Wikimore

This page is part of the MediaWiki Action API documentation.

MediaWiki version:

≥ 1.14

POST request to add or remove pages from a watchlist.

API documentation

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

action=watch

(main | watch)

This module requires read rights.
This module requires write rights.
This module only accepts POST requests.
Source: MediaWiki
License: GPL-2.0-or-later

Add or remove pages from the current user's watchlist.

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

Specific parameters:

Other general parameters are available.

title

Deprecated.

The page to (un)watch. Use titles instead.

expiry

Expiry timestamp to be applied to all given pages. Omit this parameter entirely to leave any current expiries unchanged.

Type: expiry (details)

unwatch

If set the page will be unwatched rather than watched.

Type: boolean (details)

continue

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

titles

A list of titles to work on.

Separate values with | or alternative.

Maximum number of values is 50 (500 for clients that are allowed higher limits).

pageids

A list of page IDs to work on.

Type: list of integers

Separate values with | or alternative.

Maximum number of values is 50 (500 for clients that are allowed higher limits).

revids

A list of revision IDs to work on. Note that almost all query modules will convert revision IDs to the corresponding page ID and work on the latest revision instead. Only prop=revisions uses exact revisions for its response.

Type: list of integers

Separate values with | or alternative.

Maximum number of values is 50 (500 for clients that are allowed higher limits).

generator

Get the list of pages to work on by executing the specified query module.

Note: Generator parameter names must be prefixed with a "g", see examples.

allcategories: Enumerate all categories.
alldeletedrevisions: List all deleted revisions by a user or in a namespace.
allfileusages: List all file usages, including non-existing.
allimages: Enumerate all images sequentially.
alllinks: Enumerate all links that point to a given namespace.
allpages: Enumerate all pages sequentially in a given namespace.
allredirects: List all redirects to a namespace.
allrevisions: List all revisions.
alltransclusions: List all transclusions (pages embedded using {{x}}), including non-existing.
backlinks: Find all pages that link to the given page.
categories: List all categories the pages belong to.
categorymembers: List all pages in a given category.
deletedrevisions: Get deleted revision information.
duplicatefiles: List all files that are duplicates of the given files based on hash values.
embeddedin: Find all pages that embed (transclude) the given title.
exturlusage: Enumerate pages that contain a given URL.
fileusage: Find all pages that use the given files.
images: Returns all files contained on the given pages.
imageusage: Find all pages that use the given image title.
iwbacklinks: Find all pages that link to the given interwiki link.
langbacklinks: Find all pages that link to the given language link.
links: Returns all links from the given pages.
linkshere: Find all pages that link to the given pages.
messagecollection: Query MessageCollection about translations.
mostviewed: Lists the most viewed pages (based on last day's pageview count).
pageswithprop: List all pages using a given page property.
prefixsearch: Perform a prefix search for page titles.
protectedtitles: List all titles protected from creation.
querypage: Get a list provided by a QueryPage-based special page.
random: Get a set of random pages.
recentchanges: Enumerate recent changes.
redirects: Returns all redirects to the given pages.
revisions: Get revision information.
search: Perform a full text search.
templates: Returns all pages transcluded on the given pages.
transcludedin: Find all pages that transclude the given pages.
watchlist: Get recent changes to pages in the current user's watchlist.
watchlistraw: Get all pages on the current user's watchlist.
wblistentityusage: Returns all pages that use the given entity IDs.
readinglistentries: Internal. List the pages of a certain list.

One of the following values: allcategories, alldeletedrevisions, allfileusages, allimages, alllinks, allpages, allredirects, allrevisions, alltransclusions, backlinks, categories, categorymembers, deletedrevisions, duplicatefiles, embeddedin, exturlusage, fileusage, images, imageusage, iwbacklinks, langbacklinks, links, linkshere, messagecollection, mostviewed, pageswithprop, prefixsearch, protectedtitles, querypage, random, recentchanges, redirects, revisions, search, templates, transcludedin, watchlist, watchlistraw, wblistentityusage, readinglistentries

redirects

Automatically resolve redirects in titles, pageids, and revids, and in pages returned by generator.

Type: boolean (details)

converttitles

Convert titles to other variants if necessary. Only works if the wiki's content language supports variant conversion. Languages that support variant conversion include ban, crh, en, gan, iu, ku, mni, sh, shi, sr, tg, tly, uz, wuu, zgh and zh.

Type: boolean (details)

token

A "watch" token retrieved from action=query&meta=tokens

This parameter is required.

