Wikipedia-API

Warnings

• breaking The `user_agent` parameter became mandatory in the `Wikipedia` and `AsyncWikipedia` constructors starting from version 0.6.0. Failing to provide it will raise an error.
  Fix: Always pass a descriptive `user_agent` string as the first argument to the constructor, e.g., `wikipediaapi.Wikipedia(user_agent='MyProjectName (contact@example.com)', ...)`.
• breaking The position of the `variant` parameter in the `Wikipedia` and `AsyncWikipedia` constructors changed to the third argument in versions 0.7.x. If you were explicitly passing `variant` by position in older versions, this will break.
  Fix: Ensure `variant` is passed as a keyword argument (e.g., `wikipediaapi.Wikipedia(..., language='en', variant='zh-tw')`) or as the third positional argument if maintaining positional arguments.
• gotcha When using the `AsyncWikipedia` client, all data-fetching attributes (e.g., `summary`, `text`, `sections`, `links`, `fullurl`, `pageid`) are coroutines and must be `awaited`. Failing to do so will result in a coroutine object instead of the expected data.
  Fix: Prepend `await` to calls for data-fetching attributes, e.g., `await page.summary` instead of `page.summary`.
• gotcha Providing an inappropriate or missing `User-Agent` string can lead to your requests being blocked by Wikimedia servers. It's essential to follow Wikimedia's User-Agent policy, including providing a project name and contact information.
  Fix: Use a descriptive `user_agent` like `'MyProjectName/1.0 (https://myproject.com; contact@example.com)'` or `'MyProjectName (contact@example.com)'`.
• gotcha Excessive or rapid requests to the Wikipedia API, especially without proper delays, can lead to your IP being temporarily or permanently blocked by Wikimedia's servers due to rate limiting.
  Fix: Implement rate limiting or introduce delays between requests, particularly for automated scraping or high-volume data retrieval. Consider using `time.sleep()` between calls if performing many requests.

Install

• pip install wikipedia-api Install stable version

Imports

• Wikipedia

  from wikipediaapi import Wikipedia

  For the synchronous client.
• AsyncWikipedia

  from wikipediaapi import AsyncWikipedia

  For the asynchronous client.

Quickstart

Demonstrates how to initialize the synchronous Wikipedia client, retrieve a page by title, check its existence, and access its summary, URL, and sections. A descriptive user_agent is mandatory.

import wikipediaapi
import os

# It's crucial to provide a User-Agent that identifies your project.
# Replace 'MyProjectName (contact@example.com)' with your actual project name and contact info.
# See https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User-Agent_policy
wiki_wiki = wikipediaapi.Wikipedia(
    user_agent=os.environ.get('WIKIPEDIA_USER_AGENT', 'MyPythonApp/1.0 (contact@example.com)'),
    language='en'
)

page_py = wiki_wiki.page('Python (programming language)')

if page_py.exists():
    print(f"Page title: {page_py.title}")
    print(f"Summary: {page_py.summary[0:200]}...")
    print(f"Full URL: {page_py.fullurl}")
    # Example of accessing sections
    for s in page_py.sections:
        print(f"Section: {s.title}")
        break # Just print the first section title for brevity
else:
    print(f"Page 'Python (programming language)' does not exist.")