Keep the CLI up to date

Watch it in action

Preview an update

Check your current version and preview an update without replacing the executable:

mw version
mw update --dry-run

Install the latest release:

mw update

Use --dry-run to see the selected release, download location and release notes without replacing the installed binary. To preview a specific release:

mw update --dry-run --version v0.33.0

The updater shows the changelog between your current and target versions. It does not change your installation during a dry run.

The updater asks before replacing the executable. Use sudo mw update only if the executable is installed in a directory your user cannot write to. Package-managed installations should follow their package manager’s update procedure.

To install a specific published version, use mw update --version VERSION with a version shown on the releases page.

Release versions

The updater supports existing v0.x.y releases and future date-based tags in vYYYY.MM.DD.REVISION format. For example, v2026.10.31.0 identifies an initial release and v2026.10.31.1 a maintenance update to that release series, even if the maintenance update is published later. Dates must be valid calendar dates; months and days can have leading zeroes. The revision starts at zero and increases numerically. Dated prereleases are not currently supported.

Ordinary mw update selects the highest stable version, rather than the most recently published release. An older series receiving a backport will not replace a newer installed series. Dated versions sort above existing semantic versions. Prerelease tags, unrecognised versions, and releases with a future publication date are excluded from automatic selection. Nightly selection remains separate.

--force allows reinstalling the selected version; it does not enable automatic downgrades. To deliberately install an older release, select it explicitly:

mw update --version v2026.10.31.1

Support for dated versions can ship in any number of v0.x.y releases before the project switches formats. Older binaries without this support cannot compare four-part versions in update notifications; upgrade to a version with this support before relying on automatic dated-version checks.

Nightly and CI builds

Once nightly builds are configured, preview or install the latest successful nightly built from main:

mw update --version nightly --dry-run
mw update --version nightly

This finds the newest successful Nightly CLI build pipeline on the existing scheduled ref, then downloads only the executable for your OS and architecture. Weekly and Dependabot pipelines on that same ref are ignored. If no successful nightly exists, or its artifact has expired, the command stops without replacing your executable. Nightlies are development builds; ordinary mw update continues to select published releases.

--version also accepts an HTTP(S) executable URL, a local executable path, or a GitLab artifact ZIP URL. Archive support covers:

Job output	Archive layout	Compatibility
build	bin/mw, bin/wm, or their Windows .exe names	Runner-native binary only
build-release	_release/VERSION/mw_VERSION_OS_ARCH (or wm_...)	Selects your OS and architecture
release-build	Same layout, with a tagged version	Selects your OS and architecture
Nightly build-release	_release/nightly/mw_nightly_OS_ARCH (or wm_...)	Selects your OS and architecture

For example, replace JOB_ID with the chosen job’s ID to install its ZIP:

mw update --version 'https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/api/v4/projects/16/jobs/JOB_ID/artifacts'

For an older CLI that cannot select a binary from a multi-platform ZIP, use a direct executable URL instead. For a Linux AMD64 nightly, that URL is:

mw update --version 'https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/api/v4/projects/16/jobs/JOB_ID/artifacts/_release/nightly/mw_nightly_linux_amd64'

Native and preview build artifacts expire after two days; tagged build artifacts keep their separate release retention. GitLab’s keep-latest setting can override these expiry times. Published release packages are separate from CI artifacts.

Updates preserve the executable’s installed name and location. A binary called wm stays wm; configuration and credentials stay in their existing directories.

See the installation guide for a fresh installation, and the command reference for all update options.

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Read this guide offline with mw help guides updating.

Adapted from MediaWiki.org under CC BY-SA 4.0; see the linked page history for contributors.