Wikitech-l March 2026

wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org

26 participants
8 discussions

CI failure in PHPUnit bootstrap
by Viktoria Hillerud 06 Mar '26

06 Mar '26

Hi, We are seeing a strange CI failure when running tests for the Wikispeech extension and we are trying to understand what is causing it. The failure occurs sometimes during patch upload, and sometimes when trying to merge. The issues we get is: *09:30:47* Error in bootstrap script: RuntimeException:*09:30:47* No PHPUnit config override found. Generate it manually by running `composer phpunit:config`, or automatically by running tests via `composer phpunit`.*09:30:47* #0 /workspace/src/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Util/FileLoader.php(66): include_once()*09:30:47* #1 /workspace/src/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/Util/FileLoader.php(49): PHPUnit\Util\FileLoader::load()*09:30:47* #2 /workspace/src/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Command.php(567): PHPUnit\Util\FileLoader::checkAndLoad()*09:30:47* #3 /workspace/src/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Command.php(347): PHPUnit\TextUI\Command->handleBootstrap()*09:30:47* #4 /workspace/src/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Command.php(114): PHPUnit\TextUI\Command->handleArguments()*09:30:47* #5 /workspace/src/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/src/TextUI/Command.php(99): PHPUnit\TextUI\Command->run()*09:30:47* #6 /workspace/src/vendor/phpunit/phpunit/phpunit(107): PHPUnit\TextUI\Command::main()*09:30:47* #7 /workspace/src/vendor/bin/phpunit(122): include('...')*09:30:47* #8 {main} This issue occurs for example in this patch: 1246763 <https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/extensions/Wikispeech/+/1246763> To check whether this was related to our code, we tried creating test patches: This one fails: 1248784 <https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/extensions/Wikispeech/+/1248784>, but this one succeeds: 1248785 <https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/extensions/Wikispeech/+/1248785> Since these patches do not change any functional code, this suggests that the failure may be related to the CI/test infrastructure rather than the extension itself. Has anyone seen this PHPUnit bootstrap error recently, or knows what might cause this failure in CI? Kind regards, *Viktoria Hillerud Ahlbäck* *Developer* Wikimedia Sverige (WMSE)

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"Database locked" messages when trying to log in
by Pine W 06 Mar '26

06 Mar '26

Hello, I can't seem to log into Wikimedia sites, including Phabricator. I'm getting this message: "The database is currently locked to new entries and other modifications, probably for routine database maintenance, after which it will be back to normal. "The system administrator who locked it offered this explanation: The wikis are currently read-only" I don't see any announcement of a planned activity that would block logins. And I tried to log in with 2 different web browsers. Pine🌲

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New global API rate limits
by Jonathan Tweed 06 Mar '26

06 Mar '26

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…>, 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…> . 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-Agen…> 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 bot-traffic(a)wikimedia.org Best Jonathan -- *Jonathan Tweed* (he/him) Senior Product Manager, Core Platform Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>

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New release! GraphQL API on Wikidata
by Ifrah Khanyaree 05 Mar '26

05 Mar '26

Hi all, We’re excited to announce the release of our new GraphQL API 🎉 The API is developed as a flexible alternative to select features of the Wikidata Query Service (WDQS), with a particular focus on developer experience, adaptability, and efficient data access. We’d love for you to try it out and see what you can build. Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us as we continue to improve the experience. Give it a spin and share your thoughts here: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Wikibase_GraphQL Or sign up for our usability tests here: https://greatquestion.co/wikimediadeutschland/GraphQLAPI/apply Best, Ifrah -- Ifrah Khanyaree Senior Product Manager, Wikibase Reuse Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin Phone: +49 (0)30-577 11 62-0 https://wikimedia.de Keep up to date! Current news and exciting stories about Wikimedia, Wikipedia and Free Knowledge in our newsletter (in German): Subscribe now. <https://www.wikimedia.de/newsletter/> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us to achieve our vision! https://spenden.wikimedia.de Wikimedia Deutschland — Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Charlottenburg, VR 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207. Geschäftsführende Vorstände: Franziska Heine

