# Wayback Machine CDX Snapshot Lister (`tidydata69/wayback-cdx-snapshot-lister`) Actor

List Internet Archive Wayback Machine CDX snapshots for one or more URLs. Returns CDX metadata and wayback snapshot URLs only — no archived HTML bodies.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tidydata69/wayback-cdx-snapshot-lister.md
- **Developed by:** [Bryce](https://apify.com/tidydata69) (community)
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.50 / 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?

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 CDX Snapshot Lister

List **Internet Archive Wayback Machine** captures for one or more URLs using the public **CDX API**.\
The Actor returns **CDX metadata** and ready-to-use **Wayback snapshot URLs** — it does **not** download or scrape archived HTML page bodies.

### What you get

For each matching capture you typically receive:

| Field | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `url` | The query URL / pattern you provided |
| `timestamp` | Capture time (`YYYYMMDDhhmmss`) |
| `original` | Original URL from the CDX index |
| `mimetype` | Recorded MIME type |
| `statuscode` | Recorded HTTP status |
| `digest` | Content digest |
| `length` | Recorded length |
| `snapshotUrl` | `https://web.archive.org/web/{timestamp}/{original}` |

### Input

- **urls** (required) — one or more URLs or URL patterns
- **matchType** — `exact` (default), `prefix`, `host`, or `domain`
- **from** / **to** — optional CDX time bounds (`YYYYMMDDhhmmss`, partial allowed)
- **filter** — optional CDX filters (e.g. `statuscode:200`)
- **collapse** — optional CDX collapse (e.g. `digest`, `timestamp:6`)
- **limit** — max snapshots **per input URL** (default 100)
- **fl** — optional CDX field list (defaults to the fields above)

#### Example

```json
{
  "urls": ["https://example.com/"],
  "matchType": "exact",
  "filter": ["statuscode:200"],
  "limit": 20
}
```

### How it works

1. Calls `https://web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx` with `output=json`.
2. Sends a descriptive User-Agent and stays around **~48–60 requests/minute**.
3. Honors HTTP **429** `Retry-After`.
4. Paginates with CDX `resumeKey` when needed.
5. Writes one dataset item per snapshot row (metadata + `snapshotUrl` only).

### Pricing (pay-per-event)

Configured for Store use as:

- **$0.01** per Actor start (`apify-actor-start`)
- **$0.0015** per snapshot row written to the default dataset (`apify-default-dataset-item`)

### Limitations & rules

- No HTML scraping of `archive.org` / `web.archive.org` pages.
- No contact harvesting.
- No residential / upgraded proxies — plain HTTP to the public CDX endpoint.
- Be respectful of Internet Archive rate limits; keep `limit` modest for exploration.

### Use cases

- Discover historical captures before deep research
- Build a list of Wayback URLs for QA, citations, or change tracking
- Filter captures by status code, MIME type, or time range

### Output

Open the run’s **Dataset** tab (or download via API). Each item is one CDX row plus `snapshotUrl`.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

One or more URLs (or URL patterns) to look up in the Wayback Machine CDX index. Example: https://example.com/

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

How the CDX API matches each URL. exact = exact URL; prefix = URL path prefix; host = same host; domain = host and subdomains.

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

Inclusive lower bound as YYYYMMDDhhmmss (partial ok, e.g. 20200101). Passed to CDX as from=.

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

Inclusive upper bound as YYYYMMDDhhmmss (partial ok). Passed to CDX as to=.

## `filter` (type: `array`):

Optional CDX filter expressions, e.g. statuscode:200 or !mimetype:warc/revisit. Each entry becomes a filter= query param.

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

Optional CDX collapse field, e.g. digest or timestamp:6 (unique per day). Passed as collapse=.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

Maximum CDX rows to return per input URL (after filters). Keep small while testing.

## `fl` (type: `array`):

Optional CDX field list. Defaults to urlkey,timestamp,original,mimetype,statuscode,digest,length. Output always includes snapshotUrl built from timestamp+original when those fields are present.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com/"
  ],
  "matchType": "exact",
  "filter": [
    "statuscode:200"
  ],
  "limit": 20
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `snapshots` (type: `string`):

CDX metadata rows with Wayback snapshot URLs (no HTML bodies).

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "https://example.com/"
    ],
    "filter": [
        "statuscode:200"
    ],
    "limit": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tidydata69/wayback-cdx-snapshot-lister").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 = {
    "urls": ["https://example.com/"],
    "filter": ["statuscode:200"],
    "limit": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tidydata69/wayback-cdx-snapshot-lister").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": [
    "https://example.com/"
  ],
  "filter": [
    "statuscode:200"
  ],
  "limit": 20
}' |
apify call tidydata69/wayback-cdx-snapshot-lister --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tidydata69/wayback-cdx-snapshot-lister"
        }
    }
}
```

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/uvCMWEmpDK4AcIYyA/builds/lVwoSNa0Ae4gYq2yZ/openapi.json