API:Main page

 Attention visitors

This page describes the ongoing effort to provide a stable API within MediaWiki

for convenient access to machine-readable data.

MediaWiki at present has three interfaces:
 * MediaWiki API - the new API described on these pages.
 * Special:Export feature (bulk export of XML formatted data)
 * Regular web-based interface, see Manual:Parameters to index.php

See the menu bar on the right for the API sub-topics.

The goal of this API (Application Programming Interface) is to provide direct, high-level access to the data contained in the MediaWiki databases. Client programs can use the API to login, get data, and post changes. The API supports thin web-based JavaScript clients, such as Navigation popups or LiveRC, end-user applications (such as vandal fighter), and can be accessed by another web site (tool server's utilities).

All output is available in a wide range of formats.

Each API module uses a set of parameters. To prevent name collision, each submodule of action=query has a two letter abbreviation, and each parameter name begins with those two letters.


 * Short help and parameter guide can be obtained from api.php itself
 * Mailing List for notifications and questions: API mailing list
 * Low-traffic mailing list for announcements only (all posts to this list are posted to mediawiki-api as well): mediawiki-api-announce
 * View and report API bugs: BugZilla (When reporting new bugs, don't forget to set Component=API)

Useful Links

 * API Live
 * API source code in SVN
 * Database layout
 * The current DB schema in SVN

Archive

 * API:Wikimania 2006 API discussion