Wikipedia:Bots/Noticeboard

Bots noticeboard

Here we coordinate and discuss Wikipedia issues related to bots and other programs interacting with the MediaWiki software. Bot operators are the main users of this noticeboard, but even if you are not one, your comments will be welcome. Just make sure you are aware about our bot policy and know where to post your issue. Do not post here if you came to discuss non-urgent bot issues, bugs and suggestions for improvement. Do that at the bot operator's talk page discuss urgent/major bot issues. Do that according to instructions at WP:BOTISSUE discuss general questions about the MediaWiki software and syntax. We have the village pump's technical section for that request approval for your new bot. Here is where you should do it request new functionality for bots. Share your ideas at the dedicated page

Cyberbot II blocked

See discussion at User talk:cyberpower678#Buggy bot, and feel free to jump in and help if you're familiar with the framework that cyberpower is using. ‑Scottywong| speak _ 22:29, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Umm, why didn't you just disable the run page like Cyberpower told you to use? That seems like the first thing to do if a bot isn't working properly... Legoktm (talk) 23:19, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Frankly, because I don't have sufficient confidence that the problem will be fixed when Cyberpower decides to restart the task on his own. ‑Scottywong| express _ 01:17, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

So now once Cyberpower finishes fixing his code, he now has to wait for you (or another admin who has "confidence" in him) to unblock it, before he can deploy it, except you won't have any idea whether the problem is actually fixed... Legoktm (talk) 02:33, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

I let him know about a problem with his bot, his response was essentially that he didn't think that it's a big problem, and he'll take care of it when he gets around to it. I told him I'd block the bot if it continued making erroneous edits. He claimed to have fixed the problem, but the bot continued to make errors, so I blocked it. I don't need to inspect his code in order to be satisfied that the problem is fixed, but I'd like to at least have a discussion about what the problem was, and how he fixed it. At this point, it seems like there are still holes in his algorithm (at least from the way he describes it). If his source code is public, perhaps someone who is familiar with the framework he uses can take a look at it and comment. ‑Scottywong| squeal _ 03:48, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

Citation Bot needs update

As described here, Citation bot (BRFA · contribs · actions log · block log · flag log · user rights) needs an update to be fully compatible with the new Lua-based citations when there are more than 9 authors or more than 4 editors. However, the bot's original author doesn't seem to have much time for it anymore [1]. He invites others to improve the improve the source though, and I was hoping that someone else might feel inclined to work on the needed improvements. Dragons flight (talk) 22:52, 3 April 2013 (UTC)

Cyberbots I and II Update

In addition to the core Framework being updated, and bug fixes being implemented on the currently shutdown tasks. Cyberbots I and II will be slowly migrating to labs. Services such as RfX reporter, tally, cratstats, and adminstats that many of you use may get cut for a bit. Also because I am unfamiliar with labs at the moment, I have absolutely no idea how adminstats will run on labs. If there are any errors or out of the norm edits in the coming future, please let me know.—cyberpower ^Chat_Offline 15:17, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Does Labs have SQL database replication yet? I haven't been keeping up on it. ‑Scottywong| confabulate _ 15:24, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Like I said, I'm not familiar with labs yet, so I'm making a slow transition over to it as I get familiar with it. Since it's as good as confirmed that toolserver will be shutoff in the future, I might as well start with the transition.—cyberpower ^Chat_Offline 15:28, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

I'll likely need to do the same at some point, but I probably won't start an account there until db replication is stable. ‑Scottywong| express _ 17:14, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

Labs doesn't have replication yet, there was an update from Coren on the Toolserver-l/Labs-l a few days ago. Last I heard the eta was by the hackathon. Legoktm (talk) 18:00, 10 April 2013 (UTC)

EdinBot

Could someone please check Special:Contributions/EdinBot - I think it may be operating on the wrong wiki. Thanks! GoingBatty (talk) 01:58, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Seems like it should be running on bs.wikipedia.org because that is where it is getting the edit counts from (and where it is approved). Although, there is no page by the name "Wikipedia:Spisak korisnika po broju izmjena" on the wiki.. -- Cheers, Riley 02:06, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction - I've left the bot owner a note at bs:Razgovor sa korisnikom:Edinwiki#Edits on en.wikipedia. Thanks also to User:Soap for blocking the bot while this gets sorted out. GoingBatty (talk) 02:16, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

FYI, User:Edinwiki quickly replied to me at User talk:GoingBatty#EdinBot. GoingBatty (talk) 02:20, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

AIV helper bot editing logged out

See Special:Contributions/185.15.59.211. Of course, I have no idea which one it is. What can/should be done when a bot is editing logged out? Thanks. Someguy1221 (talk) 03:26, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

• Per instructions on User:HBC_AIV_helperbot7, I have emailed the bot operator. Why not block temporarily Special:Contributions/185.15.59.211 (autoblock disabled, anonymous users only) until we get a reply from the bot operator? -- Cheers, Riley 03:33, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
• (edit conflict)Well normally you block the IP and leave a note for the operator to fix it. But if it's the only helperbot running you might not want to block it... Legoktm (talk) 03:34, 20 April 2013 (UTC)
  • Operator's response: "[...]I believe it's helperbot5 that runs on the toolserver. It looks like it's logged itself back in since though, but worth keeping an eye on[...]" :) -- Cheers, Riley 08:20, 20 April 2013 (UTC)

Blocking toolserver IPs

We have an existing consensus to softblock the toolserver IP addresses, for this very reason. I guess from the above that they have new IP addresses now; that would be 185.15.59.192/27, judging by whois data? Which is part of 185.15.56.0/22 that is assigned to WMF. And then there's 2620:0:860::/46 in IPv6 assigned to WMF too, of which we currently have 2620:0:862:101::2:0/124 blocked as toolserver.

We should probably also do the same for Labs projects; it seems edits from Tool Labs will currently come from 10.64.0.126, and I see past edits from 10.64.0.123, 10.64.0.169, and 10.64.0.170, but the full range of possible IPs is not obvious (random guess: 10.64.0.123–170, plus a few others in 10.64.0.0/12, plus some in 2620:0:861:101:10::/80 if IPv6 happens to be used). OTOH, should logged-out edits be coming from anything in 10.0.0.0/8 at all? Anomie⚔ 03:35, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

One bot not archiving Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion

I left a discussion about this on the bot owner's talk page, as well as the MfD talk page. It seems like since January 2013, One bot has been doing a great job removing closed discussions on Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion, but has not been archiving any of the discussions. This can be proven on the bot's edit log. Steel1943 (talk) 07:13, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

I've restored the missing archive pages, but it may take awhile to work out exactly why it isn't archiving properly. --Chris 11:27, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

I understand, and I appreciate the fact that you restored the missing pages single-handedly. However, One bot is still removing closed discussions from Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion without archiving the discussions. Is it possible to somehow temporarily freeze that function, or have these discussions go to a temporary page so that this information is not disappearing? Steel1943 (talk) 03:42, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Ok, I've worked out what was going wrong, and the bot should now be archiving properly. I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days to make sure it all runs smoothly. --Chris 15:35, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Cyberbot

Cyberbot II is now running on labs. I am now migrating Cyberbot I.—cyberpower ^Chat_Offline 18:47, 24 April 2013 (UTC)

Retired bot operator with approved bots

Does anything need to be done about User:Riley Huntley's approved bots? He retired under a cloud due to sharing his password, a single incident, but I think this should raise concerns about flagged bots and approved tasks. -68.107.137.178 (talk) 15:19, 1 May 2013 (UTC)