Wikipedia / MediaWiki Search API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: MediaWiki Core REST Search API
  description: 'MediaWiki Core REST API exposed by every MediaWiki installation under /w/rest.php/v1/. Provides page CRUD, search, files, history, revisions, and content transforms. On Wikimedia projects this endpoint serves Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikibooks, etc. in 300+ languages.


    All endpoints require a meaningful User-Agent header; write endpoints require OAuth 2.0 (or a logged-in session).'
  version: 1.0.0
  x-generated-from: documentation
  x-source-url: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:REST_API/Reference
  x-last-validated: '2026-05-29'
  contact:
    name: Wikimedia Foundation
    url: https://api.wikimedia.org/wiki/Core_REST_API
  license:
    name: CC BY-SA 4.0
    url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
servers:
- url: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/rest.php/v1
  description: English Wikipedia
- url: https://{lang}.wikipedia.org/w/rest.php/v1
  description: Per-language Wikipedia (en, de, fr, es, ja, zh, ...)
  variables:
    lang:
      default: en
      description: Language subdomain
- url: https://api.wikimedia.org/core/v1/wikipedia/{lang}
  description: Wikimedia API Gateway equivalent of the Core REST API
  variables:
    lang:
      default: en
      description: Language code
tags:
- name: Search
  description: Title and full-text search
paths:
  /search/page:
    get:
      operationId: searchPages
      summary: MediaWiki Core REST Search Page Titles and Contents
      description: Full-text search of wiki page titles and contents.
      tags:
      - Search
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
      parameters:
      - name: q
        in: query
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
        description: Search query
        example: climate change
      - name: limit
        in: query
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          maximum: 100
          default: 50
        description: Result count limit
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful response
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResponse'
        '404':
          description: Not found
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
  /search/title:
    get:
      operationId: searchTitles
      summary: MediaWiki Core REST Search Page Titles
      description: Auto-complete search of wiki page titles (prefix match).
      tags:
      - Search
      x-microcks-operation:
        delay: 0
        dispatcher: FALLBACK
      parameters:
      - name: q
        in: query
        required: true
        schema:
          type: string
        description: Title prefix
        example: Earth
      - name: limit
        in: query
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          maximum: 100
          default: 50
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful response
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResponse'
        '404':
          description: Not found
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
components:
  schemas:
    SearchResult:
      type: object
      description: A search result page entry.
      properties:
        id:
          type: integer
        key:
          type: string
        title:
          type: string
        excerpt:
          type: string
          description: HTML snippet with <span class="searchmatch"> highlights
        matched_title:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
        description:
          type:
          - string
          - 'null'
        thumbnail:
          type:
          - object
          - 'null'
          properties:
            url:
              type: string
              format: uri
            width:
              type: integer
            height:
              type: integer
            mimetype:
              type: string
              example: image/jpeg
    Error:
      type: object
      properties:
        errorKey:
          type: string
          example: rest-no-match
        messageTranslations:
          type: object
          additionalProperties:
            type: string
        httpCode:
          type: integer
          example: 404
        httpReason:
          type: string
          example: Not Found
    SearchResponse:
      type: object
      properties:
        pages:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResult'
  securitySchemes:
    BearerAuth:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: OAuth 2.0 bearer token issued via api.wikimedia.org. Required for write operations.