Question 1

Where does the data come from?

Accepted Answer

From the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine (web.archive.org). This API queries the public archive and returns its answers in a stable JSON shape.

Question 2

How do I look up a page at a specific date?

Accepted Answer

Call GET /v1/content with url and date (YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS, UTC). The archive returns the capture closest to that moment, with its exact timestamp in the date field.

Question 3

What happens when a URL was never archived?

Accepted Answer

GET /v1/content answers 404 with content: null — a normal, charged answer meaning the archive has no capture of that URL.

Question 4

Am I charged when a request fails?

Accepted Answer

No. If the Wayback Machine cannot be reached or rate-limits the request, the API answers 503 and the request is not charged. Only answers the archive actually returned are charged.

Wayback Machine

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the data come from?

How do I look up a page at a specific date?

What happens when a URL was never archived?

Am I charged when a request fails?