GET /w/api.php?action=wbsearchentities
Summary: Search Wikidata entities
Operation ID: wbSearchEntities
Auth: unknown
Operation ID: wbSearchEntities
Auth: unknown
Description
Searches for entities using labels and aliases. Returns matching entities with basic information.
Parameters (7)
action
(string, query, required)
Must be 'wbsearchentities'
Constraints: {'enum': ['wbsearchentities']}
continue
(integer, query, optional)
Offset for pagination
Constraints: {'minimum': 0}
format
(string, query, optional, default: json)
Output format
Constraints: {'enum': ['json', 'jsonfm', 'xml', 'xmlfm']}
language
(string, query, required)
Language code to search in (e.g., en, de, fr)
limit
(integer, query, optional, default: 7)
Maximum number of results to return (1-50)
Constraints: {'minimum': 1, 'maximum': 50}
search
(string, query, required)
Search string to look for in entity labels and aliases
type
(string, query, optional, default: item)
Type of entity to search for
Constraints: {'enum': ['item', 'property', 'lexeme', 'form', 'sense']}
Examples (2)
| Title | Type | URL | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search Wikidata entities | openapi-spec |
https://www.wikidata.org/w/api.php?action=wbsearchentities?search=Albert Einstein&language=en |
|
| Search Wikidata entities | probe-gate |
https://www.wikidata.org/w/api.php?action=wbsearchentities?search=Albert+Einstein&language=en&type=item&limit=7&format=json |
Probe History
Status Codes
| Time | Status | Latency | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-23 09:16:10.745201 | 200 | 371ms | |
| 2026-03-23 09:01:40.108818 | 200 | 216ms | |
| 2026-03-21T18:00:36.813964 | 200 | 259ms |
Response Changes
| When | Old | New |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-23 09:01:40.108818 | 199c96208977 |
822a29bcfc0a |
| 2026-03-23 09:16:10.745201 | 822a29bcfc0a |
981a4b88db14 |