Wikimedia Commons Help Pages Scraper

Wikimedia Commons Help Pages Scraper

Scrape Wikimedia Commons help pages by title or get the full documentation set. Each page returns its ID, namespace, and title in a flat row. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Wikimedia Commons help documentation is spread across hundreds of pages and changes often. This Actor reads the public MediaWiki API directly, returning every help page title and ID in one fixed schema. Filter by a search term to pull only the guides you need, or leave it empty to download the entire help namespace.

Who uses it	What they scrape Wikimedia Commons Help Pages Scraper for
Technical writers	Audit the current help page inventory for gaps or outdated content.
Wikimedia tool developers	Build a local index of help topics to power in-app documentation search.
Community managers	Track which help pages exist to link contributors to the right guides.
Data analysts	Export the full help page list for content structure analysis.

What it does

This Actor collects Wikimedia Commons help page listings from the MediaWiki API and returns each page as a flat row with its page ID, namespace, and title.

• 📋 Full namespace dump: Leave the search term empty to scrape every help page in one run.
• 🔍 Title search: Provide a search term to filter help pages by title before they reach your dataset.
• 📄 Flat row output: Every result is a simple row with pageid, ns, and title, ready for spreadsheets or databases.

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

What you can do with Wikimedia Commons Help Pages Scraper data

📚 Build a help page inventory.

A technical writer runs the Actor without a search term to get every help page title, then reviews the list for outdated or missing topics.

🔎 Find specific documentation.

A tool developer enters a search term like 'upload' to pull only upload-related help pages for integration into a user-facing help widget.

📊 Analyze content structure.

A data analyst exports the full help page list to CSV and maps how Wikimedia Commons organizes its documentation across topics.

🔄 Monitor documentation changes.

A community manager schedules regular runs to detect new or removed help pages and update internal wikis accordingly.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads the public MediaWiki API with zero authentication.
Fixed schema	Every page returns the same three fields: pageid, ns, title.
Full coverage	Namespace 12 contains all official help documentation.
Lightweight	JSON API responses are small and fast to paginate.

What a Wikimedia Commons Help Pages Scraper record looks like

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

{
 "pageid": 28938658,
 "ns": 12,
 "title": "Help:\"Nomear para exclusão\" link da caixa de ferramentas",
 "url": "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help%3A%22Nomear_para_exclus%C3%A3o%22_link_da_caixa_de_ferramentas",
 "scrapedAt": "2026-09-05T03:35:45.617Z"
}

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 with an optional search term to filter help pages by title, and set a max items limit to control the run size. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200
}

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect more results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account.
2. Open the Wikimedia Commons Help Pages Scraper.
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 (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

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

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

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

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check your search term. The filter is case-sensitive and must match part of a help page title exactly. Try leaving the search term empty to confirm the full listing works.

Why did the run stop before reaching my max items limit?

The Actor stops when the API returns no more pages. Wikimedia Commons has a finite number of help pages, so the actual total may be lower than your max items setting.

Why do I only get 10 items on a free account?

Free accounts are limited to 10 items per run as a preview. Upgrade to a paid plan to scrape more items.

The Actor returns page IDs but not the help content. How do I get the text?

This Actor is designed for page listing only. To fetch full page content, you would need to call the MediaWiki parse API with each pageid in a separate workflow.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a Wikimedia account or API key?	No. This Actor reads the public MediaWiki API, which requires no authentication for reading help page listings.
What data does each result contain?	Each result is a flat row with three fields: pageid (the numeric page ID), ns (the namespace, always 12 for Help), and title (the page title).
Can I get the full text of each help page?	This Actor returns the page listing only. To fetch full page content, you would need a separate Actor that calls the parse API for each pageid.
How do I filter for specific help pages?	Use the optional search term input. The Actor filters page titles server-side via the API, so only matching pages reach your dataset.
What is the maximum number of pages I can scrape?	Free users are limited to 10 items for preview. Paid users can scrape more items per run.
Does this Actor handle pagination automatically?	Yes. The Actor follows the API's continue token to paginate through all available help pages until your max items limit is reached.
What export formats are supported?	You can export your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
Is this Actor affected by rate limiting?	The MediaWiki API is designed for read access and generally does not impose strict rate limits for this type of listing request.
Can I schedule this Actor to run periodically?	Yes. Apify supports scheduled runs so you can monitor the help page listing daily, weekly, or on any cron schedule.

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