Check Wayback Machine Archive Status

Check if a URL has been archived by the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

Usage

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

Arguments

| Argument | Required | Description | |----------|----------|-------------| | url | Yes | The URL to check |

Options

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | --no-raw | Include Wayback toolbar in archived URL | | --timestamp=DATE | Find snapshot closest to date (YYYYMMDD or YYYYMMDDhhmmss) | | --no-cache | Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API |

Output

When archived:

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

When not archived:

✗ Not archived
  Consider using wayback-submit to archive this URL.

Script Execution (Preferred)

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

Options:

--no-raw - Include Wayback toolbar in archived URL
--timestamp=DATE - Find snapshot closest to date (YYYYMMDD or YYYYMMDDhhmmss)
--no-cache - Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API

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

Availability API

https://archive.org/wayback/available?url={URL}

Parameters

| Parameter | Required | Description | |-----------|----------|-------------| | url | Yes | The URL to check | | timestamp | No | Find snapshot closest to this date (YYYYMMDDhhmmss, partial dates OK) | | callback | No | JSONP callback for cross-domain requests |

Examples

Latest snapshot:

https://archive.org/wayback/available?url=https://example.com

Snapshot closest to a specific date:

https://archive.org/wayback/available?url=https://example.com&timestamp=20200101

Response Interpretation

Archived - Response contains archived_snapshots.closest with:

available: true
url: The archived URL (format: https://web.archive.org/web/{timestamp}/{original_url})
timestamp: Archive timestamp (YYYYMMDDhhmmss format)
status: HTTP status code

Not Archived - Response has empty archived_snapshots object.

Raw Mode

By default, append id_ after the timestamp in URLs to get raw content without the Wayback toolbar:

With toolbar: https://web.archive.org/web/20240101120000/https://example.com
Raw (no toolbar): https://web.archive.org/web/20240101120000id_/https://example.com

URL Modifiers

| Modifier | URL Pattern | Description | |----------|-------------|-------------| | (none) | /web/{ts}/ | Page with Wayback toolbar | | id_ | /web/{ts}id_/ | Raw page content (no toolbar) | | im_ | /web/{ts}im_/ | Screenshot image | | js_ | /web/{ts}js_/ | JavaScript content | | cs_ | /web/{ts}cs_/ | CSS content |

Use wayback-screenshot to retrieve visual screenshots of archived pages
Use wayback-list to see all captures with filtering options
Use wayback-submit to create a new archive (with optional screenshot)

Caching

Availability API responses are cached for 24 hours using the OS temporary directory (os.tmpdir()). Cache keys are generated from the URL and timestamp 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.

Error Handling

If the Wayback Machine API returns an error or is unavailable, retry after a brief delay. The API may be rate-limited during high traffic periods.

wayback-check