# Internet Archive & Wayback Machine Scraper (`bakos_bence/internet-archive`) Actor

Search archive.org and the Wayback Machine for OSINT, journalism, and research — books, movies, audio, software, item metadata, file lists, and URL snapshots. Official public APIs, no login. Unofficial — not affiliated with the Internet Archive.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/bakos\_bence/internet-archive.md
- **Developed by:** [Bakos Bence](https://apify.com/bakos_bence) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools, Agents
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 93.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.25 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

### What does Internet Archive Scraper do?

**Search the Internet Archive library and the Wayback Machine** in one Actor — for **OSINT, journalism, and research**. Pull **books, movies, audio, software, images, collections**, plus **item metadata, file lists, capture history, and closest-snapshot lookups**. Rows land as JSON (export **CSV / Excel / HTML / XML** from the dataset). No login, no Archive API key.

**Unofficial.** This Actor is **not affiliated with, endorsed by, or maintained by the Internet Archive.** It calls their **public** search, metadata, CDX, and availability APIs.

#### Why this Internet Archive scraper?

- 🗞️ **OSINT, journalism, and research** — historical pages, robots.txt, collections, institutional media
- 📚 Library search across texts, movies, audio, software, images, web, data
- 📦 Item metadata + optional **per-file** rows (name, format, **size in bytes**, download URL)
- 🕰️ Wayback **CDX snapshots** (timestamp, status, MIME, digest, snapshot URL)
- 🎯 Closest archived copy (`snapshotOf:url@YYYYMMDD`)
- 🔎 Lucene filters: collection, creator, language, date range, sort
- 🧾 Cursor scrape API for deep result sets (not a single page)
- 💸 **$0.49 per 1,000 results** — below other Store Archive/Wayback Actors

#### How to use it

1. Open this Actor and click **Start** (prefilled Sketch Show S1E3 item).
2. Replace `queries` with keywords, `collection:…`, item IDs, or URLs.
3. Leave **Mode = Auto** unless you need to force Search / Metadata / Files / Snapshots.
4. Export the dataset, or open the **Issues** tab on this Store page if a run fails.

```json
{
  "queries": ["https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3"],
  "maxItems": 5,
  "mode": "auto"
}
```

#### Query cheat sheet (auto mode)

| You paste | What you get |
|-----------|----------------|
| `the sketch show` or `collection:nasa` | Library item rows |
| `item:the-sketch-show-s1-e3` or `https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3` | Full metadata for that identifier |
| `bbc.co.uk` or `https://www.bbc.co.uk/` | Wayback snapshot rows |
| `bbc.co.uk/news/*` | Prefix match on that path |
| `snapshotOf:bbc.co.uk@20150601` | Closest capture near that date |

#### How much does it cost?

**Pay per event (PPE):** a tiny **Actor start** fee plus each **result** row. On Free, results are **$0.49 / 1,000**. Paid Apify plans are lower (see the Pricing tab). Platform usage is included. Default run is 5 rows.

#### Input

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `queries` | One query per line (required unless you only set filters) |
| `mode` | `auto` (default), `search`, `metadata`, `files`, `snapshots`, `available` |
| `mediaType` | `texts`, `movies`, `audio`, `image`, `software`, `data`, `web`, … |
| `collection` / `creator` / `language` | Extra Lucene filters |
| `dateFrom` / `dateTo` | Item date (search) or capture time (Wayback) |
| `maxItems` | Cap across all queries (prefill **5**) |
| `includeFiles` | Extra dataset rows for each file on an item |
| `collapseSnapshots` | Collapse consecutive identical Wayback captures |

#### Sample output (library item)

```json
{
  "kind": "item",
  "identifier": "the-sketch-show-s1-e3",
  "title": "The Sketch Show - Series 1 - Episode 3 (2001)",
  "mediaType": "movies",
  "year": "2001",
  "itemSizeBytes": 1327829379,
  "archiveUrl": "https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://archive.org/services/img/the-sketch-show-s1-e3",
  "downloadUrl": "https://archive.org/download/the-sketch-show-s1-e3",
  "source": "archive.org"
}
```

#### Sample output (Wayback snapshot)

```json
{
  "kind": "snapshot",
  "originalUrl": "http://www.bbc.co.uk/",
  "timestamp": "19970412193203",
  "statusCode": "200",
  "mimeType": "text/html",
  "snapshotUrl": "https://web.archive.org/web/19970412193203/http://www.bbc.co.uk/",
  "source": "web.archive.org"
}
```

#### FAQ

##### Do you download books, videos, or WARC files?

No. Rows are **catalog metadata, file listings, and snapshot index lines**. Download URLs are included so you can fetch bytes yourself. Lending-library / borrow-only files stay restricted on archive.org.

