Hi. Could you give a better approximation for the date for the browser limits applying? Because looks like <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_APIs/Rate_limits#Rate_limits> I need to rewrite a whole MediaWiki extension by then, and it will take time for me to write and debug, hopely about a week, and then enough time for reviewers to approve the change, and then waiting for the next deployment train. Thank you, Igal (User:IKhitron)
<http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> Virus-free.www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> בתאריך יום ב׳, 2 במרץ 2026 ב-18:44 מאת Jonathan Tweed via Wikitech-l < [email protected]>: > Hi all > > To help ensure fair and sustainable access > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_Product_Insights/Content_Reuse> > to Wikimedia resources, over the next month the Wikimedia Foundation will > implement global API rate limits across our APIs. > > Why we’re doing this > > As we’ve shared over the last year > <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2025/04/01/how-crawlers-impact-the-operations-of-the-wikimedia-projects/>, > since 2024 we’ve observed a significant rise in automated requests, across > scraping, APIs and bulk downloads. This is continuing to cause > unsustainable load on our infrastructure, taking time and resources away > that we need to support the Wikimedia projects, contributors and readers. > > To ensure we can continue to provide preferential access for human and > mission-oriented traffic, we need to reduce the amount of unidentified > requests to our APIs from its current level of around 33%. This reduction > will also enable us to improve governance around fair use, in line with our > API > Usage Guidelines > <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Wikimedia_Foundation_API_Usage_Guidelines> > . > > What we’re doing > > In early March, we will apply low limits to anonymous API requests that > originate from outside Toolforge/WMCS and requests that are made from web > browsers. In early April, higher limits will be applied to identified > traffic, including authenticated requests. > > Authenticated requests from a user in the ‘bot’ user group on any wiki > will not be subject to these new limits, nor will clients which are well > known to the Wikimedia Foundation. API requests from Toolforge/WMCS will > also be exempt from rate limits for now. > > Regardless, all developers are encouraged to familiarise themselves with > the new limits and associated best practices to ensure they are not > misclassified as abusive traffic. You can find this information at Wikimedia > APIs/Rate limits > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_APIs/Rate_limits>. > > What this means in practice > > Tools that use Wikimedia-hosted APIs, including Gadgets that make API > requests, may be subject to new cross-API limits that are global across all > Wikimedia projects. These limits are intentionally set as high as possible > to minimise impact on the community. > > We are asking developers to identify their requests to access higher > limits. Tools running in Toolforge/WMCS are exempted for now, but we > request that you follow the User-Agent policy > <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Wikimedia_Foundation_User-Agent_Policy> > and provide a meaningful User-Agent to help us correctly identify the > source of traffic. > > Otherwise, authenticating using session cookies or OAuth 2.0 will grant a > higher limit. Where the authenticated user has the community approved bot > right on any wiki, this will also exempt you from limits, even when the > tool is not running on Toolforge/WMCS. > > This request for authentication is a change from the previous guidance in > the Robot policy, which suggested not authenticating to improve cache hit > rates. We do not expect any significant impact from this change with > current usage patterns and will be working over the next year to improve > caching for authenticated requests. > > Community impact > > A key principle throughout this work has been to ensure responsible use of > our infrastructure, whilst minimizing the impact on the community. Our > communities rely on a broad ecosystem of bots and other tools to create and > maintain the wikis, created by a dedicated group of technical volunteers. > > These limits are being put in place to protect our projects from high > levels of abuse and ensure that we are able to better insulate our > community infrastructure from high-volume commercial usage. They are > necessary to ensure that developers are using the most appropriate > channels, giving us the ability to prioritize the community and our human > readers. > > Ideally, members of Wikimedia communities will not be affected by this > change. However, it is possible that a small number of bots and other tools > which operate at a very high rate may get rate limited. We ask you to > follow the best practices and are here to help bot operators get the access > they need. > > What we need you to do > > If you are a developer that uses Wikimedia APIs, we ask you to: > > - > > Read more about the new limits > <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_APIs/Rate_limits> and the > updated Robot policy <https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Robot_policy> > - > > Update your tools/bots to follow the new best practices > > Should you require a higher rate of access, you are able to: > > - > > Request the bot flag <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Bots> from > your local wiki community > - > > Consider running in Toolforge or another WMCS offering > - > > Use Wikimedia Enterprise APIs > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Enterprise#Access> for > high-volume usage > > > - > > Contact the WMF at [email protected] > > Best > > Jonathan > > -- > *Jonathan Tweed* (he/him) > Senior Product Manager, Core Platform > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> > _______________________________________________ > Wikitech-l mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/postorius/lists/wikitech-l.lists.wikimedia.org/
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