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To check whether a Wikipedia edit was made by a bot, open the page’s history, inspect the revision and its diff, then compare the change with the account’s bot page and task-specific approval. On English Wikipedia, a bot-like name or a run of rapid edits is only a clue—not proof that an edit is legitimate or abusive. These steps describe English Wikipedia; other language editions may use different bot rules.
1. Find the revision and identify the account
- Open the article and select View history.
- Find the entry you want to check. Note the account name, timestamp, and edit summary. Wikipedia’s page history help explains how these entries identify revisions and editors.
- Open the account’s user page. Bot accounts are often named to show their automated role; on English Wikipedia, bot accounts should use the bot template on their user page and identify the human operator. The interface may also mark an account with a bot flag.
A name, template, or bot flag helps identify an account, but none establishes that a particular edit followed the bot’s approved task.
2. Inspect what changed
From the history, open the revision’s diff against the preceding version. The older version appears on the left and the newer one on the right; inserted and removed material is marked. See Wikipedia’s diff help for how to read the display.
- Check the actual text, references, and pages affected—not only the summary.
- Ask whether the change matches its summary. “Typo fix” or “reverted vandalism” is an explanation entered with the edit, not independent evidence that the description is accurate.
- For a consequential or confusing change, open the revision itself and read the surrounding article text. Diff algorithms are imperfect and can display moved or changed paragraphs as a deletion followed by an insertion.
3. Check whether the task was approved
On English Wikipedia, logged bot actions generally require approval, and approval is for a specific task. Find the bot’s approval request (BRFA) and compare its described task and operating conditions with the edit you inspected. A request can describe what the bot will do, relevant consensus, whether work is automated or manually assisted, and its schedule or rate. The account’s user page and BRFA are the places to check the bot’s stated role.
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Approval for one task is not blanket permission for unrelated edits. English Wikipedia has limited exceptions, including very low-volume testing on test pages and non-disruptive automation limited to the operator’s own userspace. The policy states: “The operation of unapproved bots, or use of approved bots in ways outside their approved conditions of operation, is prohibited and may in some cases lead to blocking of the user account and possible sanctions for the operator.” See the current Wikipedia bot policy.
4. Distinguish a mistake, a policy problem, and vandalism
A bot can make a harmful mistake, or operate outside its approved conditions, without that alone proving deliberate vandalism. English Wikipedia’s vandalism policy centers on deliberate intent to obstruct or defeat the project’s purpose. A repetitive burst may be ordinary maintenance; speed and volume alone do not establish intent.
Describe observable evidence rather than guessing at motive: what changed, the effect, what task the account claims to perform, whether you found a matching approval, and whether the operator responded. An approval does not guarantee every edit is correct, either.
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5. Report the concern with enough context to review it
For an ordinary malfunction or questionable edit
Contact the operator on the bot account’s or operator’s talk page. Include links to the article, the specific revision, and its diff, and explain the discrepancy you observed. The bot policy advises assuming good faith for ordinary problems; operators are responsible for their bot’s edits and for correcting damage caused by incorrect operation.
For an approval or wider community concern
If the issue is serious, unresolved, or concerns whether the bot should be approved, consult the bot noticeboard and the policy’s reexamination process. The Bot Approvals Group can grant or revoke approval, change bot-group status, or set operating conditions. The bot policy describes the available routes.
For an immediate harmful change
Document the revision and use Wikipedia’s ordinary article-repair and community processes. Whether a change needs repair is separate from whether it meets the policy definition of vandalism.
A quick evidence checklist
- Account: Is the automated role and human operator disclosed?
- Approval: Is there an approval for this specific task, and does it cover the observed conditions?
- Change: Does the diff match the stated task and edit summary?
- Effect and intent: What did the edit do? Is there evidence of deliberate obstruction, or only an error or policy concern?
- Response: Has the operator reviewed the issue and corrected any mistake?
This checklist organizes evidence; it is not an official Wikipedia score or a substitute for the edition’s current policies.
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A filter warning, tag, challenge, log entry, or disallowed edit is not by itself proof that an editor acted abusively. English Wikipedia’s edit-filter policy describes these possible outcomes and cautions that restrictive filters need testing and attention to false positives.
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