List Wayback Machine Snapshots

Retrieve a list of archived snapshots for a URL from the Wayback Machine CDX API.

Usage

npx tsx scripts/list.ts <url> [limit] [options]

Arguments

| Argument | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | url | Yes | The URL to search for | | limit | No | Max number of results (default: unlimited) |

Options

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | --no-raw | Include Wayback toolbar in URLs | | --with-screenshots | Cross-reference to show which captures have screenshots (📷) | | --no-cache | Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API |

Output

January 1, 2024 (3 days ago)
  https://web.archive.org/web/20240101120000id_/https://example.com

December 15, 2023 (20 days ago)
  https://web.archive.org/web/20231215100000id_/https://example.com

Total: 2 snapshot(s)

Script Execution (Preferred)

npx tsx scripts/list.ts <url> [limit] [options]

Options:

• --no-raw - Include Wayback toolbar in URLs
• --with-screenshots - Cross-reference to show which captures have screenshots (📷)
• --no-cache - Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API

Run from the wayback plugin directory: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/wayback/

CDX API Endpoint

https://web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx?url={URL}&output=json&limit={N}

Authentication (Optional)

Most CDX queries don't require authentication. For restricted data access:

# Cookie-based auth for restricted content
curl "https://web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx?url=..." \
  --cookie "cdx-auth-token=YOUR_TOKEN"

Get API keys at https://archive.org/account/s3.php

Parameters

| Parameter | Description | |-----------|-------------| | url | The URL to search for (required) | | output | Response format: json (recommended) | | matchType | exact (default), prefix, host, or domain | | limit | Max results. Use -N for last N results | | offset | Skip first N records | | from | Start date (YYYYMMDD or partial like "2020") | | to | End date (YYYYMMDD or partial) | | filter | Field filter: [!]field:regex (e.g., statuscode:200, !mimetype:image.*) | | collapse | Dedupe: field or field:N (e.g., timestamp:8 = daily) | | fl | Fields to return: comma-separated (urlkey, timestamp, original, mimetype, statuscode, digest, length) | | fastLatest | true for efficient recent results | | showResumeKey | true to get pagination token | | resumeKey | Continue from previous query |

How to List Snapshots

Use WebFetch to query the CDX API:

https://web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx?url=https://example.com&output=json&limit=10

Response Format

JSON array where first row is headers:

[
  ["urlkey", "timestamp", "original", "mimetype", "statuscode", "digest", "length"],
  ["com,example)/", "20240101120000", "https://example.com/", "text/html", "200", "ABC123", "1234"]
]

Constructing Archive URLs

From timestamp, build the archived URL:

https://web.archive.org/web/{timestamp}/{original_url}

For raw content (no Wayback toolbar):

https://web.archive.org/web/{timestamp}id_/{original_url}

Common Queries

# Only successful pages
&filter=statuscode:200

# Exclude images
&filter=!mimetype:image.*

# One snapshot per day (collapse on first 8 digits of timestamp)
&collapse=timestamp:8

# One snapshot per hour
&collapse=timestamp:10

# Date range (partial dates work)
&from=2023&to=2024

# All pages under a path (prefix match)
&url=example.com/blog/&matchType=prefix

# Entire domain including subdomains
&url=example.com&matchType=domain

# Get last 5 snapshots efficiently
&limit=-5&fastLatest=true

# Paginate large results
&showResumeKey=true&limit=1000
# Then continue with: &resumeKey={token_from_previous}

Checking for Screenshots

The CDX API doesn't include a screenshot field. To find captures with screenshots, cross-reference with:

https://web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx?url=web.archive.org/screenshot/{URL}/*&output=json

The --with-screenshots flag in the script does this automatically, showing 📷 next to captures that have screenshots.

Caching

CDX API responses are cached for 1 hour using the OS temporary directory (os.tmpdir()). Cache keys are generated from the URL and query parameters using SHA-256 hashing. Cached responses expire automatically and are deleted on access.

Use wayback-cache to manage cached data:

npx tsx scripts/cache.ts clear    # Clear all cache
npx tsx scripts/cache.ts status   # Show cache status

See wayback-cache skill for complete cache management documentation.

Output Format (with --with-screenshots)

2024-01-15 12:34 (3 days ago) 📷
  https://web.archive.org/web/20240115123456id_/https://example.com/
  📷 https://web.archive.org/web/20240115123456im_/https://example.com/

2024-01-10 08:00 (8 days ago)
  https://web.archive.org/web/20240110080000id_/https://example.com/

Total: 2 snapshot(s)
Screenshots: 1 capture(s) have screenshots