Web Archiving

Web archiving methodology

Patterns for accessing inaccessible web pages and preserving web content for journalism, research, and legal purposes.

Archive service hierarchy

Try services in this order for maximum coverage:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    ARCHIVE RETRIEVAL CASCADE                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                  │
│  1. Wayback Machine (archive.org)                               │
│     └─ 916B+ pages, historical depth, API access                │
│                         ↓ not found                              │
│  2. Archive.today (archive.is/archive.ph)                       │
│     └─ On-demand snapshots, paywall bypass                      │
│                         ↓ not found                              │
│  3. Google Cache (limited availability)                         │
│     └─ Recent pages, search: cache:url                          │
│                         ↓ not found                              │
│  4. Bing Cache                                                  │
│     └─ Click dropdown arrow in search results                   │
│                         ↓ not found                              │
│  5. Memento Time Travel (aggregator)                            │
│     └─ Searches multiple archives simultaneously                │
│                                                                  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Wayback Machine API

Check if URL is archived

import requests
from typing import Optional
from datetime import datetime

def check_wayback_availability(url: str) -> Optional[dict]:
    """Check if URL exists in Wayback Machine."""
    api_url = f"http://archive.org/wayback/available?url={url}"

    try:
        response = requests.get(api_url, timeout=10)
        data = response.json()

        if data.get('archived_snapshots', {}).get('closest'):
            snapshot = data['archived_snapshots']['closest']
            return {
                'available': snapshot.get('available', False),
                'url': snapshot.get('url'),
                'timestamp': snapshot.get('timestamp'),
                'status': snapshot.get('status')
            }
        return None
    except Exception as e:
        return None

def get_wayback_url(url: str, timestamp: str = None) -> str:
    """Generate Wayback Machine URL for a page.

    Args:
        url: Original URL to retrieve
        timestamp: Optional YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format, or None for latest
    """
    if timestamp:
        return f"https://web.archive.org/web/{timestamp}/{url}"
    return f"https://web.archive.org/web/{url}"

Save page to Wayback Machine

def save_to_wayback(url: str) -> Optional[str]:
    """Request Wayback Machine to archive a URL.

    Returns the archived URL if successful.
    """
    save_url = f"https://web.archive.org/save/{url}"

    headers = {
        'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (research-archiver)'
    }

    try:
        response = requests.get(save_url, headers=headers, timeout=60)

        # Check for successful archive
        if response.status_code == 200:
            # The archived URL is in the Content-Location header
            archived_url = response.headers.get('Content-Location')
            if archived_url:
                return f"https://web.archive.org{archived_url}"
            return response.url
        return None
    except Exception:
        return None

CDX API for historical snapshots

def get_all_snapshots(url: str, limit: int = 100) -> list[dict]:
    """Get all archived snapshots of a URL using CDX API.

    Returns list of snapshots with timestamps and status codes.
    """
    cdx_url = "http://web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx"
    params = {
        'url': url,
        'output': 'json',
        'limit': limit,
        'fl': 'timestamp,original,statuscode,digest,length'
    }

    try:
        response = requests.get(cdx_url, params=params, timeout=30)
        data = response.json()

        if len(data) < 2:  # First row is headers
            return []

        headers = data[0]
        snapshots = []

        for row in data[1:]:
            snapshot = dict(zip(headers, row))
            snapshot['wayback_url'] = (
                f"https://web.archive.org/web/{snapshot['timestamp']}/{snapshot['original']}"
            )
            snapshots.append(snapshot)

        return snapshots
    except Exception:
        return []

Archive.today integration

Save to Archive.today

import requests
from urllib.parse import quote

def save_to_archive_today(url: str) -> Optional[str]:
    """Submit URL to Archive.today for archiving.

    Note: Archive.today has rate limiting and CAPTCHA requirements.
    This function works for basic archiving but may require
    manual intervention for high-volume use.
    """
    submit_url = "https://archive.today/submit/"

    data = {
        'url': url,
        'anyway': '1'  # Archive even if recent snapshot exists
    }

    try:
        response = requests.post(submit_url, data=data, timeout=60)
        # Archive.today returns the archived URL in the response
        if response.status_code == 200:
            return response.url
        return None
    except Exception:
        return None

def search_archive_today(url: str) -> Optional[str]:
    """Search for existing Archive.today snapshot."""
    search_url = f"https://archive.today/{quote(url, safe='')}"

    try:
        response = requests.get(search_url, timeout=30, allow_redirects=True)
        if response.status_code == 200 and 'archive.today' in response.url:
            return response.url
        return None
    except Exception:
        return None

Multi-archive redundancy

Archive cascade for maximum preservation

from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import Optional, List
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed

@dataclass
class ArchiveResult:
    service: str
    url: str
    archived_url: Optional[str]
    success: bool
    error: Optional[str] = None

class MultiArchiver:
    """Archive URLs to multiple services for redundancy."""

    def __init__(self):
        self.services = [
            ('wayback', self._save_wayback),
            ('archive_today', self._save_archive_today),
            ('perma_cc', self._save_perma),  # Requires API key
        ]

    def archive_url(self, url: str, parallel: bool = True) -> List[ArchiveResult]:
        """Archive URL to all services.

