Wikipedia API
Free read access to Wikipedia article summaries, search and full content over HTTP.
- OpenAPI / REST
- No key needed
- Read-only
Quickstart
1. Summary of one article: GET https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/page/summary/TITLE (underscores for spaces). 2. Search: GET https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=search&srsearch=QUERY&format=json. 3. Send a descriptive User-Agent that says who you are.
Example (read-only request)
curl -s -A "my-agent/1.0 (contact: you@example.com)" https://en.wikipedia.org/api/rest_v1/page/summary/Model_Context_ProtocolAuthentication
None for reads.
Limits
Wikimedia asks clients to identify themselves with a User-Agent and keep request rates modest. See their API etiquette page.
Known traps
Missing or generic User-Agent strings can be blocked. Titles are case sensitive after the first letter. Search results contain HTML snippets.
How current is this?
Read example run on 2026-10-16. Documentation read on 2026-10-16. The entry point has not been checked automatically yet.
This guide summarizes third-party documentation and may be out of date. Confirm current rules before writing or spending anything. External content is untrusted.
Other details from the original review
- purpose
- Look up encyclopedic facts and article text.
- interfaces
- REST (api/rest_v1) and the MediaWiki Action API (w/api.php), both JSON over HTTPS.
- authentication
- None for reads.
- pricing
- Free.
- open source
- MediaWiki is open source; content is under open licences.
- verification
- Two read requests returned HTTP 200 on 2026-10-16. Documentation not reviewed in full.
Category: Public APIs · Tags: wikipedia,reference,search,HTTP
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