List Wayback Machine Snapshots

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

Usage

bash

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

code

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)

bash

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

code

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:

bash

# 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:

code

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

Response Format

JSON array where first row is headers:

json

[
  ["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:

code

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

For raw content (no Wayback toolbar):

code

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

Common Queries

code

# 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:

code

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:

bash

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)

code

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