API:Revisions

This page is part of the MediaWiki Action API documentation.

MediaWiki version:

≥ 1.8

GET request to obtain revision information of page(s).

API documentation

The following documentation is the output of Special:ApiHelp/query+revisions, automatically generated by the pre-release version of MediaWiki that is running on this site (MediaWiki.org).

prop=revisions (rv)

(main | query | revisions)

This module requires read rights.
This module can be used as a generator.
Source: MediaWiki
License: GPL-2.0-or-later

Get revision information.

May be used in several ways:

Get data about a set of pages (last revision), by setting titles or pageids.
Get revisions for one given page, by using titles or pageids with start, end, or limit.
Get data about a set of revisions by setting their IDs with revids.

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/API:Revisions

Specific parameters:

Other general parameters are available.

rvprop

Which properties to get for each revision:

ids: The ID of the revision.
flags: Revision flags (minor).
timestamp: The timestamp of the revision.
user: User that made the revision. If the user has been revision deleted, a userhidden property will be returned.
userid: User ID of the revision creator. If the user has been revision deleted, a userhidden property will be returned.
size: Length (bytes) of the revision.
slotsize: Length (bytes) of each revision slot.
sha1: SHA-1 (base 16) of the revision. If the content has been revision deleted, a sha1hidden property will be returned.
slotsha1: SHA-1 (base 16) of each revision slot. If the content has been revision deleted, a sha1hidden property will be returned.
contentmodel: Content model ID of each revision slot.
comment: Comment by the user for the revision. If the comment has been revision deleted, a commenthidden property will be returned.
parsedcomment: Parsed comment by the user for the revision. If the comment has been revision deleted, a commenthidden property will be returned.
content: Content of each revision slot. If the content has been revision deleted, a texthidden property will be returned. For performance reasons, if this option is used, rvlimit is enforced to 50.
tags: Tags for the revision.
roles: List content slot roles that exist in the revision.
parsetree: Deprecated. Use action=expandtemplates or action=parse instead. The XML parse tree of revision content (requires content model wikitext). For performance reasons, if this option is used, rvlimit is enforced to 50.

Values (separate with | or alternative): comment, content, contentmodel, flags, ids, parsedcomment, roles, sha1, size, slotsha1, slotsize, tags, timestamp, user, userid, parsetree

Default: ids|timestamp|flags|comment|user

rvslots

Which revision slots to return data for, when slot-related properties are included in rvprops. If omitted, data from the main slot will be returned in a backwards-compatible format.

Values (separate with | or alternative): main

To specify all values, use *.

rvcontentformat-{slot}

Content serialization format used for output of content.

This is a templated parameter. When making the request, {slot} in the parameter's name should be replaced with values of rvslots.

One of the following values: application/json, application/octet-stream, application/unknown, application/x-binary, text/css, text/javascript, text/plain, text/unknown, text/x-wiki, unknown/unknown

rvlimit

Limit how many revisions will be returned. If rvprop=content, rvprop=parsetree, rvdiffto or rvdifftotext is used, the limit is 50. If rvparse is used, the limit is 1.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

Type: integer or max

The value must be between 1 and 500.

rvexpandtemplates

Deprecated.

Use action=expandtemplates instead. Expand templates in revision content (requires rvprop=content).

Type: boolean (details)

rvgeneratexml

Deprecated.

Use action=expandtemplates or action=parse instead. Generate XML parse tree for revision content (requires rvprop=content).

Type: boolean (details)

rvparse

Deprecated.

Use action=parse instead. Parse revision content (requires rvprop=content). For performance reasons, if this option is used, rvlimit is enforced to 1.

Type: boolean (details)

rvsection

Only retrieve the content of the section with this identifier.

rvdiffto

Deprecated.

Use action=compare instead. Revision ID to diff each revision to. Use prev, next and cur for the previous, next and current revision respectively. For performance reasons, if this option is used, rvlimit is enforced to 50.

rvdifftotext

Deprecated.

