How can I use data from Wikidata in my own project?

Updated

Yes — Wikidata is designed for reuse. Its content is available under a free license, can be exported in standard formats, and can be interlinked with other open datasets on the linked data web. The official "Learn how you can retrieve and use data from Wikidata" entry point is the place to start, and it covers the main retrieval routes described below.

What you can reuse

Wikidata describes itself as a free and open knowledge base that both humans and machines can read and edit. It acts as central storage for the structured data of Wikimedia sister projects (Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wiktionary, Wikisource, and others), and it also supports many sites and services outside the Wikimedia projects.

For your project, that means:

  • Structured statements, not just prose — each item is a set of properties and values you can query or filter.
  • A free license that permits reuse, with the specific terms set out on Wikidata's license page.
  • Standard export formats, so you are not locked into a single access method.
  • Interlinking, so Wikidata identifiers can connect your data to other open datasets.

Ways to get the data

Approach Good for What you need
SPARQL Query Service Filtered, custom result sets Familiarity with SPARQL; the service is the official query entry point
Standard exports Bulk or offline processing Handling of the published dump/export formats
Linked data interlinking Joining Wikidata to another open dataset Matching on Wikidata identifiers (e.g. Q-IDs)

The main page points to the SPARQL query service as the way to "get started" exploring the data, and to the retrieve-and-use documentation for the full picture. If you only need a handful of facts, a query is usually the fastest route; if you need everything, exports are the practical choice.

A concrete example

Suppose you want a list of authors and their works for a reading app. You would:

  1. Identify the entity you care about — for instance, author Douglas Adams is item Q42, which Wikidata uses on its main page as a featured showcase item.
  2. Write a SPARQL query against the Query Service to return the properties you need.
  3. Store the returned Q-IDs alongside your own records so you can refresh or cross-reference later.

The Q-ID is the stable key that makes step 3 work; it is also what lets you interlink your dataset with others on the linked data web.

Contributing back

Reuse is not one-directional. If your project surfaces gaps or errors, you can fix them: Wikidata invites anyone to edit, offers tutorials for new editors, hosts WikiProjects for subject-focused collaboration, and accepts data donations from individuals and organizations. Creating a user account is the first step, and questions go to the Project chat, Telegram groups, or the live IRC chat.

One thing to watch

The Wikidata Query Service is migrating from Blazegraph to QLever. Wikidata has announced Wikidata Query Service Days 2026, an online event from October 17 to 23, focused on that migration and on helping the community, tool maintainers, and data reusers adapt their queries and tools to the new endpoint. If you build on SPARQL, plan for query and tooling adjustments around this change rather than assuming your current queries will run unchanged.