Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the WikiRest API.
General Questions
What is WikiRest?
WikiRest is a fast, developer-friendly API for searching and retrieving Wikipedia content. It's optimized for LLM applications, RAG pipelines, and AI-powered search with pre-chunked text passages perfect for context windows.
Is there a Wikipedia API?
Yes! Wikipedia has the official MediaWiki Action API, but it's complex and not optimized for modern use cases. WikiRest provides a simpler REST API with:
- Fast full-text search (sub-50ms)
- Pre-chunked text for LLMs (~500 tokens each)
- Clean JSON responses
- Simple API key authentication
Is the Wikipedia API free?
WikiRest offers a generous free tier with 5,000 requests per month - no credit card required. This is perfect for:
- Personal projects
- Prototypes and MVPs
- Learning and experimentation
- Low-traffic applications
For higher volume, paid plans start at $29/month (Starter: 50K requests) up to $299/month (Business: 1M requests). See our pricing page for details.
How do I get a Wikipedia API key?
Getting started is easy:
- Create a free account (just email and password)
- Your first API key is generated automatically
- Copy your key and start making requests
The whole process takes less than 2 minutes. No credit card required.
Usage Questions
How do I use the Wikipedia API?
Make HTTP requests to our endpoints with your API key in the header:
curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" \
"https://api.wikirest.com/v1/search?q=machine+learning&limit=5"See our Getting Started guide for complete examples.
How do I use the Wikipedia API in Python?
import requests
response = requests.get(
"https://api.wikirest.com/v1/search",
headers={"X-API-Key": "YOUR_KEY"},
params={"q": "artificial intelligence", "limit": 5}
)
data = response.json()
for hit in data["hits"]:
print(f"{hit['title']}: {hit['text'][:100]}...")See our Python examples for more patterns.
What is the Wikipedia API rate limit?
| Plan | Monthly Quota | Rate Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | 5,000/month | 10/sec |
| Starter ($29) | 50,000/month | 25/sec |
| Growth ($99) | 250,000/month | 50/sec |
| Business ($299) | 1,000,000/month | 100/sec |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Custom |
Paid plans include overage pricing. See Rate Limiting for details.
What endpoints are available?
| Endpoint | Description |
|---|---|
GET /v1/search | Search Wikipedia content |
GET /v1/chunk/:id | Get a specific text chunk |
GET /v1/page/:page_id | Get full page content |
GET /v1/changes | Get recently updated pages |
GET /v1/meta | Get index metadata |
Technical Questions
What are "chunks" in the API?
Chunks are pre-split portions of Wikipedia articles, typically around 500 tokens each. They're designed to fit efficiently in LLM context windows and are perfect for:
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)
- Embedding and vector search
- Context injection for AI assistants
How fresh is the data?
We index from official Wikipedia dumps, which are updated regularly. Use the
/v1/meta endpoint to check the current dump date. For most use cases,
the data is sufficiently fresh (within weeks of Wikipedia's latest content).
What languages are supported?
Currently we support English Wikipedia (enwiki). Multi-language support for German, French, Spanish, and other major Wikipedias is on our roadmap.
How does authentication work?
Include your API key in every request using the X-API-Key header:
X-API-Key: wk_your_api_key_here
Alternatively, use Authorization: Bearer wk_your_api_key_here.
See Authentication for details.
Licensing Questions
What license does the content have?
Wikipedia content is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This means you must:
- Attribute Wikipedia as the source
- Include links to original articles
- Share derivative works under the same license
Can I use WikiRest for commercial projects?
Yes! Both our free and paid tiers allow commercial use. Just comply with Wikipedia's CC BY-SA 4.0 license requirements for the content itself.
Billing Questions
How do I upgrade to Pro?
Go to your Billing page and click "Upgrade to Pro". Payment is handled securely via Stripe. Your higher limits are available immediately.
How do I cancel my subscription?
You can cancel anytime from your dashboard. Your Pro access continues until the end of your billing period, then you'll automatically move to the free tier.
Do you offer refunds?
We don't offer refunds for partial months, but you can cancel anytime without future charges. If you have concerns, contact us.
Support
How do I get help?
- Documentation: Check our comprehensive docs
- Discord: Join our community
- Email: support@wikirest.com
- GitHub: Report issues
What's your uptime?
We target 99.9% uptime. Check our status page for current status and incident history.