Latest *tech news https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News* from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/13 are available.

*Weekly highlight*

- Wikimedia site users can now log in without a password using passkeys. This is a secure method supported by fingerprint, facial recognition, or PIN. With this change, all users who opt for passwordless login will find it easier, faster, and more secure to log in to their accounts using any device. The new passkey login option currently appears as an autofill suggestion in the username field. An additional "Log in with passkey" button https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T417120 will soon be available for users who have already registered a passkey. This update will improve security and user experience. The screen recording https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Passwordless_login_screencast.webm demonstrates the passwordless login process step by step. - All wikis will be read-only https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/Server_switch for a few minutes on Wednesday, 25 March 2026 at 15:00 UTC https://zonestamp.toolforge.org/1774450800. This is for the datacenter server switchover backup tests, which happen twice a year https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Deployments/Yearly_calendar. During the switchover, all Wikimedia website traffic is shifted from one primary data center to the backup data center to test availability and prevent service disruption even in emergencies.

*Updates for editors*

- Wikimedia site users can now export their notifications older than 5 years using a new Toolforge tool https://iw.toolforge.org/echo-chamber. This will ensure that users retain their important notifications and avoid them being lost based on the planned change to delete notifications older than 5 years, as previously announced. [1] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T383948 - Wikipedia editors in Indonesian, Thai, Turkish, and Simple English now have access to Special:PersonalDashboard. This is an early version of an experience https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Moderator_Tools/Dashboard that introduces newer editors to patrolling workflows, making it easier for them to move from making edits to participating in more advanced moderation work on their project. [2] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T402647 - The Special:Block https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Block now has two minor interface changes. Administrators can now easily perform indefinite blocks through a dedicated radio button in the expiry section. Also, choosing an indefinite expiry provides a different set of common reasons to select from, which can be changed at: MediaWiki:Ipbreason-indef-dropdown https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Ipbreason-indef-dropdown. [3] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T401823 - Mobile editors at several wikis https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Contributors/Account_Creation_Experiments#Logged-out can now see an improved logged-out edit warning, thanks to the recent updates from the Growth team. These changes released last week are part of ongoing efforts and tests to enhance account creation experience on mobile https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Contributors/Account_Creation_Experiments and then increase participation. [4] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T408484 - View all 36 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Recently_resolved_community_tasks. For example, the bug that prevented mobile web users from seeing the block information when affected by multiple blocks has been fixed. They can now see messages of all the blocks currently affecting them when they access Wikipedia.

*Updates for technical contributors*

- Images built using Toolforge will soon get the upgraded buildpacks version, bringing support for newer language versions and other upstream improvements and fixes. If you use Toolforge Build Service, review the recent cloud-announce email https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/cloud-announce@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/EMYTA32EV2V5SQ2JIEOD2CL66YFIZEKV/ and update your build configuration as necessary to ensure your tools are compatible. [5] https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Toolforge/Building_container_images&oldid=2392097#Buildpack_environment_upgrade_process [6] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T380127

- The API Portal https://api.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page documentation wiki will shut down in June 2026. API keys created on the API Portal will continue to work normally. api.wikimedia.org endpoints will be deprecated gradually starting in July 2026. Documentation on the API Portal is moving to mediawiki.org https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_APIs. Learn more on the project page https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/API_Portal/Deprecation. - Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.46/wmf.21

*In depth*

- WMDE Technical Wishes https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/WMDE_Technical_Wishes is considering improvements to automatically generated reference names in VisualEditor https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/References/VisualEditor_automatic_reference_names. Please check out the proposed solutions https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/References/VisualEditor_automatic_reference_names#Proposed_solutions and participate in the request for comment https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WMDE_Technical_Wishes/References/VisualEditor_automatic_reference_names#Request_for_comment .

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