# Wayback Machine Scraper — Archived Snapshots (`hipersoft/wayback-machine-scraper`) Actor

List every Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) snapshot of a URL or whole domain: timestamp, snapshot URL, status code, MIME type and content digest. Filter by date, status and dedupe. For SEO, OSINT and historical research. No key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hipersoft/wayback-machine-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [hiper soft](https://apify.com/hipersoft) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Other, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 4 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.0008 / snapshot scraped

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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 Scraper — Archived Snapshots, Timestamps, Status & Digests

List every Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) snapshot of a URL or an entire domain as clean, structured JSON. Give it a URL or hostname and this Actor returns each capture's timestamp, direct snapshot URL, HTTP status code, MIME type, content digest and byte length — filterable by date and status, with optional de-duplication. It reads the Archive's public CDX index, so there's **no account and no API key**. Built for SEO audits, OSINT and historical research where you need the full capture history, fast.

### Features

- 🗂️ **Full capture history** — every archived snapshot of a URL, or a whole domain, from the Wayback CDX index.
- 🎯 **Flexible match types** — `exact`, `prefix`, `host` or `domain` (all subdomains) to scope exactly what you list.
- 📅 **Date filtering** — bound results with `fromDate` / `toDate` (YYYY or YYYYMMDD) to focus on a period.
- ✅ **Status filter** — set `onlyStatus200` to exclude redirects and errors and keep only successful captures.
- 🧹 **De-duplication modes** — `collapse` by unique URL, one-per-day, or unique content (digest), plus automatic removal of exact duplicate captures.
- 🔗 **Ready-to-open links** — each record includes a `snapshotUrl` that opens the archived page directly.
- 📈 **Scales to domains** — cap output with `maxSnapshotsPerUrl` (up to 100,000 per input).

### What you get

One record per snapshot, for example:

```json
{
  "inputUrl": "apify.com",
  "originalUrl": "https://apify.com/",
  "timestamp": "20230115094512",
  "isoDate": "2023-01-15T09:45:12Z",
  "statusCode": "200",
  "mimeType": "text/html",
  "digest": "GKQ3XY7ABC5D6EF7GH8IJ9KLMN0OPQRS",
  "length": 48213,
  "snapshotUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230115094512/https://apify.com/"
}
```

### Input

```json
{
  "urls": ["apify.com", "https://example.com/pricing"],
  "matchType": "exact",
  "fromDate": "2020",
  "toDate": "2023",
  "onlyStatus200": false,
  "collapse": "none",
  "maxSnapshotsPerUrl": 1000
}
```

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `urls` | URLs or domains to list archived snapshots for. One per line. |
| `matchType` | `exact`, `prefix` (path), `host`, or `domain` (domain + all subdomains). |
| `fromDate` / `toDate` | Date bounds, YYYY or YYYYMMDD. Empty = earliest / latest. |
| `onlyStatus200` | Exclude redirects and errors, keeping only successful captures. |
| `collapse` | De-duplicate: `none`, `url`, `daily`, or `content`. |
| `maxSnapshotsPerUrl` | Maximum snapshots to collect per input URL/domain (1–100,000). |

### Use cases

- Audit a site's historical page changes and URL structure for SEO.
- Recover lost content by locating the exact archived snapshot to restore.
- OSINT and due diligence: trace how a page or brand presented itself over time.
- Detect when pages appeared, changed (by content digest) or went offline.

### Pricing

Pay-per-event: you're billed a small amount per run and per item scraped — you only pay for what you get. See the **Pricing** tab for current rates.

### FAQ

**Do I need an account or API key?**
No. The Actor reads the public CDX index of the [Internet Archive Wayback Machine](https://web.archive.org), so there's no account, login, or API key required.

**How many snapshots can I list per run?**
Up to 100,000 per input URL or domain, controlled by `maxSnapshotsPerUrl`. Use `host` or `domain` match types to enumerate captures across an entire site.

**Is scraping the Wayback Machine legal?**
The Actor collects only publicly available capture metadata from the Internet Archive's CDX API. It is an independent tool, not affiliated with the Internet Archive — please respect their terms and use it responsibly.

**What's the output format?**
A JSON dataset with one record per snapshot (timestamp, original URL, status code, MIME type, content digest, byte length, and a ready-to-open `snapshotUrl`). Export as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

**Can I filter or limit results?**
Yes. Use `matchType`, `fromDate`/`toDate`, `onlyStatus200`, the `collapse` de-duplication modes (url/daily/content), and `maxSnapshotsPerUrl`.

### Related Actors

Pair archival history with live web-diagnostics tools:

- [Bulk URL Status Checker](https://apify.com/hipersoft/bulk-url-checker) — check which of those historical URLs are still live today.
- [Domain Inspector](https://apify.com/hipersoft/domain-inspector) — WHOIS/RDAP, DNS, and SSL details for any domain.
- [Website Content Crawler](https://apify.com/hipersoft/website-content-crawler) — crawl a live site into clean text for analysis or RAG.
- [Bulk Image Downloader](https://apify.com/hipersoft/bulk-image-downloader) — fetch and store images at scale from a URL list.

### Notes

This Actor reads publicly available capture metadata from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine CDX API. It is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Internet Archive. It targets public data only — please respect the Internet Archive's terms and use it responsibly.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

URLs or domains to list archived snapshots for.

## `matchType` (type: `string`):

exact = just this URL; prefix = URLs starting with this path; host = this hostname; domain = the domain and all subdomains.

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

Lower bound, YYYY or YYYYMMDD. Empty = earliest.

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

Upper bound, YYYY or YYYYMMDD. Empty = latest.

## `onlyStatus200` (type: `boolean`):

Exclude redirects and errors.

## `collapse` (type: `string`):

none = every capture; url = one per unique URL; daily = one per URL per day; content = drop identical content.

## `maxSnapshotsPerUrl` (type: `integer`):

Maximum snapshots to collect per input URL/domain.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com/pricing",
    "nytimes.com"
  ],
  "matchType": "exact",
  "fromDate": "",
  "toDate": "",
  "onlyStatus200": false,
  "collapse": "none",
  "maxSnapshotsPerUrl": 1000
}
```

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "apify.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hipersoft/wayback-machine-scraper").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 = { "urls": ["apify.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hipersoft/wayback-machine-scraper").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 '{
  "urls": [
    "apify.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call hipersoft/wayback-machine-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/6ZkvrXdlNki6hU90t/builds/20mb0MxG4XtRQd27W/openapi.json