Examples:

Watch the page MediaWiki.: api.php?action=watch&titles=MediaWiki&token=123ABC [open in sandbox]
Watch the pages MediaWiki, Foo, and Bar for one month.: api.php?action=watch&titles=MediaWiki|Foo|Bar&expiry=1%20month&token=123ABC [open in sandbox]
Unwatch the page MediaWiki.: api.php?action=watch&titles=MediaWiki&unwatch=&token=123ABC [open in sandbox]
Watch the first few pages in the main namespace.: api.php?action=watch&generator=allpages&gapnamespace=0&token=123ABC [open in sandbox]

Example

Making any POST request is a multi-step process:

Log in, via one of the methods described on API:Login .
GET a CSRF token .
api.php?action=query&format=json&meta=tokens&type=watch [try in ApiSandbox]

The sample query above is for wikis running MediaWiki 1.24+.

For wikis running earlier versions of MediaWiki, tokens for this operation can be obtained via action=tokens with type=watch (MediaWiki 1.20+), or by using the following query:

api.php?action=query&prop=info&intoken=watch&titles=samplePage [try in ApiSandbox]
Send a POST request, with the CSRF token, to take action on a page.

The sample code below covers the final step in detail.

POST request

Add an article to your watchlist

api.php?action=watch&format=json&titles=Stone%20Forest&token=sampleWatchToken [try in ApiSandbox]

Response

{
    "batchcomplete": "",
    "watch": [
        {
            "title": "Stone Forest",
            "watched": ""
        }
    ]
}

Sample code

Python

#!/usr/bin/python3

"""
    watch.py

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Watch` module: Add a page to your watchlist
    MIT license
"""

import requests

S = requests.Session()

URL = "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php"

# Step 1: Retrieve a login token
PARAMS_1 = {
    "action": "query",
    "meta": "tokens",
    "type": "login",
    "format": "json"
}

R = S.get(url=URL, params=PARAMS_1)
DATA = R.json()

LOGIN_TOKEN = DATA["query"]["tokens"]["logintoken"]

# Step 2: Send a post request to log in. For this login
# method, Obtain credentials by first visiting
# https://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BotPasswords
# See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Login for more
# information on log in methods.
PARAMS_2 = {
    "action": "login",
    "lgname": "username",
    "lgpassword": "password",
    "format": "json",
    "lgtoken": LOGIN_TOKEN
}

R = S.post(URL, data=PARAMS_2)

# Step 3: While logged in, retrieve a CSRF token
PARAMS_3 = {
    "action": "query",
    "meta": "tokens",
    "type": "watch",
    "format": "json"
}

R = S.get(url=URL, params=PARAMS_3)
DATA = R.json()

CSRF_TOKEN = DATA["query"]["tokens"]["watchtoken"]

# Step 4: Post request to add a page to your watchlist
PARAMS_4 = {
    "action": "watch",
    "titles": "Stone forest",
    "format": "json",
    "token": CSRF_TOKEN,
}

R = S.post(URL, data=PARAMS_4)
DATA = R.json()

print(DATA)

PHP

<?php

/*
    watch.php

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Watch` module: Add a page to your watchlist
    MIT license
*/

$endPoint = "https://test.wikipedia.org/w/api.php";

$login_Token = getLoginToken(); // Step 1
loginRequest( $login_Token ); // Step 2
$watch_Token = getWatchToken(); // Step 3
editWatchlist( $watch_Token ); // Step 4

// Step 1: GET request to fetch login token
function getLoginToken() {
	global $endPoint;

	$params1 = [
		"action" => "query",
		"meta" => "tokens",
		"type" => "login",
		"format" => "json"
	];

	$url = $endPoint . "?" . http_build_query( $params1 );

	$ch = curl_init( $url );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$output = curl_exec( $ch );
	curl_close( $ch );

	$result = json_decode( $output, true );
	return $result["query"]["tokens"]["logintoken"];
}

// Step 2: POST request to log in. Use of main account for login is not
// supported. Obtain credentials via Special:BotPasswords
// (https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:BotPasswords) for lgname & lgpassword
function loginRequest( $logintoken ) {
	global $endPoint;

	$params2 = [
		"action" => "login",
		"lgname" => "bot_user_name",
		"lgpassword" => "bot_password",
		"lgtoken" => $logintoken,
		"format" => "json"
	];

	$ch = curl_init();

	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_URL, $endPoint );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POST, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query( $params2 ) );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$output = curl_exec( $ch );
	curl_close( $ch );
}

// Step 3: GET request to fetch watch token
function getWatchToken() {
	global $endPoint;

	$params3 = [
		"action" => "query",
		"meta" => "tokens",
		"type" => "watch",
		"format" => "json"
	];

	$url = $endPoint . "?" . http_build_query( $params3 );

	$ch = curl_init( $url );

	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$output = curl_exec( $ch );
	curl_close( $ch );

	$result = json_decode( $output, true );
	return $result["query"]["tokens"]["watchtoken"];
}

