0); // If we don't do this, WordPress thinks the file is empty
	
	// Get mime type from file
	$mime = mime_content_type( $tmp_path );
	$mime = is_string($mime) ? sanitize_mime_type( $mime ) : false;
	
	// Mime type must be present or else it would fail the "upload"
	if ( !$mime ) {
		fclose($tmp);
		@unlink($tmp_path);
		return false;
	}
	
	// Array structure designed to mimic $_FILES, like if you submitted a form with an <input type="file">
	$_FILES[$tmp_filename] = array(
		'name'      => $filename,
		'type'      => $mime,
		'tmp_name'  => $tmp_path,
		'error'     => UPLOAD_ERR_OK,
		'size'      => filesize($path),
	);
	
	// Do the upload, this moves the file to the uploads folder
	$upload = wp_handle_upload( $_FILES[$tmp_filename], array( 'test_form' => false, 'action' => 'local' ) );
	
	// Clean up after upload
	fclose($tmp);
	@unlink($tmp_path);
	unset($_FILES[basename($tmp_path)]);
	
	// Abort if error occurred
	if ( !empty($upload['error']) ) return false;
	
	// Generate a title if needed
	if ( empty($title) ) $title = pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_FILENAME);
	
	// Create the "attachment" post, as seen on the media page
	$args = array(
		'post_title' => $title,
		'post_content' => '',
		'post_status' => 'publish',
		'post_mime_type' => $upload['type'],
	);
	
	$attachment_id = wp_insert_attachment( $args, $upload['file'] );
	
	// Abort if we could not insert the attachment
	// Also when aborted, delete the unattached file since it would not show up in the media gallery
	if ( is_wp_error( $attachment_id ) ) {
		@unlink($upload['file']);
		return false;
	}
	
	// Upload was successful, generate and save the image metadata
	$data = wp_generate_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, $upload['file'] );
	wp_update_attachment_metadata( $attachment_id, $data );
	
	// All successful, return the attachment ID
	return $attachment_id;
}

Thank for the share

Works perfectly to import PDFs into Media Library in WP 5.8.2 - thanks for sharing.

I've updated this function for consistency. Also improved mime type detection.

For uploading a URL instead, consider my other function:

rs_upload_from_url( $url )
https://gist.github.com/RadGH/966f8c756c5e142a5f489e86e751eacb