HTML entities are double-escaped in watchlist filters
Closed, ResolvedPublicBUG REPORT
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Assigned To

Authored By

	Samwilson
	Jan 26 2026, 8:49 AM

Description

Steps to replicate the issue (include links if applicable):

Add a label with HTML in it, e.g. <em>An emphatic label</em>
Add this label to some watchlist items
Filter by this label

A similar bug can be seen with namespaces, e.g. $wgExtraNamespaces[516] = 'Lorem & ipsum'; (in LocalSettings.php) and tags, e.g. &tagfilter=Lorem+%26+ipsum (in the Special:Watchlist URL).

Also, labels in a script in the opposite direction of the UI language do not display differently between Special:Watchlist and Special:WatchlistLabels. For example, ויקידאטא Q12345.

What happens?:

The label is displayed incorrectly in the filter bar on Special:Watchlist.

What should have happened instead?:

It should be displayed as it is in the other places labels are displayed.

Details

Related Changes in Gerrit:

Subject	Repo	Branch	Lines +/-
Watchlist: do not double-escape labels in filters	mediawiki/core	master	+2 -2
Watchlist: 2nd take at not double-escaping filter values	mediawiki/core	master	+2 -2
Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use `<bdi>`	mediawiki/core	wmf/1.46.0-wmf.13	+4 -3
Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use `<bdi>`	mediawiki/core	master	+4 -3

Customize query in gerrit

Related Objects

Mentioned In: T416225: Negative filter of a watchlist label displays HTML
T411760: Handle submission of "remove labels" modal
Mentioned Here: T417606: Watchlist labels not escaped on Special:Watchlist

Event Timeline

Samwilson created this task.Jan 26 2026, 8:49 AM

Restricted Application added a project: Community-Tech. · View Herald TranscriptJan 26 2026, 8:49 AM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald Transcript

Samwilson edited projects, added Community-Tech (Fox Squad); removed Community-Tech.Jan 27 2026, 6:46 AM

It looks like the issue applies to namespaces and tags as well:

Samwilson updated the task description. (Show Details)Jan 27 2026, 7:37 AM

Samwilson updated the task description. (Show Details)

Change #1233589 had a related patch set uploaded (by Samwilson; author: Samwilson):

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use `<bdi>`

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1233589

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Jan 27 2026, 7:41 AM

Samwilson claimed this task.Jan 27 2026, 7:49 AM

Samwilson moved this task from Ready for Dev to Feedback and Review on the Community-Tech (Fox Squad) board.

Samwilson added a project: MediaWiki-Recent-changes.

Restricted Application added a project: Moderator-Tools-Team. · View Herald TranscriptJan 27 2026, 7:50 AM

Change #1233589 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use `<bdi>`

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1233589

Maintenance_bot removed a project: Patch-For-Review.Jan 27 2026, 12:32 PM

Change #1233688 had a related patch set uploaded (by Samtar; author: Samwilson):

[mediawiki/core@wmf/1.46.0-wmf.13] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use `<bdi>`

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1233688

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Jan 27 2026, 12:38 PM

ReleaseTaggerBot added a project: MW-1.46-notes (1.46.0-wmf.14; 2026-02-03).Jan 27 2026, 1:00 PM

Change #1233688 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/core@wmf/1.46.0-wmf.13] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use `<bdi>`

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1233688

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-01-27T13:46:26Z] <samtar@deploy2002> Started scap sync-world: Backport for [[gerrit:1233688|Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use <bdi> (T415489)]]

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-01-27T13:48:30Z] <samtar@deploy2002> samtar: Backport for [[gerrit:1233688|Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use <bdi> (T415489)]] synced to the testservers (see https://wikitech.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mwdebug). Changes can now be verified there.

