Wikimedia APIs/Access policy
This page includes information to help you comply with policies for using Wikimedia APIs.
Terms of use
[edit]By using the API, you agree to Wikimedia's terms of use and privacy policy.
Data and content licensing
[edit]Wikimedia content and data are available under free licenses. Licenses and attribution requirements can vary per wiki and per API. See Wikimedia APIs/Reusing free content.
Client identification
[edit]The API requires an HTTP User-Agent header for all requests. This helps identify your app and ensures that system administrators can contact you if a problem arises. Clients making requests without a User-Agent header may be blocked without notice. See the Wikimedia Foundation's User-Agent policy for more information.
The User-Agent header can include a link to a user page on a Wikimedia wiki, a URL for a relevant external website, or an email address.
# Preferred format for User-Agent headers <client name>/<version> (<contact information>) <library/framework name>/<version>
If you are calling the API from browser-based JavaScript, you may not be able to influence the User-Agent header, depending on the browser. To work around this, use the Api-User-Agent header.
Authentication
[edit]Authenticated API requests receive higher rate limits. Wikimedia APIs use OAuth 2.0 access tokens for authentication. More information coming soon.
Rate limits
[edit]See Wikimedia APIs/Rate limits.
Data downloads
[edit]Most content and data provided via Wikimedia APIs can also be downloaded in bulk via dumps.wikimedia.org.