# Web Archive Scraper (`scoutlayer/web-archive-scraper`) Actor A powerful Apify Actor designed to extract comprehensive data from the Wayback Machine. This scraper can list historical snapshots of any URL and fetch archived page HTML or screenshots from any point in time, making it perfect for historical research and monitoring. - **URL**: https://apify.com/scoutlayer/web-archive-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [ScoutLayer](https://apify.com/scoutlayer) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, AI, SEO tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $2.99 / 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. 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 List historical Wayback Machine snapshots of a URL and fetch the archived HTML (optionally with a rendered screenshot) from a specific point in time. This actor is powered live by the [ScoutLayer](https://scoutlayer.io) API, so there's nothing to configure and no ScoutLayer account needed — just run it. ### Features - **Snapshots**: Every crawl timestamp the Wayback Machine has for a URL, in a date range - **Snapshot Content**: The full archived HTML at a specific timestamp, optionally with a base64 PNG screenshot ### Input #### Scrape Type Select the type of data to fetch using the `scrapeType` field: | Value | Description | | ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | `snapshots` | List available snapshot timestamps for one or more URLs | | `content` | Fetch the archived HTML/screenshot for specific timestamps | #### All Input Fields | Field | Type | Required for | Default | Description | | ------------ | ------- | ------------ | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `scrapeType` | string | Always | `snapshots` | Scrape type (see table above) | | `urls` | array | `snapshots` | — | Page URLs to list snapshots for, e.g. `["shopify.com/pricing"]` | | `from` | string | — | — | Earliest snapshot to include, `yyyyMMdd`, e.g. `"20260101"` | | `to` | string | — | — | Latest snapshot to include, `yyyyMMdd`, e.g. `"20260801"` | | `limit` | integer | — | — | Maximum snapshots to return per URL | | `snapshots` | array | `content` | — | Array of `{"url": ..., "timestamp": ...}` objects — run `snapshots` first to find valid timestamps | | `screenshot` | boolean | — | `false` | Also capture a base64 PNG screenshot of each archived page as rendered in a browser (slower) | ### Output Results are stored in the **dataset** under the key `results`. The shape varies by scrape type. #### Snapshots Each result is one snapshot timestamp for a URL. ```json { "timestamp": "20260115120000", "archivedAt": "2026-01-15T12:00:00Z", "url": "https://shopify.com/pricing", "statusCode": 200, "mimeType": "text/html" } ``` #### Snapshot Content ```json { "url": "https://shopify.com/pricing", "timestamp": "20260115120000", "archivedAt": "2026-01-15T12:00:00Z", "html": "...", "screenshotBase64": "iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAA..." } ``` `screenshotBase64` is only present when `screenshot: true` was passed. ### Usage Examples #### List snapshots for a URL ```json { "scrapeType": "snapshots", "urls": ["shopify.com/pricing"], "from": "20260101", "to": "20260801" } ``` #### Fetch archived HTML + screenshot for specific timestamps ```json { "scrapeType": "content", "snapshots": [{ "url": "shopify.com/pricing", "timestamp": "20260115120000" }], "screenshot": true } ``` *** Need this data outside of Apify, or coverage beyond the Wayback Machine? [ScoutLayer](https://scoutlayer.io) offers a direct REST/MCP API across many platforms — see the [docs](https://docs.scoutlayer.io) for details. # Actor input Schema ## `scrapeType` (type: `string`): Select what type of data to fetch from the Wayback Machine. ## `urls` (type: `array`): Page URLs to list historical snapshots for (e.g. "shopify.com/pricing"). Required for Scrape Type: Snapshots. ## `from` (type: `string`): Earliest snapshot to include, e.g. "20260101". ## `to` (type: `string`): Latest snapshot to include, e.g. "20260801". ## `limit` (type: `integer`): Maximum snapshots to return per URL. ## `snapshots` (type: `array`): Array of {"url": ..., "timestamp": ...} objects. The timestamp must be one returned by the Snapshots scrape type for that URL ("yyyyMMddHHmmss"). ## `screenshot` (type: `boolean`): Also capture a base64 PNG screenshot of each archived page as rendered in a browser. Slower than the HTML alone. ## Actor input object example ```json { "scrapeType": "snapshots", "urls": [ "shopify.com/pricing" ], "snapshots": [ { "url": "shopify.com/pricing", "timestamp": "20260115120000" } ], "screenshot": false } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): URL of the dataset with the results ## `crawlStats` (type: `string`): Statistics about the crawl process # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "urls": [ "shopify.com/pricing" ], "snapshots": [ { "url": "shopify.com/pricing", "timestamp": "20260115120000" } ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("scoutlayer/web-archive-scraper").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "urls": ["shopify.com/pricing"], "snapshots": [{ "url": "shopify.com/pricing", "timestamp": "20260115120000", }], } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("scoutlayer/web-archive-scraper").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 '{ "urls": [ "shopify.com/pricing" ], "snapshots": [ { "url": "shopify.com/pricing", "timestamp": "20260115120000" } ] }' | apify call scoutlayer/web-archive-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,scoutlayer/web-archive-scraper" } } } ``` 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 ` 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/lrPwxssmZgTQRzuzV/builds/TJ9eoiGNsHpmLXtdW/openapi.json