Self-Hosting

Run your own Wiktapi instance with a single SQLite file. No external services required.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22+
• pnpm

1. Clone and install

git clone https://github.com/TheAlexLichter/wiktionary-api
cd wiktionary-api
pnpm install

2. Download data

Download and decompress JSONL dumps from kaikki.org. The English edition is ~2.3 GB compressed:

cd packages/api

# English Wiktionary only
pnpm download

# Multiple editions
pnpm download -- --editions en,fr,de

# Re-download even if the file already exists
pnpm download -- --force

Files land at packages/api/data/jsonl/{edition}.jsonl.

3. Import to SQLite

# Import all downloaded JSONL files
pnpm import

# Import a single edition
pnpm import -- --edition en

# Drop and recreate the table first (clean import)
pnpm import -- --edition en --fresh

The database is written to packages/api/data/wiktionary.db.

4. Start the server

Node

# Development (hot reload)
pnpm dev

# Production build
pnpm build
pnpm preview

Docker

Build the image from the repo root:

docker build -t wiktapi .

Run, mounting the directory that contains wiktionary.db:

docker run -p 3000:3000 -v /path/to/data:/data wiktapi

The container expects the database at /data/wiktionary.db. Override with -e DATA_PATH=... if your file is located elsewhere.

TIP

Complete steps 2–3 first to produce the database, then point the volume at the directory containing wiktionary.db.

The server listens on port 3000 by default.

Configuration

Variable	Default	Description
DATA_PATH	./data/wiktionary.db	Path to the SQLite database file
PORT	3000	HTTP port

Set environment variables before starting the server:

DATA_PATH=/var/data/wiktionary.db pnpm preview

Adding a new edition

No code changes are needed. Download and import the edition, then it's immediately available:

pnpm download -- --editions fr
pnpm import -- --edition fr

Queries to /v1/fr/word/… will work as soon as the import finishes.

Verifying your instance

# List loaded editions
curl http://localhost:3000/v1/editions

# List all word languages with entry counts
curl http://localhost:3000/v1/languages

# Look up a word
curl "http://localhost:3000/v1/en/word/chat?lang=fr"

# Prefix search
curl "http://localhost:3000/v1/en/search?q=cha&lang=fr"