# Wikimedia Commons Deletion Scraper (`parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes deletion nominations from Wikimedia Commons categories. Returns page ID, namespace, and title for each nominated file or page.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.62 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### Wikimedia Commons Deletion Scraper

**Scrape Wikimedia Commons deletion nominations from any category, up to a million per run.** Each nomination comes with its page ID, namespace, and title, ready for export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML. No login or API key required.

Wikimedia Commons has no official API for deletion nominations, and the public deletion request pages are cluttered and hard to parse. This Actor reads the deletion request categories directly from the MediaWiki API, returning each nomination as a clean, flat row. You get the page ID, namespace, and title for every file or page currently under deletion review.

| Who uses it | What they scrape Wikimedia Commons for |
|---|---|
| Wikimedia Commons administrators | Monitor new deletion requests and review them efficiently |
| Digital archivists | Track which files are at risk of removal from the public domain |
| Researchers studying content moderation | Analyze deletion patterns and community decision-making on Commons |
| GLAM institutions (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) | Check whether their contributed media has been nominated for deletion |

### What it does

This Actor collects deletion nominations from any Wikimedia Commons category and returns each one as a flat row with page ID, namespace, and title.

- 📂 **Category-based scraping:** point the Actor at any deletion request category, including subcategories like monthly logs.
- 🔢 **Flexible limits:** set a maximum number of items to return, from a single preview row to a full million.
- 📊 **Structured output:** every nomination is returned as a flat row with page ID, namespace, and title, ready for analysis.
- 🌐 **No authentication:** the Actor uses the public MediaWiki API, so no login, OAuth, or API key is needed.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with Wikimedia Commons data

**🗂️ Monitor deletion backlogs.**

A Commons administrator runs the Actor daily on the main deletion requests category to get a fresh list of all pending nominations, then triages them by namespace or title pattern.

**📉 Analyze deletion trends.**

A researcher scrapes a year of monthly deletion request subcategories to build a dataset of nomination counts, reasons, and outcomes for a study on community governance.

**🏛️ Protect institutional uploads.**

A museum's digital team runs the Actor weekly on categories containing their contributed files to catch any deletion nominations early and respond before files are removed.

**🔍 Audit at-risk public domain works.**

An archivist scrapes deletion nominations for files with certain title patterns to identify which public domain works are under threat and prioritize preservation efforts.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No official API** | Wikimedia Commons does not offer a dedicated deletion nominations API, so this Actor fills that gap by reading the category structure directly. |
| **Clean, flat rows** | Each nomination is returned as a simple row with page ID, namespace, and title, making it easy to load into spreadsheets or databases. |
| **Scalable** | From a quick preview of 10 items to a full archive of up to a million nominations, the Actor adapts to your needs. |
| **No anti-bot hurdles** | The MediaWiki API is designed for programmatic access, so you avoid the hCaptcha and HTML parsing issues of the public pages. |

### What a Wikimedia Commons record looks like

Every record returns as one flat JSON row. Here is a real one from a run:

```json
{
 "pageid": 135557803,
 "ns": 6,
 "title": "File:GodPrey & Vuss Vilanculos - Crazy.ogg",
 "url": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGodPrey_%26_Vuss_Vilanculos_-_Crazy.ogg",
 "discussionLink": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons%3ADeletion_requests%2FGodPrey_%26_Vuss_Vilanculos_-_Crazy.ogg",
 "scrapedAt": "2026-08-24T17:42:36.466Z"
}
```

Every value above comes from a real run. A field a record does not have comes back as `null`.

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from any deletion request category, and set a maximum number of items to return. The Actor reads the category members directly from the MediaWiki API, so only matching nominations reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "categoryTitle": "Category:Deletion_requests",
 "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "categoryTitle": "Category:Deletion_requests",
 "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [Wikimedia Commons Deletion Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Wikimedia Commons through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that the categoryTitle input is spelled exactly as it appears on Commons, including the 'Category:' prefix and underscores instead of spaces. Also ensure the category contains deletion nominations.

**The Actor returns fewer items than I expected.**

The maxItems input limits the number of results. If you are a free user, the limit is 10. Paid users can increase it up to 1,000,000.

**I get an error about the category not existing.**

Verify the category title on Wikimedia Commons. Some categories use different naming conventions, such as 'Category:Deletion requests/2025/January' instead of 'Category:Deletion requests January 2025'.

**The output contains duplicate entries.**

The MediaWiki API may return the same page if it appears in multiple subcategories. Use the pageid field to deduplicate your dataset.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What exactly does this Actor return? | For each deletion nomination, the Actor returns the page ID, namespace, and title of the nominated file or page. The exact fields are shown in the sample output. |
| Do I need a Wikimedia account or API key? | No. The Actor uses the public MediaWiki API, which does not require authentication for reading category members. |
| Can I scrape a specific month's deletion requests? | Yes. Wikimedia Commons organizes deletion requests into monthly subcategories like 'Category:Deletion requests January 2025'. set the categoryTitle input to that subcategory. |
| What is the maximum number of items I can scrape? | Free users are limited to 10 items as a preview. Paid users can set maxItems up to 1,000,000. |
| Does this Actor get the deletion discussion text? | No, it only returns the list of nominated pages from the category. To get the discussion content, you would need to scrape each nomination page separately. |
| How often is the data updated? | The Actor reads live data from the Wikimedia Commons API every time it runs, so you always get the current state of the category. |
| Can I filter by file type or namespace? | The Actor returns all category members regardless of namespace. You can filter the results after export using the namespace field. |
| Is this Actor affiliated with Wikimedia? | No, this is an independent tool built on the public MediaWiki API. It is not endorsed by or affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Wikimedia Foundation. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

### 💰 How much does it cost to scrape Wikimedia Commons Deletion?

This Actor uses **pay-per-result** pricing: **$0.004 per result** collected. You are billed only for the results you receive, so a run that returns nothing costs nothing.

# Actor input Schema

## `categoryTitle` (type: `string`):

The full title of the deletion requests category to scrape, including the 'Category:' prefix. Defaults to the main deletion requests listing.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Free users: Limited to 10 items (preview). Paid users: Optional, max 1,000,000

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "categoryTitle": "Category:Deletion_requests",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Complete dataset of all scraped records.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "categoryTitle": "Category:Deletion_requests",
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "categoryTitle": "Category:Deletion_requests",
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "categoryTitle": "Category:Deletion_requests",
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/wikimedia-commons-deletion-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/tp0lMaP5d72YFqPaa/builds/NS3jbd7Xga6DaDSty/openapi.json