API:REST API

The MediaWiki REST API provides access to wiki content and functionality in apps and on the web. Like most web APIs, the MediaWiki REST API accepts HTTP requests at unique URLs and returns structured data. You can use the REST API to build apps that:


 * Display content from a wiki
 * Visualize information about wiki history

Data format
The REST API returns all data as JSON. Page content is available as HTML within JSON-formatted responses.

Methods
The REST API supports standard HTTP request methods like GET, HEAD, POST, and DELETE.

URL structure
API endpoints share a consistent URL structure that includes the wiki's base URL and the API version.

Endpoints

 * History API: Explore page history, compare revisions, get page HTML. (Available in MediaWiki 1.35 and later)

Versioning
REST API endpoints include the major version in the path. Any changes made to parameters, response types, response codes, access policies, and rate limits are guaranteed to be backwards compatible within a major version. Endpoints are also assigned a minor version; see the reference docs for an endpoint's minor version.

Accessing Wikimedia projects using the REST API
The REST API is disabled on all Wikimedia wikis, including Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, and Wiktionary. To start experimenting with the API, we recommend using a test wiki populated with a data dump.

Developers can expect to authenticate API requests to Wikimedia projects using OAuth 1.0 tokens and secrets. To learn about registering an application and making requests on behalf of users, see the OAuth developer guide.

Enabling the REST API on your wiki
The REST API is available in MediaWiki 1.34 and later as disabled by default. To enable the REST API on your wiki, add  to.

Extension endpoints
MediaWiki extensions can surface extension-specific API endpoints using the REST API interface. For documentation for REST API endpoints provided by extensions, see the extension docs. The REST API extension interface is available in MediaWiki 1.34 and later.

Other APIs
There are two families of REST APIs related to Wikimedia projects: the MediaWiki REST API described on this page and the REST API built on RESTBase. While the MediaWiki REST API is part of the MediaWiki platform and can be enabled on any wiki running MediaWiki 1.34 or later, the RESTBase API serves content specific to Wikimedia projects. If you're looking for the full-featured, RPC-style MediaWiki API, see the Action API.