SearchFilters.php: Allow searching for filters that have no consequences
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	dom_walden
	Aug 28 2024, 6:17 AM

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• Aklapper

dom_walden

Rajveer42

Description

What is the problem?

Currently, --consequence parameter allows you to search for a filter with a specific consequence, but you cannot search for filters that have no consequences.

Steps to reproduce problem

The SearchFilters.php maintenance script can be run like so:
1. Locally on bare metal, run php maintenance/run.php AbuseFilter:SearchFilters.php --consequence="block"
2. On docker, run docker compose exec mediawiki php maintenance/run.php AbuseFilter:SearchFilters.php --consequence="block"
3. On beta (if you have access), run mwscript extensions/AbuseFilter/maintenance/SearchFilters --wiki=enwiki --consequence="block"

Expected behaviour: If you run something like SearchFilters.php --consequence="" it should return filters which don't have any consequences checked
Observed behaviour: Running SearchFilters.php --consequence="" returns error One of --consequence or --pattern should be specified.

Environment

Wiki(s): https://en.wikipedia.beta.wmflabs.org Abuse Filter – (aee25cf) 10:19, 27 August 2024.

Details

Related Changes in Gerrit:

	Subject	Author	Repo	Branch	Lines +/-
	Allow --consequence="" in SearchFilters to match filters with no consequences	Rajveer42	mediawiki/extensions/AbuseFilter	master	+35 -19

Customize query in gerrit

Related Objects

Mentioned In: T373148: Expand the SearchFilters.php maintenance script to search for filters with a given consequence
Mentioned Here: rEABFaee25cfdaf55: Allow consequence to be used without pattern in SearchFilters.php

Event Timeline

dom_walden created this task.Aug 28 2024, 6:17 AM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: • Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptAug 28 2024, 6:17 AM

dom_walden mentioned this in T373148: Expand the SearchFilters.php maintenance script to search for filters with a given consequence.Aug 28 2024, 6:29 AM

Hi @dom_walden , I'd like to work on this.

Reading the script, I see this is a small ambiguity: --consequence="" is currently rejected by the early guard because empty string is falsy, while the existing privacy option already distinguishes "not passed" (null) from "passed empty" ('').

My proposed approach (matching the privacy precedent):

Treat --consequence omitted as "no consequence filter" (current behaviour preserved)
Treat --consequence="" as "match filters with empty af_actions"
Existing tests that pass 'consequence' => '' to mean "don't filter" will be updated to omit the parameter instead — same approach the privacy test cases use

Would you like me to proceed with this, or would you prefer a separate flag like --no-consequence?
Will keep the patch single-file plus the test update.

In T373498#11973518, @Rajveer42 wrote:

Would you like me to proceed with this, or would you prefer a separate flag like --no-consequence?
Will keep the patch single-file plus the test update.

I don't have a strong feeling either way. What you propose sounds sensible to me. I think as long as it is well documented, it should be fine.

Change #1296554 had a related patch set uploaded (by Rajveer42; author: Rajveer42):

[mediawiki/extensions/AbuseFilter@master] Allow --consequence="" in SearchFilters to match filters with no consequences

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1296554

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Jun 2 2026, 11:27 AM

Patch up: https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/extensions/AbuseFilter/+/1296554

Implements the discussed semantic split: --consequence omitted = no filter; --consequence="" = match filters with empty af_actions. Updates the existing PHPUnit cases to use null for "no filter" and adds a new case asserting empty-string returns the no-consequence filter (id 1 from the fixtures). Help text on the option updated to document the behavior.