Wikidata · API Governance Rules

Wikidata API Rules

Spectral linting rules defining API design standards and conventions for Wikidata.

37 Rules error 12 warn 20 info 5
Generated by API Evangelist Written by API Evangelist tooling for Wikidata's APIs. It is a starting point, not a ruleset Wikidata publishes or enforces.
View Rules File View on GitHub

Rule Categories

delete examples get info no openapi operation parameter path paths request response schema security servers tags

Rules

error
info-title-required
API info must have a title
$.info
warn
info-description-required
API info must have a description with sufficient detail
$.info
error
info-version-required
API info must have a version
$.info
warn
info-contact-required
API info should have contact information
$.info
warn
info-license-required
Open data APIs must declare their license (CC0 for Wikidata)
$.info
error
openapi-version-3
All Wikidata specs must use OpenAPI 3.x
$
error
servers-defined
Servers array must be defined
$
error
servers-https
Server URLs must use HTTPS
$.servers[*].url
warn
servers-description
Each server must have a description
$.servers[*]
warn
paths-kebab-case
Path segments must use kebab-case
$.paths[*]~
warn
paths-no-trailing-slash
Paths must not end with a trailing slash
$.paths[*]~
error
operation-summary-required
All operations must have a summary
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
warn
operation-description-required
All operations should have a description
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
error
operation-operation-id-required
All operations must have an operationId
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
warn
operation-operation-id-camel-case
operationId must use camelCase
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options].operationId
warn
operation-tags-required
All operations must have at least one tag
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
info
operation-summary-wikidata-prefix
Operation summaries should start with provider name "Wikidata"
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options].summary
warn
tags-global-defined
Global tags array must be defined
$
warn
tags-description-required
Global tags must have descriptions
$.tags[*]
warn
parameter-description-required
All parameters must have a description
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete].parameters[*]
error
parameter-schema-required
All parameters must define a schema
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete].parameters[*]
error
request-body-content-required
Request bodies must define content
$.paths[*][post,put,patch].requestBody
error
response-success-required
Every operation must define at least one 2xx response
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete]
error
response-description-required
All responses must have a description
$.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete].responses[*]
warn
response-401-for-authenticated
Authenticated operations should define a 401 response
$.paths[*][post,put,patch,delete]
info
schema-description-required
Top-level component schemas should have a description
$.components.schemas[*]
warn
schema-properties-types
Schema properties should define a type
$.components.schemas[*].properties[*]
warn
security-schemes-defined
Security schemes must be defined in components
$.components
info
security-scheme-description
Security schemes should have descriptions
$.components.securitySchemes[*]
error
get-no-request-body
GET operations must not have a request body
$.paths[*].get
info
delete-no-required-body
DELETE operations should return 200 or 204
$.paths[*].delete
warn
no-empty-descriptions
Descriptions must not be empty strings
$..description
info
examples-encouraged
Schema properties should have example values
$.components.schemas[*].properties[*]
warn
servers-expected-domain
Server URLs should be on the wikidata.org domain.
$.servers[*].url
warn
path-params-casing
Path parameters should be snake_case (the dominant convention in this API).
$.paths[*].parameters[?(@.in=='path')].name
warn
schema-names-casing
Component schema names should be PascalCase (the dominant convention in this API).
$.components.schemas
warn
schema-properties-casing
Schema properties should be snake_case (the dominant convention in this API).
$.components.schemas[*].properties