        Args:
            url: URL to archive
            parallel: If True, archive to all services simultaneously
        """
        results = []

        if parallel:
            with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as executor:
                futures = {
                    executor.submit(save_func, url): name
                    for name, save_func in self.services
                }

                for future in as_completed(futures):
                    service = futures[future]
                    try:
                        archived_url = future.result()
                        results.append(ArchiveResult(
                            service=service,
                            url=url,
                            archived_url=archived_url,
                            success=archived_url is not None
                        ))
                    except Exception as e:
                        results.append(ArchiveResult(
                            service=service,
                            url=url,
                            archived_url=None,
                            success=False,
                            error=str(e)
                        ))
        else:
            for name, save_func in self.services:
                try:
                    archived_url = save_func(url)
                    results.append(ArchiveResult(
                        service=name,
                        url=url,
                        archived_url=archived_url,
                        success=archived_url is not None
                    ))
                except Exception as e:
                    results.append(ArchiveResult(
                        service=name,
                        url=url,
                        archived_url=None,
                        success=False,
                        error=str(e)
                    ))

        return results

    def _save_wayback(self, url: str) -> Optional[str]:
        return save_to_wayback(url)

    def _save_archive_today(self, url: str) -> Optional[str]:
        return save_to_archive_today(url)

    def _save_perma(self, url: str) -> Optional[str]:
        # Requires Perma.cc API key
        # Implementation depends on having API credentials
        return None

Self-hosted archiving with ArchiveBox

ArchiveBox setup

# Install ArchiveBox
pip install archivebox

# Or with Docker
docker pull archivebox/archivebox

# Initialize archive directory
mkdir ~/web-archives && cd ~/web-archives
archivebox init

# Add URLs to archive
archivebox add "https://example.com/article"

# Add multiple URLs from file
archivebox add --depth=0 < urls.txt

# Schedule regular archiving
archivebox schedule --every=day --depth=1 "https://example.com/feed.rss"

ArchiveBox Python integration

import subprocess
from pathlib import Path
from typing import List, Optional

class ArchiveBoxManager:
    """Manage local ArchiveBox instance."""

    def __init__(self, archive_dir: Path):
        self.archive_dir = archive_dir
        self._ensure_initialized()

    def _ensure_initialized(self):
        """Initialize ArchiveBox if needed."""
        if not (self.archive_dir / 'index.sqlite3').exists():
            subprocess.run(
                ['archivebox', 'init'],
                cwd=self.archive_dir,
                check=True
            )

    def add_url(self, url: str, depth: int = 0) -> bool:
        """Archive a single URL.

        Args:
            url: URL to archive
            depth: 0 for single page, 1 to follow links one level deep
        """
        result = subprocess.run(
            ['archivebox', 'add', f'--depth={depth}', url],
            cwd=self.archive_dir,
            capture_output=True,
            text=True
        )
        return result.returncode == 0

    def add_urls_from_file(self, filepath: Path) -> bool:
        """Archive URLs from a text file (one per line)."""
        with open(filepath) as f:
            result = subprocess.run(
                ['archivebox', 'add', '--depth=0'],
                cwd=self.archive_dir,
                stdin=f,
                capture_output=True
            )
        return result.returncode == 0

    def search(self, query: str) -> List[dict]:
        """Search archived content."""
        result = subprocess.run(
            ['archivebox', 'list', '--filter-type=search', query],
            cwd=self.archive_dir,
            capture_output=True,
            text=True
        )
        # Parse output...
        return []

Legal evidence preservation

Chain of custody documentation

import hashlib
from datetime import datetime
from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict
import json

@dataclass
class EvidenceRecord:
    """Legally defensible evidence record."""

    # Content identification
    original_url: str
    archived_urls: List[str]  # Multiple archive copies
    content_hash_sha256: str

    # Timestamps
    capture_time_utc: str
    first_observed: str

    # Metadata
    page_title: str
    captured_by: str
    capture_method: str
    tool_versions: dict

    # Chain of custody
    custody_log: List[dict]  # Who accessed when

    def add_custody_entry(self, accessor: str, action: str, notes: str = ""):
        """Log access to evidence."""
        self.custody_log.append({
            'timestamp': datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            'accessor': accessor,
            'action': action,
            'notes': notes
        })

    def to_json(self) -> str:
        return json.dumps(asdict(self), indent=2)

    @classmethod
    def from_capture(cls, url: str, content: bytes, captured_by: str):
        """Create evidence record from captured content."""
        return cls(
            original_url=url,
            archived_urls=[],
            content_hash_sha256=hashlib.sha256(content).hexdigest(),
            capture_time_utc=datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            first_observed=datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            page_title="",
            captured_by=captured_by,
            capture_method="automated_capture",
            tool_versions={
                'archiver': '1.0.0',
                'python': '3.11'
            },
            custody_log=[]
        )

def capture_as_evidence(url: str, captured_by: str) -> EvidenceRecord:
    """Capture URL with full evidence chain documentation."""