// Step 4: POST request to add a page to your watchlist
function editWatchlist( $watch_Token ) {
	global $endPoint;

	$params4 = [
		"action" => "watch",
		"titles" => "Sandbox",
		"token" => $watch_Token,
		"format" => "json"
	];

	$ch = curl_init();

	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_URL, $endPoint );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POST, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query( $params4 ) );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$output = curl_exec( $ch );
	curl_close( $ch );

	echo( $output );
}

JavaScript

/*  
    watch.js
 
    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `Watch` module: Add a page to your watchlist

    MIT license
*/

var request = require('request').defaults({jar: true}),
    url = "https://test.wikipedia.org/w/api.php";

// Step 1: GET request to fetch login token
function getLoginToken() {
    var params_0 = {
        action: "query",
        meta: "tokens",
        type: "login",
        format: "json"
    };

    request.get({ url: url, qs: params_0 }, function (error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        var data = JSON.parse(body);
        loginRequest(data.query.tokens.logintoken);
    });
}

// Step 2: POST request to log in. 
// Use of main account for login is not
// supported. Obtain credentials via Special:BotPasswords
// (https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:BotPasswords) for lgname & lgpassword
function loginRequest(login_token) {
    var params_1 = {
        action: "login",
        lgname: "bot_username",
        lgpassword: "bot_password",
        lgtoken: login_token,
        format: "json"
    };

    request.post({ url: url, form: params_1 }, function (error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        getCsrfToken();
    });
}

// Step 3: GET request to fetch watch token
function getCsrfToken() {
    var params_2 = {
        action: "query",
        meta: "tokens",
        type: "watch",
        format: "json"
    };

    request.get({ url: url, qs: params_2 }, function(error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        var data = JSON.parse(body);
        watch(data.query.tokens.watchtoken);
    });
}

// Step 4: POST request to add a page to your watchlist
function watch(watch_token) {
    var params_3 = {
        action: "watch",
        titles: "Sandbox",
        token: watch_token,
        format: "json"
    };

    request.post({ url: url, form: params_3 }, function (error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        console.log(body);
    });
}

// Start From Step 1
getLoginToken();

MediaWiki JS

/*
	watch.js

	MediaWiki API Demos
	Demo of `Watch` module: Add a page to your watchlist

	MIT License
*/

var params = {
		action: 'watch',
		titles: 'Sandbox',
		format: 'json'
	},
	api = new mw.Api();

api.postWithToken( 'watch', params ).done( function ( data ) {
	console.log( data );
} );

Parameter history

v1.25: Deprecated uselang
v1.23:
- Introduced continue, title, pageids, revids, generator, redirects, converttitles
- Deprecated title
v1.21: Introduced uselang

Additional notes

When running the sample code via a bot, make sure that the bot has the Edit your watchlist option set to true, by visiting the Special:BotPasswords page.

This module uses CSRF tokens, not watchlist tokens. CSRF tokens are generally used for POST requests and wiki-modifying actions throughout the Action API , whereas watchlist tokens are used specifically to view another user's watchlist.

Unlike API:Watchlist , which allows you to read an account's private watchlist without logging in, this module requires you to log directly into the account you want to alter.

Watchlists
API modules	Watch Watchlist Watchlistraw Watchlist feed
Configuration settings	$wgEnotifWatchlist $wgRCShowWatchingUsers $wgRCWatchCategoryMembership $wgReadOnlyWatchedItemStore $wgShowUpdatedMarker $wgStructuredChangeFiltersLiveUpdatePollingRate $wgUnwatchedPageSecret $wgUnwatchedPageThreshold $wgWatchersMaxAge $wgWatchlistExpiry $wgWatchlistExpiryMaxDuration $wgWatchlistPurgeRate
Database tables	watchlist watchlist_expiry
Help pages	Watchlist Watchlist expiry Watching pages
Hooks	ApiQueryWatchlistExtractOutputData ApiQueryWatchlistPrepareWatchedItemQueryServiceOptions ChangesListSpecialPageQuery ChangesListSpecialPageStructuredFilters SendWatchlistEmailNotification SpecialWatchlistGetNonRevisionTypes WatchArticle WatchArticleComplete WatchlistEditorBeforeFormRender WatchlistEditorBuildRemoveLine WatchedItemQueryServiceExtensions UnwatchArticle UnwatchArticleComplete
Jobs	ClearUserWatchlistJob ClearWatchlistNotificationsJob WatchlistExpiryJob
Maintenance scripts	cleanupWatchlist.php purgeExpiredWatchlistItems.php
Special pages	Special:Watchlist Special:EditWatchlist

Wikimore

API:Watch

API documentation

action=watch

Example

POST request

Response

Sample code

Python

PHP

JavaScript

MediaWiki JS

Parameter history

Additional notes

See also