Wayback Machine API

The Wayback Machine's CDX server is the index behind the Internet Archive — a queryable list of every capture it holds for a URL — but it answers in a terse columnar format with no field names and a raw timestamp you have to parse. This endpoint reads that CDX server for a target URL or domain and returns one row per snapshot: the timestamp both raw and as ISO 8601, the archived URL, MIME type, HTTP status, content digest, byte length and the playback link.

Get my free API key See the request

$0.0003 per delivered snapshot · $2 free every month · Failed runs never billed

POST /v1/scraper/collectors/wayback_machine/run

$ curl $QD/wayback_machine/run \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $QD_API_KEY" \
    -d '{"target": "https: //example.com", "max_results": 50}'
{ "status": "done", "count": 50,
  "results": [
    {
      "timestamp": "…",
      "captured_at": "…",
      "original_url": "…",
      "mimetype": "…" } ],
  "cost": 0.015 }
# 50 snapshots × $0.0003 · nothing delivered, nothing charged

$0.0003 / snapshot6,666 snapshots on the free $2 every month

Semantic inputtarget, match_prefix, from — no URL lists

Up to 1,000snapshots per run, pagination handled for you

No browserread over HTTP/TLS — cheaper and faster than rendering

What a Wayback Machine API does

Point it at a single page and you get that page's capture history; set match_prefix and point it at a domain and you get every archived URL beneath it, which is how you reconstruct what a site looked like, or which pages it once had, across years. Near-identical captures are collapsed by their content digest, so a page archived hourly for a decade does not drown you in rows that never changed.

The value over calling CDX yourself is the shape. The raw endpoint returns positional columns whose order you have to remember and a timestamp like 20200114031502 you have to split into a date. Here every capture arrives as named fields with an ISO timestamp alongside the raw one, and a from/to range filters the history server-side so you fetch the window you want, not the whole life of the URL.

What one snapshot looks like

Every delivered snapshot carries these fields. Nullable means the source did not publish it — the field stays empty instead of being guessed.

Field	Type	What it holds
`rank`	integer	1-based position (oldest first).
`timestamp`	string	Capture timestamp (yyyymmddhhmmss).
`captured_at`	string · nullable	Capture time (ISO 8601).
`original_url`	string · nullable	The URL as archived.
`mimetype`	string · nullable	Captured MIME type.
`status_code`	string · nullable	HTTP status at capture.
`digest`	string · nullable	Content digest.
`length`	integer · nullable	Capture size in bytes.
`snapshot_url`	string · nullable	Wayback playback URL.

Inputs

The whole request. Anything you leave out falls back to the default shown in the catalog.

Input	Type	Required	What it does
`target`	string	yes	A page URL or a domain to look up snapshots for.
`match_prefix`	boolean	no	Match every URL under this path/domain, not just the exact URL.
`from`	string	no	Earliest capture, YYYYMMDD (or a longer timestamp).
`to`	string	no	Latest capture, YYYYMMDD.
`max_results`	integer	no	How many snapshots to deliver at most (1–1000). You pay only for delivered snapshots.

Pricing

Wayback Machine API pricing

$0.0003 per delivered snapshot. A run that delivers nothing costs nothing: blocked pages, challenges and retries are on us, and the $2 monthly allowance covers about 6,666 snapshots before you spend anything.

$0.0003per delivered snapshot$0.3 per 1,000 delivered snapshots

6,666 snapshotson the free allowance$2 every month, no card

Zero rowszero chargeblocks, captchas and retries are on us

−30%on volume tiersthe catalog returns your key's price

Pay as you go

$0/mo

$2 free credit / month
60 requests / min
List unit prices

Starter

$19/mo

$15 free credit / month
300 requests / min
10% off unit prices

Growth

$79/mo

$50 free credit / month
600 requests / min
20% off unit prices

Scale

$299/mo

$250 free credit / month
1,200 requests / min
30% off unit prices

Same wallet, same key and same $2 monthly allowance as every other Data API. Prices are launch pricing read live from the billing config — GET /v1/scraper/collectors returns the price your key actually pays.

Integration

One POST, typed rows

Base URL https://api.quanticdata.io/v1, Bearer auth, the same key as every other Data API. Endpoint: POST /v1/scraper/collectors/wayback_machine/run.

curl -X POST https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/wayback_machine/run \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $QD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"target":"https://example.com","max_results":50}'

import requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/wayback_machine/run",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {QD_API_KEY}"},
    json={
        "target": "https://example.com",
        "max_results": 50
    },
    timeout=120,
)
for row in r.json()["payload"]["results"]:
    print(row)

const res = await fetch(
  "https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/wayback_machine/run",
  {
    method: "POST",
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.QD_API_KEY}`,
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({"target":"https://example.com","max_results":50}),
  },
);
const { payload } = await res.json();
console.table(payload.results);

claude mcp add quantumproxies \
  -e QUANTUMPROXIES_API_KEY=qd_live_your_key_here \
  -- npx -y quantumproxies-mcp

# then, in the chat:
> run the wayback_machine collector with target="https://example.com" and max_results=50

What people build with the Wayback Machine API

Three shapes of work this endpoint was designed around.

Content change tracking

Pull a page's capture history and diff the snapshots to see when copy, pricing or a claim on a competitor's site changed, with a playback URL to read each version.

Domain footprint reconstruction

match_prefix over a domain lists the URLs the archive ever saw, surfacing old paths, retired products and pages that no longer exist live.

Dead-link recovery

For a URL that now 404s, the snapshot rows give you the last good capture and its playback link, so a dataset built on since-deleted pages keeps a source.

Wayback Machine API versus rolling your own

The differences that actually cost time when you build this in-house.

	DIY scraper	This collector
Response shape	Positional CDX columns, no names	Named fields per snapshot
Timestamp	Raw 14-digit string to parse	Raw and ISO 8601, side by side
Duplicate captures	Every hourly re-crawl as a row	Collapsed by content digest

FAQ

Questions we get about the Wayback Machine API.

Something else? Ask us →

Does this save a page to the archive, or only read what is stored?

Read only. It queries the CDX index for captures the Internet Archive already holds; it does not trigger "Save Page Now". You give it a target and get back the snapshots that exist for it.

Can I get every archived URL under a domain, not just one page?

Yes — set match_prefix and pass the domain as the target. Instead of one URL's history you get every captured URL beneath it, which is the query for mapping a site's past footprint.

How do I limit the captures to a date range?

Pass from and to as YYYYMMDD. The CDX server filters by capture date on its side, so you retrieve only the window you asked for rather than paging through the entire history.

Why so few rows for a page I know was archived hundreds of times?

Captures with an identical content digest are collapsed, so a page that did not change between crawls appears once, not once per crawl. You are seeing distinct versions, which is usually what you meant to count.

Is there a free Wayback Machine API?

Every account gets $2 of credit every month with no card, which is about 6,666 delivered snapshots on this endpoint at $0.0003 each. It renews monthly, and a run that delivers nothing is never billed — so a failed or blocked attempt does not eat the allowance.

How much does one run cost?

Multiply the rows you actually receive by $0.0003. A run capped at 1,000 snapshots — the maximum for this collector — costs $0.3 if every row comes back, and less when the source has fewer. Volume tiers take up to 30% off, and GET /v1/scraper/collectors returns the price your key actually pays.

Run the Wayback Machine API now

$2 of free credit every month, no card. Your key returns its own prices from GET /v1/scraper/collectors.

Get my free API key