API:REST API/Get started

This page helps you get started using the MediaWiki REST API to perform common types of operations.

Before you begin

Your use of the MediaWiki REST API must follow the access and usage policies.

Sample call

# Search English Wikipedia for an article about Earth $ curl "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/rest.php/v1/search/page?q=earth&limit=1"

Try it out

Data formats

REST API endpoints return data in JSON or HTML format. See the API reference for the content type supported by each endpoint.

URL structure

API endpoints share a consistent URL structure that includes the wiki's base URL, the wiki's script path, and the API version:

# URL structure>
[project url]/[script path]/rest.php/v[version number]/

# Example URL: Get the history of the Main Page of English Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/rest.php/v1/page/Main_Page/history

Use conditional requests to optimize API calls

See Wikimedia APIs/Conditional requests.

Make cross-origin requests

For instructions on how to use cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) requests in your JavaScript code to communicate between wikis on different domains, see Special:MyLanguage/Manual:CORS.