##### Is this the live web, or history?

Library search is the live archive.org catalog. Wayback modes are **historical captures**, not a live crawl of the original site.

##### Do I need proxies?

Usually **no**. The Archive’s APIs are public. Enable Apify Proxy only if your IP is throttled.

##### Is this for OSINT or journalism?

Yes — public catalog search and Wayback snapshot history (timestamps, status, digest, replay URLs). No login and no personal-data enrichment. A cheap demo is the Google `robots.txt` CDX example on this Actor’s Examples tab.

##### Can AI agents call this?

Yes — Actor ID `bakos_bence/internet-archive` via Apify API or [MCP](https://mcp.apify.com).

#### Related Actors

| Actor | Use together when… |
|-------|-------------------|
| [Internet Archive Scraper](https://apify.com/bakos_bence/internet-archive) | *(this Actor)* — library + Wayback |

Profile: [bakos\_bence on Apify](https://apify.com/bakos_bence).

#### For AI agents & LLM apps

Paste this Actor’s **Apify Store URL** into an agent that can use Apify (MCP, Claude, Cursor, etc.). With an Apify account and API token, the agent can set input, run the Actor, and fetch the dataset.

**Actor ID:** `bakos_bence/internet-archive`

**Purpose:** OSINT, journalism, and research on archive.org and the Wayback Machine — library search, item metadata, file lists, CDX snapshots, closest-copy lookup.

**Minimal input:**

```json
{ "queries": ["https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3"], "maxItems": 5 }
```

#### SEO keywords

internet archive scraper, archive.org api, wayback machine scraper, wayback cdx, internet archive search, archive.org metadata, snapshot history, digital library scraper, wayback osint, data journalism archive.org, apify internet archive

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Enter one query per line: keywords, Lucene (collection:nasa), item IDs, archive.org/details/… URLs, domains, page URLs, or snapshotOf:bbc.co.uk@2015.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Leave Auto to classify each query. Force Search, Metadata, Files, Snapshots, or Available when mixed input would be ambiguous.

## `mediaType` (type: `string`):

Restrict library search to one Internet Archive media type.

## `collection` (type: `string`):

Restrict search to an archive.org collection identifier (e.g. nasa, opensource\_movies).

## `creator` (type: `string`):

Match the bibliographic creator / author field.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Language code as stored by the Archive (eng, fre, spa, …).

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Start of range (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD). Search uses item date; snapshots use capture time.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

End of range (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYYMMDD).

## `sort` (type: `string`):

Sort library hits. Leave empty for relevance. Wayback ignores this.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Cap rows across all queries. Prefill 5 for a cheap trial.

## `includeFiles` (type: `boolean`):

Also push one dataset row per file (name, format, size in bytes, download URL).

## `enrichMetadata` (type: `boolean`):

For each search hit, fetch full item metadata (extra Archive request per item).

## `matchType` (type: `string`):

How CDX matches the URL. Domain covers every host under the site.

## `collapseSnapshots` (type: `boolean`):

Collapse consecutive Wayback captures with the same content digest.

## `filterStatus` (type: `string`):

Keep only CDX rows with this status (e.g. 200).

## `proxyType` (type: `string`):

Leave off. archive.org APIs are public; a proxy is only for rare IP blocks.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Used only when Proxy is Apify Proxy.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Single-query alias merged into Queries.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Leave empty unless you use the alias. Same cap as Max items. Prefill 5 for a cheap first run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3"
  ],
  "mode": "auto",
  "mediaType": "all",
  "maxItems": 5,
  "includeFiles": false,
  "enrichMetadata": false,
  "collapseSnapshots": false,
  "proxyType": "none",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  },
  "maxResults": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Default dataset items.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "queries": [
        "https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3"
    ],
    "mode": "auto",
    "maxItems": 5,
    "maxResults": 5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("bakos_bence/internet-archive").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "queries": ["https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3"],
    "mode": "auto",
    "maxItems": 5,
    "maxResults": 5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("bakos_bence/internet-archive").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "queries": [
    "https://archive.org/details/the-sketch-show-s1-e3"
  ],
  "mode": "auto",
  "maxItems": 5,
  "maxResults": 5
}' |
apify call bakos_bence/internet-archive --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,bakos_bence/internet-archive"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/KDdoFdAtUguOOOIir/builds/AwMLtMd6Eg2QhxdiN/openapi.json