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Diving into the World of io Games: A Beginner's Guide
by selfish.macaw.fzac＠hidingmail.com 03 Mar '26

03 Mar '26

Have you ever found yourself with a few minutes to kill, yearning for some quick, engaging fun? Then look no further than the world of io games! These simple, browser-based games offer instant gratification and addictive gameplay, perfect for a short break or a longer gaming session. But where do you start? Let's dive in and explore how to jump into the exciting world of these online wonders. https://iogamesweb.com/ What are io Games All About? The beauty of io games lies in their accessibility. Typically featuring simple graphics and intuitive controls, these games are designed to be picked up and played by anyone, regardless of their gaming experience. Most are free to play and require no downloads or installations – just a web browser and an internet connection. The "io" in the name actually refers to the domain extension, but it's become synonymous with this genre of fast-paced, multiplayer online games. Gameplay: Easy to Learn, Hard to Master The gameplay loop in most io games is remarkably simple. You usually control a small entity – a cell, a snake, a tank – and navigate a shared online arena. The primary objective often revolves around growing bigger, eliminating opponents, and climbing the leaderboard. This growth is typically achieved by collecting resources scattered around the map or by devouring smaller players. Controls are usually straightforward, relying on your mouse or keyboard to steer your character. Some io games introduce unique mechanics like boosting, splitting, or shooting, adding a layer of strategic depth to the seemingly simple gameplay. A key element is the constant risk-reward decision-making. Do you aggressively pursue a smaller player, potentially leaving yourself vulnerable to attack from larger opponents? Or do you play it safe, slowly accumulating resources and avoiding confrontation? This dynamic tension keeps players engaged and constantly adapting their strategies. A great place to explore a variety of these games is io games, offering a wide selection to choose from. Tips for Success: Level Up Your Game While io games are easy to learn, mastering them takes practice and a bit of strategic thinking. Here are a few tips to help you get ahead: Observe: Before diving headfirst into the action, take a moment to observe the gameplay. Notice the behavior of other players, identify resource locations, and understand the unique mechanics of the game. Start Small: Don't be too aggressive early on. Focus on collecting resources and growing in size before engaging in confrontations. Learn the Map: Familiarize yourself with the layout of the arena. Knowing where resources are located and where potential dangers lurk can give you a significant advantage. Strategic Movement: Use your movement to your advantage. Weave in and out of obstacles, cut off opponents, and create opportunities for attack. Practice Makes Perfect: Like any game, improvement comes with practice. Don't get discouraged if you lose frequently at first. Keep playing, experiment with different strategies, and learn from your mistakes. You can find a good starting selection of io games at io games to get your practice in. Conclusion: Endless Fun in a Browser io games provide a fun, accessible, and engaging gaming experience for players of all skill levels. Their simple mechanics, coupled with the competitive thrill of online multiplayer, make them incredibly addictive. So, the next time you have a few minutes to spare, why not give io games a try? You might just discover your new favorite way to unwind and have some online fun.

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Tech News 2026, week 10
by Sandister Tei 02 Mar '26