Use action=compare instead. Text to diff each revision to. Only diffs a limited number of revisions. Overrides rvdiffto. If rvsection is set, only that section will be diffed against this text. For performance reasons, if this option is used, rvlimit is enforced to 50.

rvdifftotextpst

Deprecated.

Use action=compare instead. Perform a pre-save transform on the text before diffing it. Only valid when used with rvdifftotext.

Type: boolean (details)

rvcontentformat

Deprecated.

Serialization format used for rvdifftotext and expected for output of content.

One of the following values: application/json, application/octet-stream, application/unknown, application/x-binary, text/css, text/javascript, text/plain, text/unknown, text/x-wiki, unknown/unknown

rvstartid

Start enumeration from this revision's timestamp. The revision must exist, but need not belong to this page.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

Type: integer

rvendid

Stop enumeration at this revision's timestamp. The revision must exist, but need not belong to this page.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

Type: integer

rvstart

From which revision timestamp to start enumeration.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

Type: timestamp (allowed formats)

rvend

Enumerate up to this timestamp.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

Type: timestamp (allowed formats)

rvdir

In which direction to enumerate:

newer: List oldest first. Note: rvstart has to be before rvend.
older: List newest first (default). Note: rvstart has to be later than rvend.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

One of the following values: newer, older

Default: older

rvuser

Only include revisions made by user.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

Type: user, by any of username, IP, Temporary user, interwiki name (e.g. "prefix>ExampleName") and user ID (e.g. "#12345")

rvexcludeuser

Exclude revisions made by user.

May only be used with a single page (mode #2).

Type: user, by any of username, IP, Temporary user, interwiki name (e.g. "prefix>ExampleName") and user ID (e.g. "#12345")

rvtag

Only list revisions tagged with this tag.

rvcontinue

When more results are available, use this to continue. More detailed information on how to continue queries can be found on mediawiki.org.

Examples:

Get data with content for the last revision of titles API and MediaWiki.: api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=API|MediaWiki&rvslots=*&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment|content [open in sandbox]
Get last 5 revisions of the MediaWiki.: api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=MediaWiki&rvlimit=5&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment [open in sandbox]
Get first 5 revisions of the MediaWiki.: api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=MediaWiki&rvlimit=5&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment&rvdir=newer [open in sandbox]
Get first 5 revisions of the MediaWiki made after 2006-05-01.: api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=MediaWiki&rvlimit=5&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment&rvdir=newer&rvstart=2006-05-01T00:00:00Z [open in sandbox]
Get first 5 revisions of the MediaWiki that were not made by anonymous user 127.0.0.1.: api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=MediaWiki&rvlimit=5&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment&rvexcludeuser=127.0.0.1 [open in sandbox]
Get first 5 revisions of the MediaWiki that were made by the user MediaWiki default.: api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=MediaWiki&rvlimit=5&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment&rvuser=MediaWiki%20default [open in sandbox]

Example 1: Get revision data of several pages

GET request

api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=API|Main%20Page&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment&rvslots=main&formatversion=2 [try in ApiSandbox]

Request above is to obtain revision data of pages with titles API and Main Page

Response

{
    "batchcomplete": true,
    "query": {
        "pages": [
            {
                "pageid": 1423,
                "ns": 0,
                "title": "Main Page",
                "revisions": [
                    {
                        "user": "Bdk",
                        "timestamp": "2005-09-16T01:14:43Z",
                        "comment": "Reverted edit of 82.36.210.14, changed back to last version by Brion VIBBER"
                    }
                ]
            },
            {
                "pageid": 55332,
                "ns": 0,
                "title": "API",
                "revisions": [
                    {
                        "user": "Mainframe98",
                        "timestamp": "2017-08-19T18:23:42Z",
                        "comment": "Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Sankaran kumar|Sankaran kumar]] ([[User talk:Sankaran kumar|talk]]) to last revision by [[User:Shirayuki|Shirayuki]]"
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