Spectral Ruleset

Raw ↑ 
# authorship: generated by API Evangelist tooling. Stamped 2026-08-18
# on the file's own generator header (roadmap#64). An unmarked file is
# NOT assumed to be ours -- absence of evidence was never stamped.
x-method: generated
# wikidata — Spectral ruleset (strengthened)
# Plain Spectral. Existing hand-authored rules preserved; measured rules added
# from this provider's own OpenAPI conventions by strengthen_ruleset.py,
# then self-validated against the spec.
#
# Provenance:
#   - servers-https-only: 100% of servers already https (error)
#   - servers-expected-domain: 2/2 servers on wikidata.org
#   - path-params-casing: snake @ 100% (n=13)
#   - operationid-casing: camel @ 100% (n=11)
#   - schema-names-casing: pascal @ 100% (n=8)
#   - schema-properties-casing: snake @ 100% (n=39)
#   - security: neither global nor consistently per-op — schemes-defined only
#   - merge: kept 33 existing, added 4 measured, upgraded 0
#   - added: servers-expected-domain, path-params-casing, schema-names-casing, schema-properties-casing
extends:
  - spectral:oas
rules:
  info-title-required:
    description: API info must have a title
    severity: error
    given: $.info
    then:
      field: title
      function: truthy
  info-description-required:
    description: API info must have a description with sufficient detail
    severity: warn
    given: $.info
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  info-version-required:
    description: API info must have a version
    severity: error
    given: $.info
    then:
      field: version
      function: truthy
  info-contact-required:
    description: API info should have contact information
    severity: warn
    given: $.info
    then:
      field: contact
      function: truthy
  info-license-required:
    description: Open data APIs must declare their license (CC0 for Wikidata)
    severity: warn
    given: $.info
    then:
      field: license
      function: truthy
  openapi-version-3:
    description: All Wikidata specs must use OpenAPI 3.x
    severity: error
    given: $
    then:
      field: openapi
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        match: ^3\.
  servers-defined:
    description: Servers array must be defined
    severity: error
    given: $
    then:
      field: servers
      function: truthy
  servers-https:
    description: Server URLs must use HTTPS
    severity: error
    given: $.servers[*].url
    then:
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        match: ^https://
  servers-description:
    description: Each server must have a description
    severity: warn
    given: $.servers[*]
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  paths-kebab-case:
    description: Path segments must use kebab-case
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*]~
    then:
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        match: ^(/[a-z0-9{}-]+((/[a-z0-9{}-]+)*)?)$
  paths-no-trailing-slash:
    description: Paths must not end with a trailing slash
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*]~
    then:
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        notMatch: /$
  operation-summary-required:
    description: All operations must have a summary
    severity: error
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
    then:
      field: summary
      function: truthy
  operation-description-required:
    description: All operations should have a description
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  operation-operation-id-required:
    description: All operations must have an operationId
    severity: error
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
    then:
      field: operationId
      function: truthy
  operation-operation-id-camel-case:
    description: operationId must use camelCase
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options].operationId
    then:
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        match: ^[a-z][a-zA-Z0-9]*$
  operation-tags-required:
    description: All operations must have at least one tag
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options]
    then:
      field: tags
      function: truthy
  operation-summary-wikidata-prefix:
    description: Operation summaries should start with provider name "Wikidata"
    severity: info
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete,head,options].summary
    then:
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        match: '^Wikidata '
  tags-global-defined:
    description: Global tags array must be defined
    severity: warn
    given: $
    then:
      field: tags
      function: truthy
  tags-description-required:
    description: Global tags must have descriptions
    severity: warn
    given: $.tags[*]
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  parameter-description-required:
    description: All parameters must have a description
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete].parameters[*]
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  parameter-schema-required:
    description: All parameters must define a schema
    severity: error
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete].parameters[*]
    then:
      field: schema
      function: truthy
  request-body-content-required:
    description: Request bodies must define content
    severity: error
    given: $.paths[*][post,put,patch].requestBody
    then:
      field: content
      function: truthy
  response-success-required:
    description: Every operation must define at least one 2xx response
    severity: error
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete]
    then:
      field: responses
      function: schema
      functionOptions:
        schema:
          type: object
          minProperties: 1
  response-description-required:
    description: All responses must have a description
    severity: error
    given: $.paths[*][get,post,put,patch,delete].responses[*]
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  response-401-for-authenticated:
    description: Authenticated operations should define a 401 response
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*][post,put,patch,delete]
    then:
      field: responses
      function: schema
      functionOptions:
        schema:
          type: object
  schema-description-required:
    description: Top-level component schemas should have a description
    severity: info
    given: $.components.schemas[*]
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  schema-properties-types:
    description: Schema properties should define a type
    severity: warn
    given: $.components.schemas[*].properties[*]
    then:
      field: type
      function: truthy
  security-schemes-defined:
    description: Security schemes must be defined in components
    severity: warn
    given: $.components
    then:
      field: securitySchemes
      function: truthy
  security-scheme-description:
    description: Security schemes should have descriptions
    severity: info
    given: $.components.securitySchemes[*]
    then:
      field: description
      function: truthy
  get-no-request-body:
    description: GET operations must not have a request body
    severity: error
    given: $.paths[*].get
    then:
      field: requestBody
      function: falsy
  delete-no-required-body:
    description: DELETE operations should return 200 or 204
    severity: info
    given: $.paths[*].delete
    then:
      field: responses
      function: truthy
  no-empty-descriptions:
    description: Descriptions must not be empty strings
    severity: warn
    given: $..description
    then:
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        match: .+
  examples-encouraged:
    description: Schema properties should have example values
    severity: info
    given: $.components.schemas[*].properties[*]
    then:
      field: example
      function: truthy
  servers-expected-domain:
    description: Server URLs should be on the wikidata.org domain.
    severity: warn
    given: $.servers[*].url
    then:
      function: pattern
      functionOptions:
        match: wikidata\.org
  path-params-casing:
    description: Path parameters should be snake_case (the dominant convention in this API).
    severity: warn
    given: $.paths[*].parameters[?(@.in=='path')].name
    then:
      function: casing
      functionOptions:
        type: snake
  schema-names-casing:
    description: Component schema names should be PascalCase (the dominant convention in this API).
    severity: warn
    given: $.components.schemas
    then:
      field: '@key'
      function: casing
      functionOptions:
        type: pascal
  schema-properties-casing:
    description: Schema properties should be snake_case (the dominant convention in this API).
    severity: warn
    given: $.components.schemas[*].properties
    then:
      field: '@key'
      function: casing
      functionOptions:
        type: snake

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