Internet Archive Wayback Machine MCP Server

Internet Archive Wayback Machine

The Wayback Machine archives the web. Capabilities span availability probes (single and batch), CDX index exploration, timelines, raw HTML retrieval, and on-demand captures. No auth required.

Workflows

• Snapshot presence — Ask whether a URL has any capture, returning the nearest timestamp plus the canonical archive link. Treat empty availability answers skeptically for large sites; CDX queries are the authoritative existence signal.
• Batch presence — Send many {url, tag?, timestamp?, closest?} tuples in one round trip and read per-URL outcomes grouped by optional tags.
• CDX discovery — Mine the index for metadata rows (urlkey, timestamp, mime type, HTTP status, digest, byte length). Tune match scope (exact URL, prefix, host, domain), YYYYMMDD windows, field projections, filters like statuscode:200, and JSON/CSV/text encodings.
• Timelines — Collapse up to ~100 chronological captures for a URL, each with status, mime, digest, and replay link; backed by the same CDX machinery for stability.
• Content replay — Pull stored markup for a capture. Supply YYYYMMDDHHMMSS for a precise revision or omit to follow the closest mirror. raw strips the Wayback chrome; view keeps the standard wrapper.
• Capture requests — Queue new crawls asynchronously (may bounce to an existing mirror). After submitting, re-run CDX/timeline reads to confirm the new digest landed.

Timestamp Formats

• Availability API: ISO 8601 (YYYY, YYYY-MM, YYYY-MM-DD, YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:SSz)
• CDX search: YYYYMMDD for date range filters (from_date, to_date)
• Content retrieval: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS for specific snapshots
• CDX results: Timestamps returned as YYYYMMDDHHMMSS strings

Gotchas

• Rate limits: Be respectful; avoid bulk scraping. Use batch availability for multiple URLs. Keep CDX search limits reasonable (default 100).
• Snapshot URL format: https://web.archive.org/web/YYYYMMDDHHMMSS/URL. Append id_/ before URL for raw content (no Wayback toolbar).
• CDX API is slow: Broad searches (prefix/domain match, high limits) can take 30-45 seconds. Narrow with date ranges or lower limits.
• String parameters: Timestamps and dates must be strings, not integers. Quote them when calling from CLI.
• Flaky availability: The availability endpoint returns empty for some well-known URLs. CDX search is more reliable for confirming archive existence.