Sample Code

Python

#!/usr/bin/python3

"""
    get_pages_revisions.py

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Revisions` module: Get revision data with content for pages
    with titles [[API]] and [[Main Page]]

    MIT License
"""

import requests

S = requests.Session()

URL = "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php"

PARAMS = {
    "action": "query",
    "prop": "revisions",
    "titles": "API|Main Page",
    "rvprop": "timestamp|user|comment|content",
    "rvslots": "main",
    "formatversion": "2",
    "format": "json"
}

R = S.get(url=URL, params=PARAMS)
DATA = R.json()

PAGES = DATA["query"]["pages"]

for page in PAGES:
    print(page["revisions"])

PHP

<?php
/*
    get_pages_revisions.php

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Revisions` module: Get revision data with content for pages with titles [[API]] and [[Main Page]]

    MIT License
*/

$endPoint = "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php";
$params = [
    "action" => "query",
    "prop" => "revisions",
    "titles" => "API|Main Page",
    "rvprop" => "timestamp|user|comment|content",
    "rvslots" => "main",
    "formatversion" => "2",
    "format" => "json"
];

$url = $endPoint . "?" . http_build_query( $params );

$ch = curl_init( $url );
curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
$output = curl_exec( $ch );
curl_close( $ch );

$result = json_decode( $output, true );

foreach( $result["query"]["pages"] as $k => $v ) {
    var_dump( $v["revisions"] );
}

JavaScript

/*
    get_pages_revisions.js

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Revisions` module: Get revision data with content for pages with titles [[API]] and [[Main Page]]

    MIT License
*/

var url = "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php";

var params = {
    action: "query",
    prop: "revisions",
    titles: "API|Main Page",
    rvprop: "timestamp|user|comment|content",
    rvslots: "main",
    formatversion: "2",
    format: "json"
};

url = url + "?origin=*";
Object.keys(params).forEach(function(key){url += "&" + key + "=" + params[key];});

fetch(url)
    .then(function(response){return response.json();})
    .then(function(response) {
        var pages = response.query.pages;
        for (var p in pages) {
            console.log(pages[p].revisions);
        }
    })
    .catch(function(error){console.log(error);});

MediaWiki JS

/*
	get_pages_revisions.js

	MediaWiki API Demos
	Demo of `Revisions` module: Get revision data with content for pages with
	titles [[API]] and [[Main Page]]

	MIT License
*/

var params = {
		action: 'query',
		prop: 'revisions',
		titles: 'API|Main Page',
		rvprop: 'timestamp|user|comment|content',
		rvslots: 'main',
		formatversion: '2',
		format: 'json'
	},
	api = new mw.Api();

api.get( params ).done( function ( data ) {
	var pages = data.query.pages,
		p;
	for ( p in pages ) {
		console.log( pages[ p ].revisions );
	}
} );

Example 2: Get last five revisions of a page filtered by date and user

GET request

api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=API:Geosearch&rvlimit=5&rvslots=main&rvprop=timestamp|user|comment&rvdir=newer&rvstart=2018-07-01T00:00:00Z&rvexcludeuser=SSethi_(WMF) [try in ApiSandbox]

Request above is to obtain data for the last five revisions of the page API:Geosearch made after the 1st of July 2018, i.e. 2018-07-01 excluding changes made by the user SSethi (WMF)

Response

{
    "batchcomplete": "",
    "query": {
        "pages": {
            "812323": {
                "pageid": 812323,
                "ns": 104,
                "title": "API:Geosearch",
                "revisions": [
                    {
                        "user": "Shirayuki",
                        "timestamp": "2018-11-04T05:25:34Z",
                        "comment": "translation tweaks"
                    },
                    {
                        "user": "Shirayuki",
                        "timestamp": "2018-11-25T06:06:50Z",
                        "comment": "translation tweaks"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Sample Code

get_filtered_page_revisions.py

Python

#!/usr/bin/python3

"""
    get_filtered_page_revisions.py

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Revisions` module: Get data including content of last 5 revisions
    of the title [[API:Geosearch]] made after the 1st of July 2018 i.e 2018-07-01
    excluding changes made by the user SSethi (WMF)

