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