Collectors · OSINT & security

Wayback Machine API in Python

Archived snapshots of a URL or domain from the Internet Archive's CDX API. One POST from Python with target, rows back as JSON with 10 fields, $0.0003 per delivered snapshot. No proxies or parsers to maintain.

Get an API key See the collector

A Python requests snippet that posts { — A Python requests call to the wayback_machine collector returns one dict per snapshot, at $0.0003 each.

First call

Install, call, read the rows.

pip install requests

The only dependency.

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/wayback_machine/run",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"},
    json={
        "target": "https://example.com",
        "max_results": 50,
    },
    timeout=120,
)
r.raise_for_status()
run = r.json()["payload"]
print(run["count"], "rows,", run["cost"]["usd"], "USD")
for row in run["results"]:
    print(row.get("timestamp"), row.get("captured_at"), row.get("original_url"), row.get("mimetype"))

Python: one Wayback Machine snapshots run (Snapshot di una pagina), printing timestamp, captured_at, original_url, mimetype

The key comes from an environment variable, never from the code. The run answers in the same request when it finishes in time; payload.results holds the rows and payload.cost what they cost.

Request parameters

What the collector takes.

Input of the Wayback Machine snapshots collector
Parameter	Type	Required	Meaning
`target`	string	yes	A page URL or a domain to look up snapshots for.
`match_prefix`	boolean	no (default false)	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.
`newest_first`	boolean	no (default false)	Return the most recent captures instead of the oldest.
`status_code`	string	no	Only captures with this HTTP status, e.g. 200.
`mimetype`	string	no	Only captures of this MIME type, e.g. text/html.
`max_results`	integer	no (default 50)	How many snapshots to deliver at most (1–1000). You pay only for delivered snapshots.

Response fields

10 fields per snapshot.

Fields of each row (snapshot)
Field	Type	What it holds
`rank`	integer	1-based position (oldest first, or newest first with newest_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.
`raw_url`	string, nullable	The capture exactly as archived (no toolbar, links not rewritten).

Add ?format=csv to the runs endpoint to get the same rows as CSV.

Long runs

Run in the background, then poll.

A run that needs more time can go to the background: send "async": true, get 202 with the run id, and poll the runs endpoint until the status is done. Reading a run is free.

import os, time, requests

H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"}
r = requests.post("https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/wayback_machine/run", headers=H,
                  json={**{"target":"https://example.com","max_results":50}, "async": True}, timeout=30)
run_id = r.json()["payload"]["run_id"]
while True:
    run = requests.get(f"https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/runs/{run_id}", headers=H, timeout=30).json()["payload"]
    if run["status"] in ("done", "failed"):
        break
    time.sleep(5)
print(run["status"], run["count"])

Python: background run and polling

Errors

What can come back, and what is billed.

Collector run errors
Status	Meaning	Billed
`400`	The input does not match the collector (`payload.errors`)	No
`401`	Missing or wrong API key	No
`402`	Balance and free credit do not cover the run: top up	No
`422`	The input can never resolve; retrying the same input cannot help	No
`424`	The run failed at the source (blocked, timed out, layout changed); safe to retry	No
`429`	Rate limit or a per-account brake; wait for `Retry-After`	No

Only delivered rows are billed: a run that delivers nothing costs nothing.

Price

$0.0003 per delivered snapshot.

What Wayback Machine snapshots rows cost at list price
Rows	Cost
1	$0.0003
1,000	$0.30
10,000	$3.00

Up to 1000 snapshots per run; split larger jobs into several runs. The $2 free credit every month covers about 6,666 snapshots. No subscription; paid tiers lower the unit price. All collector prices: collector pricing.

Before you run it

Questions developers ask

Is there a free Wayback Machine snapshots API?

Every account gets $2 of free usage each month, about 6,666 snapshots of this collector at $0.0003 each, with no card.

Do I have to handle proxies, retries or blocks?

No. The collector runs on our network and handles them; a run blocked at the source returns 424 and is not billed.

How many rows can one run return?

Up to 1000 snapshots per run (the max_results input, where the collector has one).

Can an AI agent run it?

Yes: the MCP server exposes it as the run_collector tool, with the same input and price. See the MCP server.

Run it on the free credit.

Create an API key, export it as QD_API_KEY and run the example. $0.0003 per delivered snapshot, no subscription.

Get an API key Wayback Machine API