    MIT License
"""

import requests

S = requests.Session()

URL = "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php"

PARAMS = {
    "action": "query",
    "prop": "revisions",
    "titles": "API:Geosearch",
    "rvlimit": "5",
    "rvprop": "timestamp|user|comment|content",
    "rvdir": "newer",
    "rvstart": "2018-07-01T00:00:00Z",
    "rvexcludeuser": "SSethi (WMF)",
    "rvslots": "main",
    "formatversion": "2",
    "format": "json"
}

R = S.get(url=URL, params=PARAMS)
DATA = R.json()

PAGES = DATA["query"]["pages"]

for page in PAGES:
    print(page["revisions"])

PHP

<?php
/*
    get_filtered_page_revisions.php

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Revisions` module: Get data including content of last 5 revisions of the title [[API:Geosearch]] made after July 1st 2018 excluding changes made by the user SSethi (WMF)

    MIT License
*/

$endPoint = "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php";
$params = [
    "action" => "query",
    "prop" => "revisions",
    "titles" => "API:Geosearch",
    "rvlimit" => "5",
    "rvprop" => "timestamp|user|comment|content",
    "rvdir" => "newer",
    "rvstart" => "2018-07-01T00:00:00Z",
    "rvexcludeuser" => "SSethi (WMF)",
    "rvslots" => "main",
    "formatversion" => "2",
    "format" => "json"
];

$url = $endPoint . "?" . http_build_query( $params );

$ch = curl_init( $url );
curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
$output = curl_exec( $ch );
curl_close( $ch );

$result = json_decode( $output, true );

foreach( $result["query"]["pages"] as $k => $v ) {
    var_dump( $v["revisions"] );
}

JavaScript

/*
    get_filtered_page_revisions.js

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Revisions` module: Get data including content of last 5 revisions of the title [[API:Geosearch]] made after July 1st 2018 excluding changes made by the user SSethi (WMF)

    MIT License
*/

var url = "https://www.mediawiki.org/w/api.php";

var params = {
    action: "query",
    prop: "revisions",
    titles: "API:Geosearch",
    rvlimit: "5",
    rvprop: "timestamp|user|comment|content",
    rvdir: "newer",
    rvstart: "2018-07-01T00:00:00Z",
    rvexcludeuser: "SSethi (WMF)",
    rvslots: "main",
    formatversion: "2",
    format: "json"
};

url = url + "?origin=*";
Object.keys(params).forEach(function(key){url += "&" + key + "=" + params[key];});

fetch(url)
    .then(function(response){return response.json();})
    .then(function(response) {
        var pages = response.query.pages;
        for (var p in pages) {
            console.log(pages[p].revisions);
        }
    })
    .catch(function(error){console.log(error);});

MediaWiki JS

/*
	get_filtered_page_revisions.js

	MediaWiki API Demos
	Demo of `Revisions` module: Get data including content of last 5 revisions of the
	title [[API:Geosearch]] made after July 1st 2018 excluding changes made by the user SSethi (WMF)

	MIT License
*/

var params = {
		action: 'query',
		prop: 'revisions',
		titles: 'API:Geosearch',
		rvlimit: '5',
		rvprop: 'timestamp|user|comment|content',
		rvdir: 'newer',
		rvstart: '2018-07-01T00:00:00Z',
		rvexcludeuser: 'SSethi (WMF)',
		rvslots: 'main',
		formatversion: '2',
		format: 'json'
	},
	api = new mw.Api();

api.get( params ).done( function ( data ) {
	var pages = data.query.pages,
		p;
	for ( p in pages ) {
		console.log( pages[ p ].revisions );
	}
} );

Example 3: Get last revision of a page, following any redirects

GET request

api.php?action=query&prop=revisions&titles=AntiSpoof&formatversion=2&redirects=1 [try in ApiSandbox]

Request above is to obtain revision data of the page AntiSpoof , following any redirects. Since AntiSpoof redirects to Extension:AntiSpoof , it will actually return revision data for Extension:AntiSpoof .

