Parsoid can't handle the nesting of nowiki inside a {{#tag:nowiki}}
Closed, ResolvedPublicBUG REPORT
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	GrandEscogriffe
	Aug 17 2026, 3:57 PM

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ABreault-WMF

Aklapper

GrandEscogriffe

Description

Hello,

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

make sure you are using Parsoid
publish wikicode with a nowiki tag (either <nowiki> or {{#tag:nowiki}}) within a larger {{#tag:nowiki}}.

See the examples at https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:GrandEscogriffe/sandbox&oldid=1369849896.

What happens?:

The result is '"UNIQ--nowiki-00000000-QINU"' or similar. The content inside {{#tag:nowiki}} is lost.

What should have happened instead?:

The same as within just one {{#tag:nowiki}} I guess. In any case, no content should be lost and no parasite text displayed.

Other information (browser name/version, screenshots, etc.):

The bug replicates in the two browsers I have tested (Firefox and Chrome) in both desktop and mobile views. It replicates on English and French wikipedias unless Parsoid is disabled.

Details

Related Changes in Gerrit:

	Subject	Author	Repo	Branch	Lines +/-
	Unstrip nowikis inside nowiki tag parser function	Arlolra	mediawiki/core	master	+12 -1

Customize query in gerrit

Event Timeline

GrandEscogriffe created this task.Aug 17 2026, 3:57 PM

Restricted Application added a subscriber: Aklapper. · View Herald TranscriptAug 17 2026, 3:57 PM

Change #1326367 had a related patch set uploaded (by Arlolra; author: Arlolra):

[mediawiki/core@master] [WIP] Unstrip nowikis inside nowiki tag parser function

https://gerrit.wikimedia.org/r/1326367

gerritbot added a project: Patch-For-Review.Aug 17 2026, 7:45 PM

Curious, where and when is this used?

In T435116#12223867, @ABreault-WMF wrote:

Curious, where and when is this used?

The French wikipedia template {{code}} has been using {{#tag:nowiki}} since April 2025. When people want to show code, they typically don't want it to be interpreted by Mediawiki so they often put the nowiki tag in the parameter passed to {{code}}. This is currently not necessary, but users may not know it (confusing {{code}} with <code>) and it was in fact necessary between January 2024 and April 2025, when the template did not embed its own nowiki. Here is a list of all the values passed in the template's main parameter, which includes 395 <nowiki>. fr:Brainfuck has examples in the main namespace.