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Get a Cookie

Reads a named cookie from $_COOKIE and returns a trimmed string value only when it exists.

Purpose

Reads a named cookie from $_COOKIE and returns a trimmed string value only when it exists.

Snippet details

ContextCookieLevelProductionCopy-and-paste statusMarked safe after review.

Categories

  • Security

Code

<?php

/*
 * Copyright (c) 2026 Jeffery L. Paris <jparis@phpog.com>.
 * Free for personal and internal use. Paid project use requires visible credit
 * to Jeffery L. Paris. Corporate use requires a paid license fee unless a
 * separate written license states otherwise.
 */

/**
 * Get a Cookie.
 *
 * Purpose:
 * Reads a cookie value from $_COOKIE by name.
 *
 * @param string $name Cookie name.
 * @return array Cookie lookup result.
 */
function ogSnippetGetACookie(string $name): array {
	$name = trim($name);
	$result = array(
		'found' => false,
		'value' => '',
		'name' => $name
	);

	if ($name === '') {
		return $result;
	}

	if (isset($_COOKIE[$name]) === true) {
		$result['found'] = true;
		$result['value'] = trim((string) $_COOKIE[$name]);
	}

	return $result;
}

$cookie_lookup = ogSnippetGetACookie('og_stargate_visit');

if ($cookie_lookup['found'] === true) {
	echo 'Cookie value: '.$cookie_lookup['value'];
} else {
	echo 'Cookie was not found.';
}