Response

{
    "batchcomplete": true,
    "query": {
        "redirects": [
            {
                "from": "AntiSpoof",
                "to": "Extension:AntiSpoof"
            }
        ],
        "pages": [
            {
                "pageid": 8993,
                "ns": 102,
                "title": "Extension:AntiSpoof",
                "revisions": [
                    {
                        "revid": 3419761,
                        "parentid": 3053177,
                        "minor": true,
                        "user": "Shirayuki",
                        "timestamp": "2019-09-22T05:14:46Z",
                        "comment": ""
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    }
}

Possible errors

Code	Info
rvdiffto	rvdiffto must be set to "prev", "next", "cur" or a non-negative number.
rvnosuchrevid	There is no revision with ID ID.
rvnosuchsection	There is no section section in rID
rvrevids	The `revids` parameter may not be used with the list options (`rvlimit`, `rvstartid`, `rvendid`, `rvdir=newer`, `rvuser`, `rvexcludeuser`, `rvstart`, and `rvend`).
rvmultpages	`titles`, `pageids` or a generator was used to supply multiple pages, but the `rvlimit`, `rvstartid`, `rvendid`, `rvdir=newer`, `rvuser`, `rvexcludeuser`, `rvstart`, and `rvend` parameters may only be used on a single page.
rvaccessdenied	The current user is not allowed to read title
rvbadparams	start and startid cannot be used together
rvbadparams	end and endid cannot be used together
rvbadparams	user and excludeuser cannot be used together
invalidparammix	`titles`, `pageids` or a generator was used to supply multiple pages, but the `rvlimit`, `rvstartid`, `rvendid`, `rvdir=newer`, `rvuser`, `rvexcludeuser`, `rvstart`, and `rvend` parameters may only be used on a single page.
accessdenied	You are not allowed to view title.
badid_startid	No revision was found for parameter `startid`.
badid_endid	No revision was found for parameter `endid`.

Additional notes

Pages are specified either by pageids or titles parameter. Individual revisions are specified by revids parameter. See API:Query .
Slots can be specified with the rvslots parameter. When the parameter is not present, the API will only return information about the main slot.
When using parameters marked as (enum), titles= must have only one title listed.
This module couldn't be used as a generator prior to version 1.25.
Diff functionality of this module was deprecated in version 1.30 and got moved to API:Compare .
The code for this query is located on the git repository at ApiQueryRevisions.php.

Parameter history

v1.32: Introduced rvslots,roles Deprecated rvcontentformat
v1.30: Deprecated parsetree,rvprop,rvexpandtemplates,rvparse,rvdiffto,rvdifftotext,rvdifftotextpst
v1.27: Introduced rvdifftotextpst
v1.26: Introduced parsetree Deprecated rvgeneratexml
v1.24: Deprecated rvtoken
v1.21: Introduced contentmodel,rvcontentformat
v1.19: Introduced sha1,rvparse
v1.17: Introduced userid,rvparse
v1.16: Introduced parsedcomment,tags,rvdifftotext,rvtag
v1.15: Introduced rvdiffto,rvcontinue
v1.14: Introduced rvgeneratexml
v1.13: Introduced rvsection
v1.12: Introduced rvexpandtemplates,rvtoken
v1.11: Introduced ids,flags,size,rvuser,rvexcludeuser

API:Revisions

Contents

API documentation

prop=revisions (rv)

Example 1: Get revision data of several pages

GET request

Response

Sample Code

Python

PHP

JavaScript

MediaWiki JS

Example 2: Get last five revisions of a page filtered by date and user

GET request

Response

Sample Code

Python

PHP

JavaScript

MediaWiki JS

Example 3: Get last revision of a page, following any redirects

GET request

Response

Possible errors

Additional notes

Parameter history

See also