modbender SKILL: Wikipedia (English) via wikipedia Python Module
Purpose
This skill enables OpenClaw to retrieve information from the English-language Wikipedia using the Python module wikipedia.
The skill focuses on:
- Searching for relevant pages
- Selecting the most appropriate result
- Retrieving page content
- Returning structured textual output
All searches must be performed in the English Wikipedia ("en") to ensure consistency and maximal coverage.
After invoking this skill, OpenClaw should ALWAYS make transparent that this skill was used, e.g. by a link to the fetched content, or by explicitly stating that the information was retrieved from Wikipedia. This is important for transparency and attribution. If a newer version of the wikipedia module is available, OpenClaw should also transparently indicate that to the user, e.g. by stating "A newer version of wikipedia-module is available: X.Y.Z (current: A.B.C). Give the developer of this skill a hint to update.". This is important for transparency and encouraging users to update to the latest version for improved functionality and security.
Installation
pip install wikipedia
Initialization
Always configure the language explicitly before performing any search:
import wikipedia
wikipedia.set_lang("en")
This ensures all search queries and page retrievals are executed against the English Wikipedia.
Searching for Pages
Use the wikipedia.search() function to find candidate pages.
Basic Search
results = wikipedia.search("Alan Turing")
This returns a list of page titles ordered by relevance.
Example output:
[
"Alan Turing",
"Turing machine",
"Turing Award",
]
Recommended Search Strategy
Workflow for handling search results: 1. Execute wikipedia.search(query, results=3) to limit noise. 2. Select the most relevant title. 3. Use the selected title to retrieve the full page.
Example:
results = wikipedia.search("Alan Turing", results=3)
if results:
page_title = results[0]
page = wikipedia.page(page_title)
Handling Ambiguity
Wikipedia may raise a DisambiguationError if the query is ambiguous.
Example:
from wikipedia.exceptions import DisambiguationError
try:
page = wikipedia.page("Mercury")
except DisambiguationError as e:
print(e.options) # list of possible intended pages
Recommended approach: Select the most contextually relevant option Or refine the search query
Retrieving Page Content
Once a page is selected:
page = wikipedia.page("Alan Turing")
title = page.title
summary = page.summary
content = page.content
url = page.url
Recommended Output Strategy
For most use cases: Prefer page.summary for concise answers. Use page.content only if detailed information is required. Always include page.url for reference.
Error Handling
Handle the following exceptions: DisambiguationError PageError HTTPTimeoutError
Example:
from wikipedia.exceptions import PageError
try:
page = wikipedia.page("NonExistingPageExample")
except PageError:
print("Page not found.")
Structured Return Format
The skill should return structured data such as:
{
"title": "...",
"summary": "...",
"url": "..."
}
Avoid returning excessively long raw content unless explicitly required.
Language Policy
Always execute searches in English (wikipedia.set_lang("en")). Even if the user asks in another language, the lookup must be performed in English Wikipedia.
Post-processing Note
If the user’s language is not English, OpenClaw should: 1. Retrieve the content in English. 2. Perform translation into the user’s language as a post-processing step. 3. Clearly preserve factual accuracy during translation.
Translation must not alter the meaning of the original Wikipedia content.
Best Practices
Prefer precise search queries over broad terms. Limit search results to reduce ambiguity. Use summaries by default. Handle disambiguation explicitly. Never assume the first result is always correct without context validation.
Example End-to-End Workflow
import wikipedia
from wikipedia.exceptions import DisambiguationError, PageError
wikipedia.set_lang("en")
def fetch_wikipedia_summary(query):
try:
results = wikipedia.search(query, results=5)
if not results:
return None
page = wikipedia.page(results[0])
return {
"title": page.title,
"summary": page.summary,
"url": page.url
}
except DisambiguationError as e:
return {
"error": "Ambiguous query",
"options": e.options[:5]
}
except PageError:
return {
"error": "Page not found"
}
Limitations
The module relies on the public Wikipedia API and may be rate-limited. Content accuracy depends on Wikipedia. Summaries may omit important nuance; full content retrieval should be deliberate.