MCP Wayback Machine Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server and CLI tool for interacting with the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine without requiring API keys.

Overview

This tool can be used in two ways:

As an MCP server - Integrate with Claude Desktop for AI-powered interactions
As a CLI tool - Use directly from the command line with npx or global installation

Features:

Save web pages to the Wayback Machine
Retrieve archived versions of web pages
Check archive status and statistics
Search the Wayback Machine CDX API for available snapshots

Features

No API keys required - Uses public Wayback Machine endpoints
Save pages - Archive any publicly accessible URL
Retrieve archives - Get archived versions with optional timestamps
Archive statistics - Get capture counts and yearly statistics
Search archives - Query available snapshots with date filtering
Rate limiting - Built-in rate limiting to respect service limits

Tools

1. save_url

Archive a URL to the Wayback Machine.

Input: url (required) - The URL to save
Output: Success status, archived URL, and timestamp
Handles rate limiting automatically

2. get_archived_url

Retrieve an archived version of a URL.

Input:
- url (required) - The URL to retrieve
- timestamp (optional) - Specific timestamp (YYYYMMDDhhmmss) or "latest"
Output: Archived URL, timestamp, and availability status

3. search_archives

Search for all archived versions of a URL.

Input:
- url (required) - The URL to search for
- from (optional) - Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)
- to (optional) - End date (YYYY-MM-DD)
- limit (optional) - Maximum results (default: 10)
Output: List of snapshots with dates, URLs, status codes, and mime types

4. check_archive_status

Check archival statistics for a URL.

Input: url (required) - The URL to check
Output: Archive status, first/last capture dates, total captures, yearly statistics

Technical Details

Transport: Stdio (for Claude Desktop integration)
HTTP Client: Built-in fetch with timeout support
Rate Limiting: 15 requests per minute (conservative limit)
Error Handling: Graceful handling with detailed error messages
Validation: URL and timestamp validation
TypeScript: Full type safety with Zod schema validation

API Endpoints (No Keys Required)

Save Page Now: https://web.archive.org/save/{url} - Archive pages on demand
- Documentation
Availability API: http://archive.org/wayback/available?url={url} - Check archive status
- Documentation
CDX Server API: http://web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx?url={url} - Advanced search and filtering
- Documentation
TimeMap API: http://web.archive.org/web/timemap/link/{url} - Get all timestamps for a URL
- Memento Protocol
Metadata API: https://archive.org/metadata/{identifier} - Get Internet Archive item metadata
- Documentation
Search API: https://archive.org/advancedsearch.php?q={query}&output=json - Search collections
- Documentation

Project Structure

mcp-wayback-machine/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts          # MCP server entry point
│   ├── tools/            # Tool implementations
│   │   ├── save.ts       # save_url tool
│   │   ├── retrieve.ts   # get_archived_url tool
│   │   ├── search.ts     # search_archives tool
│   │   └── status.ts     # check_archive_status tool
│   ├── utils/            # Utilities
│   │   ├── http.ts       # HTTP client with timeout
│   │   ├── validation.ts # URL/timestamp validation
│   │   └── rate-limit.ts # Rate limiting implementation
│   └── *.test.ts         # Test files (alongside source)
├── dist/                 # Built JavaScript files
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── README.md

Installation

As a CLI Tool (Quick Start)

Use directly with npx (no installation needed):

npx mcp-wayback-machine save https://example.com

Or install globally:

npm install -g mcp-wayback-machine
wayback save https://example.com

As an MCP Server

Install for use with Claude Desktop:

npm install -g mcp-wayback-machine

From Source

git clone https://github.com/Mearman/mcp-wayback-machine.git
cd mcp-wayback-machine
yarn install
yarn build

Usage

CLI Usage

The tool provides a wayback command (or use npx mcp-wayback-machine):

Save a URL

wayback save https://example.com
# or
npx mcp-wayback-machine save https://example.com

Get an archived version

wayback get https://example.com
wayback get https://example.com --timestamp 20231225120000
wayback get https://example.com --timestamp latest

Search archives

wayback search https://example.com
wayback search https://example.com --limit 20
wayback search https://example.com --from 2023-01-01 --to 2023-12-31

Check archive status

wayback status https://example.com

Get help

wayback --help
wayback save --help

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop settings:

Using npm installation

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wayback-machine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-wayback-machine"]
    }
  }
}

Using local installation

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wayback-machine": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-wayback-machine/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

For development (without building)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "wayback-machine": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["tsx", "/absolute/path/to/mcp-wayback-machine/src/index.ts"]
    }
  }
}

Development

yarn dev       # Run in development mode with hot reload
yarn test      # Run tests  
yarn test:watch # Run tests in watch mode
yarn build     # Build for production
yarn start     # Run production build

Testing

The project uses Vitest for testing. Tests are located alongside source files with .test.ts extensions.

Resources

Official Documentation

Rate Limits & Best Practices

No hard rate limits for public APIs
Be respectful - add delays between requests
Use specific date ranges to reduce CDX result sets
Cache responses when possible
Include descriptive User-Agent header

Authenticated APIs (Not Implemented)

For completeness, here are Internet Archive APIs that require authentication but are not included in this MCP server:

S3-Compatible API (IAS3)

Authentication: S3-style access keys from https://archive.org/account/s3.php
Features: Upload files, modify metadata, create items, manage collections
Documentation:

Authenticated Search API

Authentication: S3 credentials
Features: Advanced search capabilities, higher rate limits
Access: Requires Internet Archive account
Documentation:
- Advanced Search API
- Search API Examples

Save Page Now 2 (SPN2) - Enhanced Features

Authentication: Partnership agreement typically required
Features: Bulk captures, priority processing, higher rate limits
Documentation:
- SPN2 API Guide
- Save Page Now Overview

Partner/Bulk Access APIs

Authentication: Special partnership agreement
Features: Bulk downloads, custom data exports, direct database access
Access: Contact Internet Archive directly
Documentation:
- Researcher Services
- Bulk Access Information

Getting API Keys

Create account at archive.org
Visit S3 API page (requires login)
Generate Access Key and Secret Key pair
Configure using ia configure command or manual configuration

Note: This MCP server focuses on public, keyless APIs to maintain simplicity and avoid credential management.

License

This project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

You are free to:

Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material

Under the following terms:

Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes
ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license

For commercial use or licensing inquiries, please contact the copyright holder.