API:Mergehistory

This page is part of the MediaWiki Action API documentation.

POST request to merge page histories.

MediaWiki version:

≥ 1.27

API documentation

The following documentation is the output of Special:ApiHelp/mergehistory, automatically generated by the pre-release version of MediaWiki that is running on this site (MediaWiki.org).

action=mergehistory

(main | mergehistory)

This module requires read rights.
This module requires write rights.
This module only accepts POST requests.
Source: MediaWiki
License: GPL-2.0-or-later

Merge page histories.

https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/API:Mergehistory

Specific parameters:

Other general parameters are available.

from: Title of the page from which history will be merged. Cannot be used together with fromid.
fromid: Page ID of the page from which history will be merged. Cannot be used together with from.; Type: integer
to: Title of the page to which history will be merged. Cannot be used together with toid.
toid: Page ID of the page to which history will be merged. Cannot be used together with to.; Type: integer
timestamp: Timestamp up to which revisions will be moved from the source page's history to the destination page's history. If omitted, the entire page history of the source page will be merged into the destination page.; Type: timestamp (allowed formats)
reason: Reason for the history merge.; Default: (empty)
token: A "csrf" token retrieved from action=query&meta=tokens; This parameter is required.

Examples:

Merge the entire history of Oldpage into Newpage.: api.php?action=mergehistory&from=Oldpage&to=Newpage&token=123ABC&reason=Reason [open in sandbox]
Merge the page revisions of Oldpage dating up to 2015-12-31T04:37:41Z into Newpage.: api.php?action=mergehistory&from=Oldpage&to=Newpage&token=123ABC&reason=Reason&timestamp=2015-12-31T04%3A37%3A41Z [open in sandbox]

Example

Making any POST request is a multi-step process:

Log in, via one of the methods described on API:Login .
GET an edit/CSRF token as shown here API:Tokens
api.php?action=query&format=json&meta=tokens [try in ApiSandbox]
Send a POST request, with the CSRF token, to merge page histories.

The sample codes below cover these steps.

POST request

Response

{
	"api": {
		"mergehistory": {
			"_from": "Oldpage",
			"_to": "Newpage",
			"_timestamp": "2015-12-31T04:37:41Z",
			"_reason": "Reason"
		}
	}
}

Sample code

Python

#!/usr/bin/python3

"""
    mergehistory.py

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `mergehistory` module: Merge the page revisions of Oldpage
    dating up to 2015-12-31T04:37:41Z into Newpage

    MIT license
"""
import requests

S = requests.Session()

URL = "https://test.wikipedia.org/w/api.php"

# Step 1: Retrieve a login token
PARAMS_1 = {
    "action": "query",
    "meta": "tokens",
    "type": "login",
    "format": "json"
}

R = S.get(url=URL, params=PARAMS_1)
DATA = R.json()

LOGIN_TOKEN = DATA['query']['tokens']['logintoken']

# Step 2: Send a post request to log in using the clientlogin method.
# import rights can't be granted using Special:BotPasswords
# hence using bot passwords may not work.
# See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Login for more
# information on log in methods.
PARAMS_2 = {
    "action": "clientlogin",
    "username": "username",
    "password": "password",
    "format": "json",
    "loginreturnurl": "http://127.0.0.1:5000/",
    "logintoken": LOGIN_TOKEN
}

R = S.post(URL, data=PARAMS_2)
DATA = R.json()

# Step 3: While logged in, retrieve a CSRF token
PARAMS_3 = {
    "action": "query",
    "meta": "tokens",
    "format": "json"
}

R = S.get(url=URL, params=PARAMS_3)
DATA = R.json()

CSRF_TOKEN = DATA["query"]["tokens"]["csrftoken"]

# Step 4: Send a POST request  to merge the page revisions
#  of Oldpage dating up to 2015-12-31T04:37:41Z into Newpage
PARAMS_4 = {
    "action":"mergehistory",
    "from":"Oldpage",
    "to":"Newpage",
    "format":"json",
    "timestamp":"2015-12-31T04:37:41Z",
    "reason":"Reason",
    "token" : CSRF_TOKEN
    }

R = S.post(URL, data=PARAMS_4)
DATA = R.text

print(DATA)

# To merge entire history of Oldpage to Newpage,
# remove the "timestamp" parameter in step 4

PHP

<?php

/*
    mergehistory.php

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `mergehistory` module: Merge the page revisions of Oldpage 
	dating up to 2015-12-31T04:37:41Z into Newpage
	
	MIT license
*/
$endPoint = "https://test.wikipedia.org/w/api.php";

$login_Token = getLoginToken(); // Step 1
loginRequest( $login_Token ); // Step 2
$csrf_Token = getCSRFToken(); // Step 3
mergehistory( $csrf_Token ); // Step 4

// Step 1: GET request to fetch login token
function getLoginToken() {
	global $endPoint;

