Wikibase/Permissions

Overview

Below you'll find information about the available permissions in Wikibase, and a tidy summary in table form.

Preliminary notes

• User rights are flags defined either in MediaWiki core's PermissionManager::coreRights (link) or in the AvailableRights property of the extension.json file (e.g., on Wikibase repo)
• These rights are then assigned to user groups, which can be defined ad hoc in LocalSettings.php by setting a boolean value on a permission key to a given group key on $wgGroupPermissions. The default user groups are defined in DefaultSettings.php (link). Extensions can set their permissions through extension.json (e.g., on Wikibase repo)
• Grants are collections of user rights granted to third-party software on a user's behalf without giving them full user rights. Grant permissions can be set with the $wgGrantPermissions setting (defaults) or through extension.json (e.g., on Wikibase repo).

Implementation of permissions in Wikibase

• Permissions on Wikibase are all managed through classes that implement the EntityPermissionChecker interface (link).
• Mostly, permissions are checked in the ChangeOp classes themselves. Some permissions are checked on special pages and in API modules.

Permissions table

Key

• User right: The permission flag being checked
• Description: The action the permission is checked on
• Enabled user groups: Which user group this permission is enabled for by default
• Included in grants: Which grants (collections of permissions for third-party apps) include this permission by default

Wikibase permissions

User right	Description	Enabled user groups	Included in grants
read	Read entities (inherited from MediaWiki core)	All users	basic
edit	Edit entities (inherited from MediaWiki core)	All users	editpage (and all grants that inherit it in DefaultSettings.php)
createpage	Create items (inherited from MediaWiki core)	All users	createeditmovepage
property-create	Create properties	All users	createeditmovepage
item-term	Edit terms (labels, descriptions, aliases) on items	All users	editpage
property-term	Edit terms on properties	All users	editpage
item-merge	Merge two items together	All users	editpage
item-redirect	Redirect from one item to another	All users	editpage