Manual:Pywikibot/Overview

Python MediaWiki Robot Framework

The Python MediaWiki Robot Framework (Pywikibot) is a collection of tools made to fit the maintenance need on Wikipedia, but it can also be used on other MediaWiki sites.

There is a compat release that supports older mediawiki software.

There is the core release of the Python Wikipedia Robot Framework, formerly known as the rewrite branch. It features several improvements, such as full API usage and a pythonic package layout.

The table below may assist in choosing between the compat and core release.

Requirements for a bot

To run a bot on your wiki, you will need Shell access to your hosting account. If you don't know whether you have Shell access or not, ask your hosting provider. You will need Python version > 2.5 and less than 3.0 although Python 2.4.3 has also worked for at least one bot script. Preferred version is 2.7.2. or 2.7.3. To check whether you have Python installed and its version, just type "python" at the Shell prompt.

Python version	pywikibot compat	pywikibot core
Former release	pywikipedia trunk	pywikibot rewrite branch
<= 2.3	no support	no support
2.4	no PLURAL support, only few scripts supported. Not supported anymore	no support
2.5	unicode bug #3443397, don't use it with wikimedia projects	no support
2.6	unicode bug #3081100, don't use it with wikimedia projects	should run
2.7 2.7.1	unicode bug #3081100, don't use it with wikimedia projects	should run
2.7.1 toolserver and labs only	OK	OK
2.7.2 — 2.7.6	OK	OK
3.0 3.1 3.2	no support	no support
3.3	no support	support is being implemented

License

Here you can view the LICENSE files for core and compat.

Copyright (c) 2004-2013 Pywikibot team

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without
restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following
conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Everything in the 'externals' directory is general released under seperate
licenses. Some parts may come from Pywikibot team and share the same
permissions, but in general they have to be checked for any external package
seperately.