    # Capture content
    response = requests.get(url)
    content = response.content

    # Create evidence record
    record = EvidenceRecord.from_capture(url, content, captured_by)
    record.page_title = extract_title(content)

    # Archive to multiple services
    archiver = MultiArchiver()
    results = archiver.archive_url(url)

    for result in results:
        if result.success:
            record.archived_urls.append(result.archived_url)

    # Log initial capture
    record.add_custody_entry(
        captured_by,
        'initial_capture',
        f'Captured from {url}, archived to {len(record.archived_urls)} services'
    )

    return record

Perma.cc for legal citations

import requests
from typing import Optional

class PermaCC:
    """Perma.cc API client for legal-grade archiving.

    Requires API key from perma.cc (free for limited use).
    Used by US courts and legal professionals.
    """

    def __init__(self, api_key: str):
        self.api_key = api_key
        self.base_url = "https://api.perma.cc/v1"
        self.headers = {
            'Authorization': f'ApiKey {api_key}',
            'Content-Type': 'application/json'
        }

    def create_archive(self, url: str, folder_id: int = None) -> Optional[dict]:
        """Create a new Perma.cc archive.

        Returns dict with guid, creation_timestamp, and captures.
        """
        data = {'url': url}
        if folder_id:
            data['folder'] = folder_id

        try:
            response = requests.post(
                f"{self.base_url}/archives/",
                json=data,
                headers=self.headers,
                timeout=60
            )

            if response.status_code == 201:
                result = response.json()
                return {
                    'guid': result['guid'],
                    'url': f"https://perma.cc/{result['guid']}",
                    'creation_timestamp': result['creation_timestamp'],
                    'title': result.get('title', '')
                }
            return None
        except Exception:
            return None

    def get_archive(self, guid: str) -> Optional[dict]:
        """Retrieve archive metadata by GUID."""
        try:
            response = requests.get(
                f"{self.base_url}/archives/{guid}/",
                headers=self.headers,
                timeout=30
            )
            return response.json() if response.status_code == 200 else None
        except Exception:
            return None

Browser extensions and bookmarklets

Quick archive bookmarklet

// Save to Wayback Machine - add as bookmark
javascript:(function(){
    var url = location.href;
    window.open('https://web.archive.org/save/' + url, '_blank');
})();

// Save to Archive.today
javascript:(function(){
    var url = location.href;
    window.open('https://archive.today/?run=1&url=' + encodeURIComponent(url), '_blank');
})();

// Check all archives (Memento)
javascript:(function(){
    var url = location.href;
    window.open('http://timetravel.mementoweb.org/list/0/' + url, '_blank');
})();

Resurrect dead pages bookmarklet

// Try multiple archives for dead pages
javascript:(function(){
    var url = location.href;
    var archives = [
        'https://web.archive.org/web/*/' + url,
        'https://archive.today/' + encodeURIComponent(url),
        'https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:' + url,
        'http://timetravel.mementoweb.org/list/0/' + url
    ];
    archives.forEach(function(a){ window.open(a, '_blank'); });
})();

Archive service comparison

Error handling and fallbacks

from enum import Enum
from typing import Optional

class ArchiveError(Enum):
    NOT_FOUND = "No archive found"
    RATE_LIMITED = "Rate limited by service"
    BLOCKED = "URL blocked from archiving"
    TIMEOUT = "Request timed out"
    SERVICE_DOWN = "Archive service unavailable"

def get_archived_page(url: str) -> tuple[Optional[str], Optional[ArchiveError]]:
    """Try all archive services with proper error handling."""

    # 1. Try Wayback Machine first
    try:
        result = check_wayback_availability(url)
        if result and result.get('available'):
            return result['url'], None
    except requests.Timeout:
        pass  # Try next service
    except Exception:
        pass

    # 2. Try Archive.today
    try:
        result = search_archive_today(url)
        if result:
            return result, None
    except Exception:
        pass

    # 3. Try Memento aggregator
    try:
        memento_url = f"http://timetravel.mementoweb.org/api/json/0/{url}"
        response = requests.get(memento_url, timeout=30)
        data = response.json()

        if data.get('mementos', {}).get('closest'):
            return data['mementos']['closest']['uri'][0], None
    except Exception:
        pass

    return None, ArchiveError.NOT_FOUND

Best practices

When to archive

• Before publishing: Archive all sources cited in your work
• Breaking news: Archive immediately, content may change or disappear
• Legal matters: Create timestamped evidence with multiple archives
• Research: Archive primary sources for reproducibility
• Social media: Archive posts before they can be deleted

Archive redundancy

Always archive to at least two services:

def ensure_archived(url: str) -> bool:
    """Ensure URL is archived in at least 2 services."""
    archiver = MultiArchiver()
    results = archiver.archive_url(url)

    successful = [r for r in results if r.success]
    return len(successful) >= 2

Rate limiting and ethics

• Respect robots.txt for bulk archiving
• Add delays between requests (1-3 seconds minimum)
• Don't archive personal/private pages without consent
• Use API keys when available for better rate limits
• Cache results to avoid redundant requests

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