Archivist

Preserve the web and retrieve archives with a typed Python API.

Archivist gives Python applications a consistent interface to the stable APIs published by Internet Archive and Archive.today. Search capture history, find the version nearest a point in time, or submit a page to the Wayback Machine without building around each service's response format.

Both synchronous and asynchronous clients are included, with matching models and errors.

Features

• Search Internet Archive's Wayback capture history
• Save pages through Internet Archive's Save Page Now service
• Check capture progress, service availability, and account capacity
• Browse Archive.today history and find first, latest, or closest captures
• Use the same models from synchronous and asynchronous code
• Keep credentials and sensitive URL data out of representations and logs

Installation

Archivist requires Python 3.11 or later.

uv add archivist-py

Using pip:

pip install archivist-py

Internet Archive

Find the oldest Wayback Machine capture without an account:

from archivist import (
    InternetArchiveCdxRecord,
    InternetArchiveCdxResult,
    InternetArchiveClient,
)

with InternetArchiveClient() as client:
    captures: InternetArchiveCdxResult = client.search("https://example.com/", limit=1)

oldest: InternetArchiveCdxRecord | None = next(iter(captures), None)
if oldest is not None:
    print(f"{oldest.timestamp:%Y-%m-%d}: {oldest.archive_url()}")

Save a page anonymously and wait for the finished capture in one call:

from archivist import InternetArchiveClient, InternetArchiveSuccessStatus

with InternetArchiveClient() as client:
    capture: InternetArchiveSuccessStatus = client.save("https://example.com/")

print(capture.archive_url())

Credentials are optional. Provide them for account features and restricted save options such as screenshots, emailed results, and WACZ files.

Archive.today

Find the oldest Archive.today capture through its Memento interface:

from archivist import ArchiveTodayClient, ArchiveTodayMemento

with ArchiveTodayClient() as client:
    oldest: ArchiveTodayMemento | None = client.first("https://example.com/")

if oldest is not None:
    print(f"{oldest.archived_at:%Y-%m-%d}: {oldest.archive_url}")

Archivist can browse existing Archive.today captures, but cannot create new ones because the service's bot protection prevents reliable automated access.

Async Support

Async clients mirror the synchronous API. Use AsyncInternetArchiveClient or AsyncArchiveTodayClient with async with, then await the same operations.

Documentation

Read the full documentation for authentication, save options, async examples, error handling, and the complete API reference.