Mentioned in SAL (#wikimedia-operations) [2026-01-27T13:53:31Z] <samtar@deploy2002> Finished scap sync-world: Backport for [[gerrit:1233688|Watchlist: do not double-escape labels, and always use <bdi> (T415489)]] (duration: 07m 05s)

ReleaseTaggerBot edited projects, added MW-1.46-notes (1.46.0-wmf.13; 2026-01-27); removed MW-1.46-notes (1.46.0-wmf.14; 2026-02-03).Jan 27 2026, 2:00 PM

Fix merged to master & backported to .13 to roll on this weeks' train

Maintenance_bot removed a project: Patch-For-Review.Jan 27 2026, 2:33 PM

Samwalton9-WMF moved this task from Inbox to Triaged on the Moderator-Tools-Team board.Jan 27 2026, 5:17 PM

Cparle mentioned this in T411760: Handle submission of "remove labels" modal.Jan 28 2026, 12:16 PM

I think I broke the not :-(

Change #1234783 had a related patch set uploaded (by Samwilson; author: Samwilson):

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: 2nd take at not double-escaping filter values

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1234783

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Jan 29 2026, 6:39 AM

Samwilson moved this task from In Development to Feedback and Review on the Community-Tech (Fox Squad) board.Jan 29 2026, 6:49 AM

SomeRandomDeveloper subscribed.Jan 29 2026, 1:49 PM

Cparle moved this task from Feedback and Review to QA on the Community-Tech (Fox Squad) board.Jan 30 2026, 4:01 PM

Change #1234783 merged by jenkins-bot:

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: 2nd take at not double-escaping filter values

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1234783

Maintenance_bot removed a project: Patch-For-Review.Jan 30 2026, 4:33 PM

ReleaseTaggerBot edited projects, added MW-1.46-notes (1.46.0-wmf.14; 2026-02-03); removed MW-1.46-notes (1.46.0-wmf.13; 2026-01-27).Jan 30 2026, 5:00 PM

TechnoSquirrel69 subscribed.Jan 31 2026, 9:48 PM

Manvikesarwani09 subscribed.Feb 2 2026, 11:10 AM

Change #1235780 had a related patch set uploaded (by Manvi Kesarwani; author: Manvi Kesarwani):

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels in filters

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1235780

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Feb 2 2026, 12:17 PM

i have contributed in this task please check it . this is the gerrit link - https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/c/mediawiki/core/+/1235780

Thanks @Manvikesarwani09 but this task has actually already been completed, sorry! It's not been closed, because it's going though a quality assurance process.

In addition, it looks like your patch is a duplicate of r1233589 (which I made, and was incorrect).

Change #1235780 abandoned by Manvi Kesarwani:

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels in filters

Reason:

already completed

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1235780

Maintenance_bot removed a project: Patch-For-Review.Feb 2 2026, 1:35 PM

Samwilson mentioned this in T416225: Negative filter of a watchlist label displays HTML.Feb 2 2026, 11:56 PM

Samwilson merged a task: T416225: Negative filter of a watchlist label displays HTML.Feb 3 2026, 10:57 PM

Samwilson added subscribers: Izno, Reeti.

Change #1235780 restored by Manvi Kesarwani:

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels in filters

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1235780

Change #1235780 abandoned by Manvi Kesarwani:

[mediawiki/core@master] Watchlist: do not double-escape labels in filters

Reason:

completed

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1235780

I tested Special:Watchlist filters with labels with various wikitext and HTML. I see they are nicely handled in the "Active filters" section at the top.

We already found that we don't handle labels in the watchlist list part nicely, as seen in the screenshot (T417606).

	F72148733: html_escaping.png
	Tue, Feb 17, 11:21 AM

	F71622520: image.png
	Jan 29 2026, 2:51 AM

HTML entities are double-escaped in watchlist filtersClosed, ResolvedPublicBUG REPORTActions

Description

Details

Related Objects

Event Timeline

HTML entities are double-escaped in watchlist filters
Closed, ResolvedPublicBUG REPORT
Actions