$smwgBrowseByApi

Configuration parameter details:
Name	$smwgBrowseByApi
Description	Sets whether the display of special page "Browse" will be generated using an API request
Default setting	true
(Other) available settings	false Allows to disable the browse display to be generated using an API request (legacy setting)
Software	Semantic MediaWiki
Since version	2.5.0
Until version	still available
Configuration	Facts display · Interface settings
Keyword	browse · special page

$smwgBrowseByApi is a configuration parameter that sets whether display of information on special page "Browse"Shows all properties and their values annotated to a page is to be generated using an API modules request. This increases responsiveness substantially for pages with large fact sets, i.e. a high number of annotations. The configuration parameter was introduced in Semantic MediaWiki 2.5.0Released on 14 March 2017 and compatible with MW 1.23.0 - 1.29.x.1 and deprecated with Semantic MediaWiki 3.0.0Released on 11 October 2018 and compatible with MW 1.27.0 - 1.31.x.2.

No longer functional as of Semantic MediaWiki 7.0.0Released on 4 June 2026 and compatible with MW 1.43.x - 1.46.x.. The runtime shim that automatically translated $smwgBrowseByApi to its replacement has been removed, so this setting is now silently ignored. Migrate to configuration parameter $smwgBrowseFeaturesSets the behaviour of the features provided by several browsing interfaces (option 'use-api') in "LocalSettings.php".3

Default setting

$smwgBrowseByApi = true;

This means that the display of special page "Browse"Shows all properties and their values annotated to a page will be generated using an API request.

Changing the default setting

To modify the setting to this configuration parameter, add one of the following lines to your "LocalSettings.php" file:

Disable the usage of the API

$smwgBrowseByApi = false;

This means that the display of special page "Browse"Shows all properties and their values annotated to a page will not be generated using an API request but with synchronous database queries. Alternatively one may use the "lecacy" option to the "output" parameter of "index.php" (?output=legacy).

See also

• Help page on special page "Browse"Shows all properties and their values annotated to a page
• Help page on configuration parameter $smwgBrowseFeaturesSets the behaviour of the features provided by several browsing interfaces