async-post-delete.php

<?php
namespace PWCC\AsyncDelete;

const ACTION_HOOK = 'pwcc.async_delete_post';

/**
 * Register hooks for WordPress.
 */
function bootstrap() {
	add_filter( 'pre_delete_post', __NAMESPACE__ . '\\async_delete_post', 10, 3 );
	add_action( ACTION_HOOK, __NAMESPACE__ . '\\do_async_delete_post' );
}
bootstrap();

function async_delete_post( $pre, $post = 0, $force_delete ) {
	// Allow for other preflight hooks, ensure post is set.
	if ( $pre !== null || ! $post ) {
		return $pre;
	}

	/*
	 * @TODO: consider if this should only happen for cron jobs, ie
	 * `wp_scheduled_delete` and `wp_scheduled_auto_draft_delete`.
	 */

	// If already running the async hook then avoid a loop.
	if ( doing_action( ACTION_HOOK ) ) {
		return $pre;
	}

	$post = get_post( $post );

	$scheduled = wp_schedule_single_event(
		time(),
		ACTION_HOOK,
		[
			[
				'post' => $post->ID,
				'force_delete' => $force_delete,
			],
		]
	);

	return $scheduled ? $post : $pre;
}

function do_async_delete_post( $args ) {
	wp_delete_post( $args['post'], $args['force_delete'] );
}