# Wikipedia API — search, summaries & content (no key) (`synthetic.ia/wikipedia-api`) Actor

Search Wikipedia, get clean article summaries (with thumbnail + link), and pull plain-text content in any language. Great for agents and RAG. Clean HTTP API + MCP, no key. Pay per query.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/synthetic.ia/wikipedia-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Synthetic](https://apify.com/synthetic.ia) (community)
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 wikipedia queries

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
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?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Wikipedia API — search, summaries & content (no key)

Search **Wikipedia**, get clean article **summaries** (with thumbnail and link), and pull **plain-text content** — in **any language** — behind a clean HTTP API (and MCP tool). Ideal for agents, RAG pipelines, chatbots and research tools that need reliable, citable knowledge without scraping. **No API key.** Pay per query.

- 🔎 **Search** — find articles by text; returns titles, snippets, word counts and links.
- 📄 **Summary** — a short, clean summary + description + thumbnail + canonical URL.
- 📚 **Content** — the article as plain text (intro only or full), length-capped if you like.
- 🌍 **Any language** — `en`, `es`, `pt`, `fr`, `de`, `it`… just set `lang`.
- 💵 Pay per query · no key.

### The use case it was built for

Agents and RAG systems constantly need "what is X?" with a citable source. This API returns clean text (no HTML, no wiki markup) plus the article URL, so you can ground answers and link back. Multilingual out of the box.

### Sample output (`summary`, "Argentina")

```json
{
  "ok": true, "lang": "en", "title": "Argentina",
  "description": "Country in South America",
  "extract": "Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America…",
  "thumbnail": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/…", "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentina"
}
```

### How to use

- **HTTP API (Standby):** POST or GET `/search`, `/summary`, `/content`. `GET /` returns help. Example: `GET /summary?title=Photosynthesis&lang=en`.
- **Normal run:** pass `{ operation, q | title, lang }`; results land in the dataset + key-value store.
- **MCP tool:** expose it to your agent via Apify's MCP server for grounded answers.

### Input

- **operation** — `search` · `summary` · `content`.
- **q** — search text. **title** — article title (summary/content). **lang** — language code.
- **intro / maxChars** — (content) intro-only and length cap. **limit** — search results.

### Pricing

**Per query** from **$0.004** (down to $0.0015 on higher tiers). One call = one query.

### Related Actors

- **[World Bank Data](https://apify.com/synthetic.ia/worldbank-data)** — structured global stats to pair with encyclopedic context.

### FAQ

**Which languages?** Any Wikipedia language — set `lang` (e.g. `es`, `pt`, `fr`).

**Is the text clean?** Yes — plain text, no HTML or wiki markup.

**Licensing?** Wikipedia content is CC BY-SA; attribute Wikipedia and link back (the `url` is included).

### Notes & limits

Content from Wikipedia via the Wikimedia APIs. Up to 50 search results; content can be capped with `maxChars`.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/synthetic.ia/wikipedia-api/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

## `operation` (type: `string`):

What to do.

## `q` (type: `string`):

Text to search for.

## `title` (type: `string`):

Exact article title, e.g. Argentina.

## `lang` (type: `string`):

Wikipedia language code, e.g. en, es, pt, fr, de.

## `intro` (type: `boolean`):

Return only the intro section instead of the full article.

## `maxChars` (type: `integer`):

Truncate content to this length (0 = full).

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Max search results (1-50).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "operation": "search",
  "q": "artificial intelligence",
  "title": "Argentina",
  "lang": "en",
  "intro": false,
  "limit": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `result` (type: `string`):

No description

## `runs` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "q": "artificial intelligence",
    "title": "Argentina"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("synthetic.ia/wikipedia-api").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 = {
    "q": "artificial intelligence",
    "title": "Argentina",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("synthetic.ia/wikipedia-api").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 '{
  "q": "artificial intelligence",
  "title": "Argentina"
}' |
apify call synthetic.ia/wikipedia-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,synthetic.ia/wikipedia-api"
        }
    }
}
```

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/mH1uaJIERrNHUdfEI/builds/kzxOE1xHx06wdIAqX/openapi.json