Wikimedia Commons

Search files in Wikimedia Commons, confirm the file page, and check licence terms before reusing an image.

Official docs

Live lookup

Type a real query, scan the cards and confirm the key details before opening the full source.

Quick examples

What the response contains

This Wikimedia Commons search returns media files rather than only pages about a topic. It helps find a file title, media URL, and description page, plus credit and licence metadata when available, but finding an image does not remove the need to check its terms of use.

Practical use

Commons files can have different requirements for attribution, licence identification, or share-alike. Open the description page, confirm the licence, and consider trademark, privacy, and other restrictions before publishing or reusing a file.

How to use it

Search a subject and open the file description page to compare title, credit, licence, and usage terms before reuse.

Fields worth checking

File title
Original URL and file page
Credit and creator
Licence and usage terms

Who this helps

People who need to find visual files and check whether planned use respects the credits and conditions shown for each item.

Where this lookup saves time

Limits the search to media files, avoiding a mix of encyclopaedic pages and reusable files.
Keeps the description page and credit and licence metadata within reach for individual checking.

What a search returns

The route uses generator=search with gsrnamespace=6, which restricts the search to the file namespace. Results sit in query.pages. An observed file includes pageid, ns, title, and imageinfo; imageinfo can include url, descriptionurl, and metadata such as LicenseShortName, UsageTerms, Artist, and Credit when the source provides them.

Read title as the file name and use pageid only as a technical reference for the result.
Open descriptionurl: it is the file page where context, origin, and conditions can be checked.
Use url as the returned media address, not as a statement that a file can be used in every situation.

Finding the right file

Search with a sufficiently specific subject and compare titles before downloading or embedding a result. The search can return continue with gsroffset to indicate more results. This page requests up to six files per lookup, but the first view is neither a complete list nor proof that a result is the best representation of the topic.

Add a location, species, event, creator, or period when a subject produces many similar files.
Use the title and description page to distinguish photographs, illustrations, versions, and crops.
When an integration needs to keep searching, handle continuation as documented instead of repeating the first page.

Licence, credit, and other limits

Commons explains that files may be reusable, but each can have its own attribution, licence-identification, or share-alike requirements. Licence information does not remove trademark, privacy, personality, or other restrictions independent of copyright. Check the page for every file before public use.

Do not assume that an image appearing in results has an unrestricted licence.
Read LicenseShortName and UsageTerms as response clues, then check the licence text and credits on the file page.
When use involves a campaign, an identifiable person, a trademark, or a high-risk context, seek guidance suited to the case.