Push modules and templates from GitHub and have them land on-wiki automatically.

If you maintain Scribunto modules, templates, or site CSS/JS by hand on-wiki, you already know the pain: copy-paste, forgotten docs subpages, and no real review trail. WikiWire is a free GitHub Action from the Obby Wiki that treats your Git repo as the source of truth and syncs changed files to MediaWiki via the Action API after each push.

Official docs live at wikiwire.readthedocs.io. WikiWire works well on MediaWiki 1.43 LTS and newer. Older versions may work, but they're not the target. This guide assums you're on 1.43 or later.

1. Why bother?

Once it's set up, a normal Git workflow becomes your wiki deploy:

Edit Lua / wikitext / CSS in a PR
Merge to main
WikiWire uploads only what changed

That alone is enough reason for any wiki with more than a handful of modules. Multi-wiki setups get even more value: one repo can push shared code to every configured site.

You will need a GitHub repository (or another CI host you're willing to wire yourself). If your modules still only exist on-wiki, create a repo and import them first, for example obbywiki/modules is a live reference layout.

2. Repository layout

WikiWire only looks under these root folders. Anything else is ignored:

modules/ = Scribunto modules
templates/ = templates
mediawiki/ = MediaWiki: namespace pages (Common.js, Common.css, sitenotice, etc.)

You need at least one of those three present, plus a wikiwire.toml at the repo root.

A minimal shape looks like this:

.
├─ modules/
│  └─ mywikidomain.org/
│     └─ MyModule/
│        └─ MyModule.module.lua
├─ templates/
│  └─ mywikidomain.org/
│     └─ Infobox/
│        └─ Infobox.template.wikitext
├─ mediawiki/
│  └─ mywikidomain.org/
│     ├─ Common.js
│     └─ Common.css
├─ wikiwire.toml
└─ .wikiwireignore

Paths map like this:

Modules: modules/<host|id>/<name>/... → Module:<name>...
Templates: templates/<host|id>/<name>/... → Template:<name>...
MediaWiki: mediawiki/<host|id>/<page>.<ext> → MediaWiki:<page> (use a directory when the page has subpages)

Prefer the site's host from wikiwire.toml as the directory name. Using id works if host is omitted, but host is clearer when you have more than one wiki.

A few rules that bite people early:

Main module file must be named <Name>.module.lua (not bare .lua).
Main template file must be <Name>.template.wikitext.
Docs usually live as doc.wikitext next to the main file → Module:Name/doc or Template:Name/doc.
Any path segment starting with _ is skipped (handy for drafts: _draft, _legacy).
shared/ syncs to every site when shared = true in config. common/ is opt-in per site when common = true.

3. Configure wikiwire.toml

Drop a wikiwire.toml at the repository root. A beginner config:

# https://github.com/obbywiki/wikiwire

version = 1
shared = false

[[sites]]
id = "mywiki"
host = "mywikidomain.org"
api = "https://mywikidomain.org/w/api.php"
default_branch = "main"
css_content_model = "css"

Swap in your real host and API URL. Many installs expose the API at /w/api.php rather than /api.php, open it in a browser and confirm bots can reach it.

Also add a .wikiwireignore at the root (even if empty). Patterns follow .gitignore semantics. For example, if you keep Luau sources in-repo but only want Lua uploaded:

**/*.module.luau

Credentials never go in this file. Those live in GitHub Actions secrets.

4. Bot account and password

WikiWire edits the wiki as a logged-in user, so you need a bot account.

Create a dedicated account (e.g. WikiWireBot). Give it the bot group; sysop can help if you sync protected pages.
Open Special:BotPasswords and create a password with at least:
- Basic rights
- High-volume (bot) access
- Edit existing pages
- Edit protected pages
- Create, edit, and move pages
If you sync mediawiki/ pages, also enable Edit the MediaWiki namespace and sitewide/user JSON.
Allow all IP ranges (0.0.0.0/0 and ::/0). GitHub Actions runners rotate IPs constantly.

The username you pass to the Action is AccountName@BotPasswordName. Store the generated password as a repository secret named something like WIKI_PASSWORD.

5. GitHub Actions workflow

Add .github/workflows/wikiwire.yml:

name: WikiWire

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - "modules/**"
      - "modules/*"
      - "templates/**"
      - "templates/*"
      - "mediawiki/**"
      - "mediawiki/*"

jobs:
  wikiwire:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Sync files to production MediaWiki
    permissions:
      contents: read
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: obbywiki/wikiwire@latest
        with:
          username: WikiWireBot@BotPasswordNameHere
          password: ${{ secrets.WIKI_PASSWORD }}
          # dry_run: true

WikiWire is pre-v1. Pinning @latest is fine while exploring; for production, pin a release tag so a breaking change doesn't surprise you mid-deploy.

For multiple wikis with different bots, use the site_credentials input (JSON keyed by site id) instead of a single global username/password. Details are in the GitHub README.

6. Test before you trust it

Uncomment dry_run: true on the first runs. Push a small module or template change and read the Action log: you should see planned titles and content models with no real edits.

When that looks right, turn dry run off and push again. Only files that changed in the commit are synced by default, not the whole tree.

If something fails, error prefixes help narrow it down:

WikiWire config error = wikiwire.toml / .wikiwireignore
WikiWire API error = reachability, auth, or Cloudflare blocking bots
WikiWire content model error = wrong folder or unsupported extension

Cloudflare Bot Fight Mode is a common blocker for the Action API. If login works locally but CI fails, check that first (docs).

7. Things WikiWire will not do for you

Worth knowing up front:

Deleting a file in Git does not delete the on-wiki page.
Renames show up as a delete + add on the Git side; the old wiki page sticks around.
sync_all: override forces a full tree sync. Useful rarely, dangerous often. Treat it as last resort.

Next steps

Once the happy path works, dig into shared modules across sites, ignore patterns, and content-model options in the official references:

Set up WikiWire for Git > MediaWiki sync