# Wayback Machine Snapshot Lookup – Archive Dates & Status (`lepidata/wayback-lookup`) Actor

List Internet Archive Wayback Machine captures for URLs or domains: snapshot links, capture dates and status codes. For research and auditing.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/lepidata/wayback-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Lepi Data](https://apify.com/lepidata) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.60 / 1,000 snapshots

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?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Wayback Machine Snapshot Lookup – Archive Dates & Status

Look up the **capture history** of URLs or whole domains in the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. You get one row per capture with the original URL, the capture date, the HTTP status recorded at capture time, and a link to view the snapshot. Intended for **research and auditing**: checking when a page existed, domain history, website age, and how often a site was captured.

This Actor returns snapshot index data only. It never requests, stores or returns archived page content.

### What you get

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `type` | `snapshot` for a capture; free status rows otherwise |
| `target` | The URL or domain you looked up |
| `url` | Original URL that was captured |
| `timestamp`, `capturedAt` | Capture time (YYYYMMDDhhmmss and ISO 8601, UTC) |
| `statusCode` | HTTP status recorded at capture time |
| `snapshotUrl` | Link to view the capture on the Wayback Machine |

### Pricing

**$0.60 per 1,000 snapshots** (pay per event `snapshot`), the same price on every Apify plan. Free: targets with no captures, errors, and limit rows. Set a maximum charge per run and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached.

**Free-plan limit:** Apify Free-plan accounts can look up 5 URLs or domains and get up to 100 snapshots per run. Paid Apify plans get full results, up to the per-run cap below.

### Input

- `targets`: URLs or domains.
- `matchType`: `exact`, `prefix`, or `domain` (whole domain including subdomains).
- `from` / `to`, `collapse` (one per day/month/year), `statusCode`, `maxSnapshotsPerTarget` (default 100, max 10,000).

### How it works, and limits

- Uses the Wayback Machine's public CDX and Availability APIs only.
- **One request at a time**, at most 24 requests per minute, with a descriptive user agent. HTTP 429 and 5xx answers are retried with backoff (honouring Retry-After); if the Internet Archive keeps answering 429, the run stops with a free row.
- **Hard per-run caps:** 500 targets, 50,000 snapshots and 600 API requests per run. Large whole-domain lookups may need several runs.
- Captures are what the Internet Archive has indexed; coverage varies by site, and some sites are excluded from the archive.

### Your responsibilities

Archived pages remain the property of their original publishers. Respect the Internet Archive's terms of use when viewing or using snapshots.

### Not affiliated

This Actor is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Internet Archive. "Wayback Machine" and "Internet Archive" are used only to describe the public snapshot index this tool reads.

# Actor input Schema

## `targets` (type: `array`):

URLs or domain names to look up. Up to 500 per run.

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

Whole-domain lookups return captures of every URL on the domain and its subdomains, within the caps.

## `from` (type: `string`):

Optional start date.

## `to` (type: `string`):

Optional end date.

## `collapse` (type: `string`):

Keep at most one capture per day, month or year.

## `statusCode` (type: `string`):

Optional, e.g. 200.

## `maxSnapshotsPerTarget` (type: `integer`):

Each snapshot row is billed. Hard cap 50,000 per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "targets": [
    "example.com"
  ],
  "matchType": "exact",
  "collapse": "none",
  "maxSnapshotsPerTarget": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `items` (type: `string`):

All rows from this run.

# 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 = {
    "targets": [
        "example.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("lepidata/wayback-lookup").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 = { "targets": ["example.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("lepidata/wayback-lookup").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 '{
  "targets": [
    "example.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call lepidata/wayback-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/8o3a8iYa6jDf6NG9C/builds/HDEtiBCnP4PJdZoLD/openapi.json