MediaWiki API help

This is an auto-generated MediaWiki API documentation page.

Documentation and examples: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/API:Main_page

prop=description (desc)

(main | query | description)
  • This module is internal or unstable. Its operation may change without notice.
  • This module requires read rights.
  • Source: WikibaseClient
  • License: GPL-2.0-or-later

Get a short description a.k.a. subtitle explaining what the target page is about.

The description is plain text, on a single line, but otherwise arbitrary (potentially including raw HTML tags, which also should be interpreted as plain text). It must not be used in HTML unescaped!

Parameters:
desccontinue

When more results are available, use this to continue.

Type: integer
Default: 0
descprefersource

Which description source to prefer if present:

local
Local descriptions via {{SHORTDESC:...}} parser function in the wikitext of the page.
central
Central descriptions from the associated Lingua Libre item.
One of the following values: central, local
Default: local
Examples:
Get the description for the page 'London'.
api.php?action=query&prop=description&titles=London [open in sandbox]
Get the description for the page 'London', preferring the central description if it exists.
api.php?action=query&prop=description&titles=London&descprefersource=central [open in sandbox]