ADR 4: Use a Dedicated MediaWiki Revision Slot

Date: March 2023

Status: Accepted

Context

We need to store our structured data JSON somewhere in MediaWiki revisions.

Decision

We do not create dedicated pages for the JSON like in Wikibase. Instead we allow users to create wikitext pages as usual and then add the JSON to a dedicated revision slot.

Consequences

• Improved usability compared to Wikibase by having the data on the same page as the wikitext.
• The JSON is reachable through MediaWiki's generic revision surfaces — action=raw, prop=revisions, Special:Export and diffs — each gated on the page's read permission. The slot is not an access-control boundary: MediaWiki has no way to restrict read access to a single slot separately from the page.
• Editing the JSON, and reading it as structured data, require our own web APIs and interfaces.