Wikipedia Nearby

Find nearby Wikipedia articles based on geographic location. Use when user asks about "nearby places", "what's around me", "places near [location]", "Wikiped...

Security Scan

The skill's instructions, requirements, and behavior are consistent with its stated purpose of finding nearby Wikipedia articles and it requests no extra installs or credentials.

Purpose & Capability

Name and description match the runtime instructions: all actions are about using Wikipedia's Special:Nearby page or the public Wikipedia API to find geolocated articles. Nothing requested (no env vars, no binaries) is out of scope.

Instruction Scope

SKILL.md stays within the expected scope (use browser geolocation, Wikipedia geosearch API, and optionally a geocoding step). It mentions extracting coordinates from Telegram/WhatsApp incoming location messages — that assumes the integrating platform provides those payloads but does not itself request any unrelated data. The only minor ambiguity is an unspecified "geocode API" suggestion; choose a trusted geocoder if needed.

Install Mechanism

Instruction-only skill with no install spec and no code files. Nothing is written to disk or downloaded during install.

Credentials

The skill requires no environment variables or credentials. Any mention of Telegram/WhatsApp refers to typical platform payloads, not new secrets required by the skill.

Persistence & Privilege

always is false and the skill does not request persistent presence or elevated privileges. Agent autonomous invocation is allowed by default but not an additional privilege requested by this skill.

Assessment

This skill is coherent and lightweight: it only uses Wikipedia's public APIs and needs no credentials. Before enabling, confirm how your agent integration provides location data (e.g., incoming Telegram/WhatsApp payloads or browser geolocation) and decide whether you want the agent to access user location automatically. If you use a separate geocoding service, pick a trusted provider and be mindful of location privacy when querying third-party geocoders.

Overview

Wikipedia has a built-in geolocation feature that finds articles (places, landmarks, restaurants, museums, etc.) near any location. This skill covers how to access and use Wikipedia Nearby.

Primary URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Nearby

This page uses browser geolocation (GPS) to show Wikipedia articles near your current location.

API Access

For programmatic access without browser geolocation, use Wikipedia's APIs:

Geolocation Search

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=geosearch&gscoord={lat}%7C{lng}&gsradius=10000&gslimit=50&format=json

Parameters:

• gscoord: Latitude and longitude separated by | (e.g., 35.6762%7C139.6503 for Tokyo)
• gsradius: Search radius in meters (default: 1000, max: 10000)
• gslimit: Maximum results (default: 10, max: 500)

Get Article Details

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&titles={title}&prop=extracts&exintro&explaintext&format=json

Usage Patterns

1. Current Location (Browser Required)

Direct user to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Nearby and allow browser geolocation.

2. Specific Location

If user provides coordinates or a place name:

1. Use geocode API or search to get lat/lng
2. Query Wikipedia geosearch API
3. Return results with titles, distances, and brief descriptions

3. Known Coordinates

If user provides lat/lng directly, skip geocoding and query directly:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=geosearch&gscoord=-6.2088%7C106.8456&gsradius=5000&gslimit=20&format=json

Example for Jakarta (-6.2088, 106.8456):

curl "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=geosearch&gscoord=-6.2088%7C106.8456&gsradius=5000&gslimit=10&format=json"

4. Parse and Present Results

The API returns:

{
  "query": {
    "geosearch": [
      {
        "pageid": 12345,
        "title": "Monas",
        "lat": -6.175392,
        "lon": 106.827153,
        "dist": 450,
        "primary"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Present results as:

• Name (distance from center)
• Brief extract if available

Location Sharing from Telegram/WhatsApp

When user shares location via Telegram or WhatsApp:

Telegram: Receives location object with latitude and longitude

WhatsApp: Receives location message with latitude and longitude

Extract coordinates and query directly:

curl "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=geosearch&gscoord={lat}%7C{lng}&gsradius=5000&gslimit=20&format=json"

Example Workflow

User shares location from Telegram/WhatsApp:

1. Extract latitude and longitude from the incoming location message
2. Query Wikipedia geosearch API:

curl "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=query&list=geosearch&gscoord=-6.175392%7C106.827153&gsradius=5000&gslimit=10&format=json"

3. Present results with name, distance, and brief extract if available

User asks: "What's near Monas in Jakarta?"

1. Get Monas coordinates: -6.175392, 106.827153
2. Query geosearch API with radius 2km
3. Present top 10 results with distance and brief description

Notes

• Wikipedia Nearby primarily works well for densely-populated areas with many Wikipedia articles
• Results are limited to articles with geographic coordinates in Wikipedia's database
• For very remote areas, results may be sparse or empty
• Wikipedia articles are available in many languages; consider using uselang parameter if relevant