02 Mar '26

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/2026/10> are available. *Weekly highlight* - Wikipedia 25 Birthday mode <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikipedia_25/Easter_egg_…> is now live on Betawi, Breton, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, French, Gorontalo, Indonesian, Italian, Luxembourgish, Madurese, Sicilian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese Wikipedias! This limited-time campaign feature celebrates 25 years of Wikipedia with a birthday mascot, Baby Globe. When turned on, Baby Globe is shown on ~2,500 articles <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikipedia_25/Easter_egg_…>, waiting to be discovered by readers. Communities can choose to turn Birthday mode on by getting consensus from their community and asking an admin to enable the feature and customize it via community configuration <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikipedia_25/Easter_egg_…> on the local wiki. *Updates for editors* - Sub-referencing <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Su…>, a new feature to re-use references with different details has been released to Swedish Wikipedia, Polish Wikipedia and a couple of other wikis <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T418209>. You can try the feature <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Su…> on these projects or on testwiki and betawiki <https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmcloud.org/wiki/Sub-referencing>. Learnings from the first pilot wiki German Wikipedia have been published in a report <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Su…>. Reach out to the Wikimedia Deutschland team if you are interested in becoming a pilot wiki <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WMDE_Technical_Wishes/Sub-referencing#…> . - Paste Check <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Help:Edit_check#Paste_che…> will become available at all Wikipedias this week. The feature prompts newcomers who are pasting text they are not likely to have written into VisualEditor to consider whether doing so risks a copyright violation. Paste Check tags <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Edit_check/Tags> all edits where it is shown for potential review. Local administrators can configure various aspects of the feature via Special:EditChecks <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:EditChecks>. Research <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Edit_check/Paste_Check#A/…> across 22 wikis found that Paste Check resulted in an 18% decrease in relative reverted-edits compared to the control group. Translators can help to localize <https://translatewiki.net/w/i.php?title=Special%3ATranslate&group=ext-visua…> this and related features. - The Reader Experience team <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Readers/Reader_Experience> will be standardizing the user menu in the top right for all mobile users so that it is closer to the desktop experience. Currently this user menu is only visible to users with Advanced Mobile Controls (AMC) turned on. The only change is that a couple buttons previously in the left-side menu will move to the top right for users who do not have AMC turned on. This change is expected to go out March 9 and seeks to improve the user interface. [1] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T413912> - Starting in the week of March 2, the emails sent out when an email address was added, removed, or changed for an account will switch to a substantially nicer and clearer HTML email from the prior plaintext one. [2] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T410807> - Notifications are currently limited to 2,000 historic entries per user, and extend back to 2013 when the feature was released. This is going to be changed to only store Notifications from the last 5 years, but up to 10,000 of them. This will help with long-term infrastructure health and help to prevent more recent notifications from disappearing too soon. [3] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T383948> - The Global Watchlist <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:GlobalWatchlist> which lets you view your watchlists from multiple wikis on a single page continues to see improvements. The latest update improves label usage experience. The extension <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Extension:GlobalWatchlist> now allows activating the language fallback system <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Language#Fallback_…> for Wikidata items without labels in the viewed language, and showing those labels in the user’s preferred Wikidata language if no uselang= URL parameter is provided. [4] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T373686>[5] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T416111> - The Wikipedia Android team has started a beta test of hybrid search <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Readers/Information_Retri…> on Greek Wikipedia. Hybrid search capabilities can handle both semantic and keyword queries enabling readers to find what they’re looking for directly on Wikipedia more easily. - For security reasons, members of certain user groups are required to have two-factor authentication <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Mandatory_two-factor_aut…> (2FA) enabled. Currently, 2FA is required to use the group, but not to be a member of it. Given that this model still has some vulnerabilities, the situation will gradually change in March <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T418580>. Members of these groups will be unable to disable last 2FA method on their account, and it will be impossible to add users without 2FA to these groups. Users will still be able to add new authentication methods or remove them, as long as at least one method is continuously enabled. In the second half of March, users without 2FA will be removed from these groups. This applies to: CentralNotice administrators, checkusers, interface administrators, suppressors, Wikidata staff, Wikifunctions staff, WMF Office IT and WMF Trust & Safety. Nothing will change for other users. See the linked task for deployment schedule. [6] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T418580> - View all 27 community-submitted tasks that were resolved last week <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Recently_resol…>. For example, the issue preventing users from creating an instance in Wikibase.cloud <https://www.wikibase.cloud/> has now been fixed. [7] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T416807> *Updates for technical contributors* - To help ensure fair use of infrastructure <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/MediaWiki_Product_Insight…>, over the next month the Wikimedia Foundation will implement global API rate limits across our APIs. In early March, stricter limits will be applied to unidentified requests from outside Toolforge/WMCS and API requests that are made from web browsers. In April, higher limits will be applied to identified traffic. These limits are intentionally set as high as possible to minimise impact on the community. Bots running in Toolforge/WMCS or with the bot user right on any wiki should not be affected for now. However, all developers are advised to follow updated best practices. For more information, see Wikimedia APIs/Rate limits <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_APIs/Rate_limits> . - The Wikidata Query Service Linked Data Fragment (LDF) endpoint will be decommissioned in February. This endpoint served limited traffic, which was successfully migrated to other data access methods that were better suited to support existing use cases. The hardware used to support the LDF endpoint will be reallocated to support the ongoing backend migration efforts. [8] <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T415696> - The new Parsoid parser continues to be deployed to additional wikis <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Parsoid/Parser_Unificatio…>, improving platform sustainability and making it easier to introduce new reading and editing features. Parsoid is now the default parser on 488 WMF wikis (268 Wikipedias), now covering more than 10% of all Wikipedia page views. - The process and criteria for requesting exceptional access <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikimedia_Enterprise#Acc…> to the high volume feed of the *Wikimedia Enterprise* APIs (at no cost for mission-aligned usecases), have now been published <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Enterprise#Exceptional_acces…>. This is to provide more thorough and clearer documentation for users. - Tech Blog <https://techblog.wikimedia.org/>, the blog dedicated to the Wikimedia technical community will be migrating <https://techblog.wikimedia.org/2026/02/24/a-tech-blog-diff/> to Diff <https://diff.wikimedia.org/>, the community news and event blog. The migration should be complete in April 2026, after which new posts will be accepted for publishing. Readers will be able to access posts – old and new – on the landing page at https://diff.wikimedia.org/techblog. - Detailed code updates later this week: MediaWiki <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki_1.46/wmf.18> *Tech news <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News> prepared by Tech News writers <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/Writers> and posted by bot <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/User:MediaWiki_message_d…> • Contribute <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News#contribute> • Translate <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Tech/News/2026/10> • Get help <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Tech> • Give feedback <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Tech/News> • Subscribe or unsubscribe <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_message_delivery/Targets/Tech_ambass…>.*

