# Wayback Machine Extractor - Archive.org Downloader (`caulleonard/wayback-extractor`) Actor

Recover dead or deleted websites. Download HTML, files, and snapshot metadata from the Wayback Machine.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/caulleonard/wayback-extractor.md
- **Developed by:** [Fatih Şahinbaş](https://apify.com/caulleonard) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 9 total users, 2 monthly users, 74.4% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Wayback Machine Downloader — Recover Deleted Websites & Archive.org Data

**Download Wayback Machine snapshots, recover dead websites, and scrape archive.org history — HTML, files, and metadata — in one run.** This Wayback Machine downloader queries the official `web.archive.org` CDX API to list every archived capture of a domain, then optionally saves the raw historical HTML and files so you can restore, migrate, or analyze sites that no longer exist online.

Whether a site was shut down, a page was deleted, or you need the historical version of a competitor's store, this actor turns the Internet Archive into structured, downloadable data.

### What this actor does

- 🔎 **List every archived snapshot** of any URL or full domain from the Wayback Machine (archive.org).
- 📄 **Download historical HTML** exactly as it was captured, with the Wayback banner stripped (raw `id_` captures).
- 🗂️ **Extract archived files** — PDFs, images, and other assets — using MIME filters.
- 🕒 **Filter by date range** to grab a specific point in a website's history.
- 💾 **Structured output** — clean JSON metadata to the dataset, raw content to the Key-Value Store.

### Use cases

- **Dead website recovery** — the site is gone, but archive.org still has it. Pull the last working snapshot and rebuild.
- **Deleted page retrieval** — recover a single removed URL and its historical content.
- **Content migration** — export an old site's pages before decommissioning a legacy platform.
- **Competitor & market research** — inspect how a competitor's website, pricing, or messaging looked in past years.
- **Digital archiving & compliance** — capture a verifiable historical record of any public web page.
- **SEO & link recovery** — find old URLs and content that used to rank.

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `targetUrl` | string | Site or page to recover, e.g. `example.com`. **Required.** |
| `mode` | select | `single_page`, `full_site` (domain crawl), `files_only`, or `snapshot_list` (metadata only). |
| `fromDate` | string | Start date `YYYYMMDD` (optional). |
| `toDate` | string | End date `YYYYMMDD` (optional). |
| `mimeFilter` | array | Keep only matching MIME types, e.g. `application/pdf`, `image/`. |
| `only200` | boolean | Skip non-200 captures (redirects, errors). Default `true`. |
| `limit` | integer | Max snapshots to process. `0` = no limit. |
| `saveContent` | boolean | `false` = metadata only (cheaper). `true` = download HTML/files to Key-Value Store. |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "targetUrl": "example.com",
  "mode": "full_site",
  "fromDate": "20100101",
  "toDate": "20151231",
  "only200": true,
  "limit": 500,
  "saveContent": true
}
```

### Output

Each snapshot is pushed to the dataset as a clean JSON record:

```json
{
  "timestamp": "20100603215612",
  "original_url": "http://www.example.com/",
  "mimetype": "text/html",
  "statuscode": "200",
  "digest": "AB2CD3EF4GH5IJ6KL7MN8OP9QR0ST1UV",
  "captured_at": "2010-06-03T21:56:12",
  "raw_url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20100603215612id_/http://www.example.com/"
}
```

When `saveContent` is enabled, the raw historical HTML and files are stored in the run's **Key-Value Store**, keyed by timestamp and URL, ready to download or re-host.

### How it works

The actor uses the Internet Archive's **CDX Server API** to enumerate captures, deduplicating identical content by digest. For downloads it requests the raw `id_` capture URL, which returns the original archived bytes without the Wayback Machine's injected toolbar, JavaScript, or CSS — so the recovered HTML is clean and usable.

No login, no API key, no proxy required. Data comes straight from the public Internet Archive.

### Tips

- Start with `mode: snapshot_list` and a small `limit` to preview what the archive holds before downloading.
- Large domains return thousands of captures — use `fromDate`/`toDate` and `limit` to stay focused and control cost.
- Use `mimeFilter: ["application/pdf"]` to recover only archived documents.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event: you pay a small fee per run start, per snapshot listed, and per file downloaded. Run metadata-only (`saveContent: false`) for the cheapest previews; enable downloads only when you need the content.

***

*This actor reads publicly available data from the Internet Archive (archive.org). Respect the copyright and terms of use of any recovered content.*

# Actor input Schema

## `targetUrl` (type: `string`):

Site or page to recover, e.g. example.com

## `mode` (type: `string`):

What to extract

## `fromDate` (type: `string`):

YYYYMMDD, optional

## `toDate` (type: `string`):

YYYYMMDD, optional

## `mimeFilter` (type: `array`):

e.g. application/pdf, image/

## `only200` (type: `boolean`):

Skip non-200 captures (redirects, errors)

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Safety cap. 0 = no limit

## `saveContent` (type: `boolean`):

Off = only metadata to Dataset (cheaper). On = HTML/files stored.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targetUrl": "example.com",
  "mode": "snapshot_list",
  "mimeFilter": [],
  "only200": true,
  "limit": 50,
  "saveContent": false
}
```

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "targetUrl": "example.com"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("caulleonard/wayback-extractor").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "targetUrl": "example.com" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("caulleonard/wayback-extractor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "targetUrl": "example.com"
}' |
apify call caulleonard/wayback-extractor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=caulleonard/wayback-extractor",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/04GaEjFbJsWCcXNvl/builds/cQdt0Wa87jvYXfHrV/openapi.json