How to Create a Wikipedia CLI

Build Wikipedia command line tools using Python and Wikipedia API

Creating a Wikipedia command line interface (CLI) tool was a very fulfilling project that combined the simplicity of Python with the vast knowledge base of Wikipedia. This tutorial will walk you step-by-step through building a CLI tool that gets information from Wikipedia using its API.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:

• Python 3.7 or higher installed on your system.
• Basic knowledge of Python and experience using APIs.
• Internet connection for accessing the Wikipedia API.

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Step 1: Understand the Wikipedia API

Wikipedia provides a RESTful API at https://www.php.cn/link/27bf6226213cf288dfbf62ffc02bad4f. This API allows developers to query Wikipedia for content, metadata, and more. Key endpoints we will use include:

• action=query: Get general content from Wikipedia.
• list=search: Search articles by keyword.
• prop=extracts: Retrieve article abstracts.

The base URL for all API requests is:

<code>https://www.php.cn/link/27bf6226213cf288dfbf62ffc02bad4f</code>

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Step 2: Set up the Python environment

First create a Python virtual environment and install the required libraries. We will use requests to make HTTP requests and argparse to handle CLI parameters.

<code># 创建虚拟环境
python -m venv wikipedia-cli-env

# 激活环境
# 在Windows上：
wikipedia-cli-env\Scripts\activate
# 在Mac/Linux上：
source wikipedia-cli-env/bin/activate

# 安装依赖项
pip install requests argparse</code>

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Step 3: Plan CLI functions

Our CLI tool will include the following features:

1. Search Wikipedia articles : Allows users to search for articles by keywords.
2. Get article summary: Retrieve a short summary of a specific article.
3. View CLI Help: Displays usage instructions.

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Step 4: Implement CLI tool

The following is the Python code for the CLI tool:

import argparse
import requests

# 定义维基百科API的基本URL
WIKIPEDIA_API_URL = "https://www.php.cn/link/27bf6226213cf288dfbf62ffc02bad4f"

def search_articles(query):
    """搜索与查询匹配的维基百科文章。"""
    params = {
        'action': 'query',
        'list': 'search',
        'srsearch': query,
        'format': 'json',
    }
    response = requests.get(WIKIPEDIA_API_URL, params=params)
    response.raise_for_status()  # 对错误的响应引发错误
    data = response.json()

    if 'query' in data:
        return data['query']['search']
    else:
        return []

def get_article_summary(title):
    """获取维基百科文章的摘要。"""
    params = {
        'action': 'query',
        'prop': 'extracts',
        'exintro': True,
        'titles': title,
        'format': 'json',
    }
    response = requests.get(WIKIPEDIA_API_URL, params=params)
    response.raise_for_status()
    data = response.json()

    pages = data.get('query', {}).get('pages', {})
    for page_id, page in pages.items():
        if 'extract' in page:
            return page['extract']
    return "No summary available."

def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="一个与维基百科交互的CLI工具。")
    subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(dest="command")

    # 子命令：search
    search_parser = subparsers.add_parser("search", help="在维基百科上搜索文章。")
    search_parser.add_argument("query", help="搜索查询。")

    # 子命令：summary
    summary_parser = subparsers.add_parser("summary", help="获取特定维基百科文章的摘要。")
    summary_parser.add_argument("title", help="维基百科文章的标题。")

    args = parser.parse_args()

    if args.command == "search":
        results = search_articles(args.query)
        if results:
            print("搜索结果：")
            for result in results:
                print(f"- {result['title']}: {result['snippet']}")
        else:
            print("未找到结果。")

    elif args.command == "summary":
        summary = get_article_summary(args.title)
        print(summary)

    else:
        parser.print_help()

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

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Step 5: Test the CLI tool

Save the script as wikipedia_cli.py. You can now run the tool from the terminal:

1. Search articles:

<code>python wikipedia_cli.py search "Python programming"</code>

2. Get article summary:

<code>python wikipedia_cli.py summary "Python (programming language)"</code>

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Step 6: Enhance Tools

To make the tool more powerful and user-friendly, please consider adding the following:

1. Error handling: Provide detailed error messages for failed API requests.
2. Formatting: Use libraries like rich to get prettier output.
3. Caching: Implement caching to avoid repeated API calls for the same query.
4. Additional Features: Add support for getting related articles, categories or images.

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Conclusion

You have successfully built a Wikipedia CLI tool using Python and its API! This tool can serve as a good starting point for more advanced projects, such as integrating it into other applications or creating a GUI version. Happy coding!

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