	$params1 = [
		"action" => "query",
		"meta" => "tokens",
		"type" => "login",
		"format" => "json"
	];

	$url = $endPoint . "?" . http_build_query( $params1 );

	$ch = curl_init( $url );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$output = curl_exec( $ch );
	curl_close( $ch );

	$result = json_decode( $output, true );
	return $result["query"]["tokens"]["logintoken"];
}

// Step 2: Send a post request to log in using the clientlogin method.
// import rights can't be granted using Special:BotPasswords
// hence using bot passwords may not work.
// See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Login for more
// information on log in methods.
function loginRequest( $logintoken ) {
	global $endPoint;

	$params2 = [
		"action" => "clientlogin",
		"username" => "username",
		"password" => "password",
		'loginreturnurl' => 'http://127.0.0.1:5000/',
		"logintoken" => $logintoken,
		"format" => "json"
	];

	$ch = curl_init();

	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_URL, $endPoint );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POST, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query( $params2 ) );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$output = curl_exec( $ch );
	curl_close( $ch );
}

// Step 3: GET request to fetch CSRF token
function getCSRFToken() {
	global $endPoint;

	$params3 = [
		"action" => "query",
		"meta" => "tokens",
		"format" => "json"
	];

	$url = $endPoint . "?" . http_build_query( $params3 );

	$ch = curl_init( $url );

	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$output = curl_exec( $ch );
	curl_close( $ch );

	$result = json_decode( $output, true );
	return $result["query"]["tokens"]["csrftoken"];
}

# Step 4: Send a POST request  to merge the page revisions of Oldpage dating up to 2015-12-31T04:37:41Z into Newpage
function mergeHistory( $csrftoken ) {
	global $endPoint;
	
	$params4 = [
		"action"=>"mergehistory",
		"from"=>"Oldpage",
		"to"=>"Newpage",
		"format"=>"json",
		"timestamp"=>"2015-12-31T04:37:41Z",
		"reason"=>"Reason",
		"token" => $csrftoken
	];
  
	$ch = curl_init();

	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_URL, $endPoint );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POST, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query( $params4 ) );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, "cookie.txt" );
	curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEFILE, "cookie.txt" );

	$response = curl_exec($ch);
	curl_close($ch);

	echo ($response);
}

/*
    To merge entire history of Oldpage to Newpage,
    remove the "timestamp" parameter in step 4

*/

JavaScript

/*
    mergehistory.js

    MediaWiki API Demos
    Demo of `mergehistory` module: Merge the page revisions of Oldpage
    dating up to 2015-12-31T04:37:41Z into Newpage

    MIT license
*/
var request = require("request").defaults({jar: true}),
url = "https://test.wikipedia.org/w/api.php";

// Step 1: GET request to fetch login token
function getLoginToken() {
    var params_0 = {
        action: "query",
        meta: "tokens",
        type: "login",
        format: "json"
    };
    request.get({ url: url, qs: params_0 }, function (error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        var data = JSON.parse(body);
        loginRequest(data.query.tokens.logintoken);
    });
}

// Step 2: Send a post request to log in using the clientlogin method.
// import rights can't be granted using Special:BotPasswords
// hence using bot passwords may not work.
// See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/API:Login for more
// information on log in methods.
function loginRequest(login_token) {
    var params_1 = {
        action: "clientlogin",
        username: "username",
        password: "password",
        loginreturnurl: "http://127.0.0.1:5000/",
        logintoken: login_token,
        format: "json"
    };
    request.post({ url: url, form: params_1 }, function (error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        getCsrfToken();
    });
}

// Step 3: GET request to fetch CSRF token
function getCsrfToken() {
    var params_2 = {
        action: "query",
        meta: "tokens",
        format: "json"
    };
    request.get({ url: url, qs: params_2 }, function(error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        var data = JSON.parse(body);
        mergeHistory(data.query.tokens.csrftoken);
    });
}

// Step 4: Send a POST request  to merge the page revisions
// of Oldpage dating up to 2015-12-31T04:37:41Z into Newpage
function mergeHistory(csrf_token) {
    var params_3 = {
            action: "mergehistory",
            from: "Oldpage",
            to: "Newpage",
            reason: "Reason",
            format: "json",
            timestamp: "2015-12-31T04:37:41Z",
            token: csrf_token
    };
    request.post({ url: url, form: params_3 }, function(error, res, body) {
        if (error) {
            return;
        }
        console.log(body);
    });
}

// Start From Step 1
getLoginToken();

/*
    To merge entire history of Oldpage to Newpage,
    remove the "timestamp" parameter in step 4

*/

Possible errors

Code	Info
badtoken	Invalid CSRF token.
apierror-invalidtitle	Bad title "from". Bad title "to".
apierror-nosuchpageid	There is no page with ID fromid. There is no page with ID toid.

Additional notes

Special:MergeHistory - a special page that makes it possible to automatically merge the history of two pages. However, this feature is only accessible for users with the mergehistory user right.