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, , or in messages
by Amir E. Aharoni 01 Mar '26

01 Mar '26

Hi, Some translatable messages in MediaWiki and extensions have tags. Sometimes they are written as , sometimes as , and sometimes as . I would love to make it consistent across all the messages, but I'm not totally sure which form to choose. I recall that many years ago, I read an article that recommends using , because it was the most compatible form with the various browsers and HTML standards. Things probably changed since then. From what I'm reading online now, the form is probably the best. However, I might be wrong. Are there still any good reasons to use or in 2026, or is it safe to switch to everywhere? -- Amir Elisha Aharoni · אָמִיר אֱלִישָׁע אַהֲרוֹנִי http://aharoni.wordpress.com ‪“We're living in pieces, I want to live in peace.” – T. Moore‬

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Phabricator monthly statistics - 2026-02
by aklapper＠wikimedia.org 01 Mar '26

01 Mar '26

Hi Community Metrics team, This is your automatic monthly Phabricator statistics mail. Accounts created in (2026-02): 416 Active Maniphest users (any activity) in (2026-02): 1147 Task authors in (2026-02): 613 Users who have closed tasks in (2026-02): 329 Projects which had at least one task moved from one column to another on their workboard in (2026-02): 323 Tasks created in (2026-02): 2591 Tasks closed in (2026-02): 2550 Open and stalled tasks in total: 56718 * Only open tasks in total: 55591 * Only stalled tasks in total: 1127 Median age in days of open tasks by priority: Unbreak now: 15 Needs Triage: 1207 High: 1387 Normal: 2335 Low: 2841 Lowest: 3759 (How long tasks have been open, not how long they have had that priority) To see the names of the most active task authors: * Go to https://wikimedia.biterg.io/ * Choose "Phabricator > Overview" from the top bar * Adjust the time frame in the upper right corner to your needs * See the author names in the "Submitters" panel TODO: Numbers which refer to closed tasks might not be correct, as described in https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T1003 . Yours sincerely, Fab Rick Aytor (via community_metrics.sh on phab1004 at Sun 01 Mar 2026 12:00:55 AM UTC)

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Wikitech-l March 2026