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