The ApiQueryDeletedrevs module has issues: since it's a list module rather
than a prop module, it isn't handled correctly by the simplified
continuation, it doesn't support input of specific revids, and so on.
Gerrit change 168646[1] deprecates list=deletedrevs in favor of two new
modules:
* list=alldeletedrevisions will query the deleted revisions in a namespace
and/or for a user.
* prop=deletedrevisions will work like prop=revisions, querying deleted
revisions for a page, or specific revisions requested using action=query's
revids parameter.
For the latter to work properly, the revids parameter will now recognize
deleted revision IDs as valid if the querying user has the 'deletedhistory'
user right; before this change deleted revision IDs were treated as
non-existent.
These changes should be deployed to WMF wikis with 1.25wmf7, see
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.25/Roadmap for the schedule.
At some point in the future, limited information from the archive table may
be made available to all users, as is already done on Tool Labs.[2] If that
happens, recognition of deleted revision IDs as valid for the revids
parameter will likely be extended to all users.
[1]:
https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/#/c/168646/
[2]:
https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=49088
--
Brad Jorsch (Anomie)
Software Engineer
Wikimedia Foundation