| name | wiki-attribution |
| description | The Wikimedia Attribution Framework and Attribution API (beta) — principles, attribution levels (Basic / Approaching / Ideal), reuse scenarios (search, AI assistants, media, social, games, audio), all attribution signals (essential, trust/relevance, ecosystem growth), and how to fetch them via the Attribution API and alternative Wikimedia API pathways. Use when building off-wiki surfaces that credit Wikipedia or other Wikimedia content, picking which signals to show, or implementing attribution cards, source panels, or license notices. |
Wikimedia attribution
The Wikimedia Attribution Framework guides reusers on how to fairly credit Wikimedia content in external contexts — search results, AI assistants, blogs, apps, and more.
This skill covers what to show and how to fetch it. For general API etiquette and non-attribution endpoints, see wiki-apis. For the broader signal catalogue (pageviews, backlinks, etc.), see wiki-signals.
Principles
- Keep Wikimedia content recognizable — audiences must know where information comes from.
- Clear pathways back to the source — link to the original page.
- Trustworthy, verifiable content — surface quality and recency cues where appropriate.
- Made by humans — highlight volunteer community authorship when contextually appropriate.
Signal categories
| Category | Purpose | Reference |
|---|
| Essential | Source, credit, link, title, license, brand mark, modification disclaimer | references/signals.md |
| Trust & relevance | Reference count, contributor count, page views, trending, last update | references/signals.md |
| Ecosystem growth | Participation and donation CTAs | references/signals.md |
Attribution levels
Based on how many signals you surface and how visible they are:
- Basic — essential signals present; path to source; modifications disclosed if any.
- Approaching — all essential signals visible in context with the reused content.
- Ideal — approaching + at least one trust/relevance signal + at least one participation CTA.
See references/levels.md for the full ladder and contributing-back impact tiers.
Reuse scenarios
Six documented scenarios with required/recommended signals per context:
| Scenario | Typical surface |
|---|
| Search | Result snippets with inline source |
| AI assistants | Answer + expandable sources panel |
| Social media | Shared cards, embeds |
| Games & rich media | In-world knowledge panels |
| Media & publications | Blog posts, news articles |
| Audio | Voice assistants (under review) |
See references/scenarios.md.
Fetching attribution data
Recommended: Wikimedia Attribution API (beta) — one endpoint for most signals.
GET https://{host}/w/rest.php/attribution/v0-beta/pages/{title}/signals?expand=trust_and_relevance,calls_to_action
Full technical details, alternative pathways, beta known issues, and wprov provenance guidance: references/api.md.
Quick example
const res = await fetch(
`https://en.wikipedia.org/w/rest.php/attribution/v0-beta/pages/${encodeURIComponent('Aurora')}/signals?expand=trust_and_relevance,calls_to_action`,
{ headers: { 'Api-User-Agent': 'MyApp/1.0 (https://example.org; you@example.org)' } },
)
const signals = await res.json()
Beta gaps (Jul 2026 — not client bugs)
| Field | Status | Workaround |
|---|
contributor_counts | Returns null by design until ~July 2026 | Core REST /w/rest.php/v1/page/{title}/history/counts/editors |
trending.relative.* | Hardcoded false until ~Sept 2026 | Use trending.top.* only |
| CTAs | Static demo values via expand=calls_to_action | Use cautiously in production |
| Commons media | essential.credit present; sparse trust signals | Expect partial trust_and_relevance |
See also
Inside ProtoWiki
ProtoWiki ships a reusable attribution stack:
src/components/attribution/ — AttributionCard, fetchAttributionSignals, fetchContributorCount (backfill), useAttributionSignals- Templates:
example-attribution-search (Search scenario — hybrid wiki search + REST page/summary snippets)
Component contract: protowiki-components/references/attribution.md.
Fetch uses wikimediaApiFetchHeaders('attribution') from src/config.ts. CORS is * — works from the static GitHub Pages SPA.
