inject new category to wordpress with json data

rt_sync.class.php

<?php

class RT_Sync {

	function __construct() {
		$rt_settings      = get_option( 'rentalist_setting' );
		$this->api_url    = isset( $rt_settings['rt_api_url'] ) ? $rt_settings['rt_api_url'] : '';
		$this->api_key    = isset( $rt_settings['rt_api_key'] ) ? $rt_settings['rt_api_key'] : '';
		$this->project_id = isset( $rt_settings['rt_project_id'] ) ? $rt_settings['rt_project_id'] : '';

		add_action( 'wp_ajax_rt_sync_categories', array( $this, 'rt_sync_categories' ) );
	}

	function rt_sync_categories() {
		$data_json = '[{
			"projectCategoryId":170425,"parentProjectCategoryId":null,"projectId":26671,"name":"General Information","shortName":"General Information","isDefault":false,"ordinal":10,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:15:22.507","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:15:22.507","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":170430,"parentProjectCategoryId":null,"projectId":26671,"name":"I am a...","shortName":"I am a...","isDefault":false,"ordinal":50,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:16:52.11","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:17:15.843","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":170431,"parentProjectCategoryId":170430,"projectId":26671,"name":"Veterinary Professional","shortName":"Veterinary Professional","isDefault":false,"ordinal":1,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:17:42.91","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:17:42.91","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":170432,"parentProjectCategoryId":170430,"projectId":26671,"name":"Student","shortName":"Student","isDefault":false,"ordinal":2,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:18:41.04","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:18:41.04","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":170435,"parentProjectCategoryId":170430,"projectId":26671,"name":"Pet Owner","shortName":"Pet Owner","isDefault":false,"ordinal":5,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:19:36.387","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:19:36.387","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":170450,"parentProjectCategoryId":170425,"projectId":26671,"name":"Book and Product Reviews","shortName":"Book and Product Reviews","isDefault":false,"ordinal":1,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:24:53.96","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:24:53.96","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":170451,"parentProjectCategoryId":170425,"projectId":26671,"name":"Lectures and Seminars","shortName":"Lectures and Seminars","isDefault":false,"ordinal":1,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:25:06.413","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:25:06.413","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":170452,"parentProjectCategoryId":170425,"projectId":26671,"name":"Reader Q&A","shortName":"Reader Q&A","isDefault":false,"ordinal":1,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2021-07-14T14:25:20.897","dateModified":"2021-07-14T14:25:20.897","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]},{
			"projectCategoryId":193716,"parentProjectCategoryId":null,"projectId":26671,"name":"Ask LSH","shortName":"Ask LSH","isDefault":false,"ordinal":40,"typeId":1,"description":null,"isVirtual":false,"isVisible":true,"oldCategoryId":null,"dateEntered":"2022-06-02T17:26:05.283","dateModified":"2022-06-02T17:26:05.283","isVisiblePdf":true,"parentProjectCategory":null,"project":null,"inverseParentProjectCategory":[]}]';

//		$categories = $this->rt_get_categories();
		$categories = json_decode( $data_json );
		$output     = array();

		if ( ! empty( $categories ) ) {
			$hash_cat = array();

			foreach ( $categories as $category ) {
				$category_id = category_exists( $category->name );

				if ( ! isset( $category_id ) ) {
					$new_category = array(
//						'cat_ID' => $category->projectCategoryId,
						'cat_name'        => $category->name,
//						'category_nicename' => $this->rt_generate_slug( $category->name ),
//						'category_parent'   => empty( $category->parentProjectCategoryId ) ? '' : ( empty( $hash_cat[ $category->parentProjectCategoryId ] ) ? '' : $hash_cat[ $category->parentProjectCategoryId ] );
//						'category_parent'   => $category->parentProjectCategoryId ? ( $hash_cat[ $category->parentProjectCategoryId ] ? $hash_cat[ $category->parentProjectCategoryId ] : '' ) : ''
						'category_parent' => $category->parentProjectCategoryId ? $hash_cat[ $category->parentProjectCategoryId ] : ''
					);
					$category_id  = wp_insert_category( $new_category );
				}
				$hash_cat[ $category->projectCategoryId ] = $category_id;
				$output[]                                 = array(
					'id'   => $category->projectCategoryId,
					'wpid' => $category_id,
					'name' => $category->name
				);
			}
		}

		echo json_encode( array( 'success' => true, 'result' => $output, 'data' => $categories ) );

		wp_die();
	}

	private function rt_get_categories() {
		$categories = null;

		$headers = array(
			'ApiKey' => $this->api_key,
			'Accept' => 'application/json;  version=1',
		);

		$path = $this->api_url . '/articlecategory/' . $this->project_id;

		$response = Requests::get( $path, $headers );
		print_r( $response );
		$categories = json_decode( $response->body );


		return $categories;
	}
}

//global $rt_sync;
$rt_sync = new RT_Sync();