# /wayback/snapshots/search

`POST /api/wayback/snapshots/search`

Price: 1 credit

Search the Wayback Machine for all archived captures of a URL, host, or domain

## How to use it

Search the Wayback Machine (Internet Archive) for the full capture history of a URL. Returns each archived snapshot with its capture timestamp, original URL, MIME type, HTTP status code, content digest, byte length, and a ready-to-open archive URL. Use `match_type` to widen the scope: `exact` for one URL, `prefix` for all paths under it, `host` for a whole host, or `domain` to include every subdomain. Filter by date range, HTTP status, or MIME type, and use `collapse` to deduplicate (e.g. one capture per day, or only when the content changed). The backbone tool for tracking how a page or site changed over time. A URL with no captures returns an empty list.

## Parameters

- `access-token` (string, required)

## Request body

- `timeout` (integer) — Max scrapping execution timeout (in seconds) (default: 300; min: 20; max: 1500)
- `url` (string, required) — Target URL, host, or domain to search archived captures for. The form depends on `match_type` (a bare domain, a host, or a full URL with path). (examples: "cnn.com", "example.com/about", "https://github.com"; minLength: 1)
- `count` (integer, required) — Max number of captures to return (min: 1)
- `match_type` (string) — How to match the URL: `exact` (this exact URL), `prefix` (all paths under it), `host` (all URLs on this host), `domain` (this host plus all subdomains). (default: "exact"; one of: "exact", "prefix", "host", "domain")
- `from_date` (string, nullable) — Lower bound of the capture date range, as YYYYMMDD or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
- `to_date` (string, nullable) — Upper bound of the capture date range, as YYYYMMDD or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
- `status_code` (string, nullable) — Filter captures by HTTP status code. Supports a single code, a regex, or negation with a leading `!` (e.g. `200`, `30.`, `!200`). (examples: "200", "!200")
- `mimetype` (string, nullable) — Filter captures by content MIME type. Supports a value, a regex, or negation with a leading `!`. (examples: "text/html", "application/pdf")
- `collapse` (string) — Collapse adjacent captures: `none` (all), `digest` (only when content changed), `urlkey` (unique URLs), `timestamp_day` (one per day), `timestamp_year` (one per year). (default: "none"; one of: "none", "digest", "urlkey", "timestamp_day", "timestamp_year")

## Response

### 200 — Successful Response

- `@type` (string) (default: "WaybackSnapshot")
- `urlkey` (string, nullable)
- `timestamp` (string, nullable)
- `captured_at` (string, nullable)
- `original_url` (string, nullable)
- `mimetype` (string, nullable)
- `status_code` (integer, nullable)
- `digest` (string, nullable)
- `length` (integer, nullable)
- `archive_url` (string, nullable)

## Errors

### 422 — Validation Error

The request body did not validate

What to do: Check the fields against this schema. A URN with the wrong prefix is the most common cause.

- `detail` (array)
  - `loc` (array, required)
  - `msg` (string, required)
  - `type` (string, required)
  - `input` (any)
  - `ctx` (object)

### 408

The request ran past its time limit

What to do: Raise `timeout` in the request body, up to the maximum this endpoint documents. Lowering `count` or turning off the `with_*` flags also helps, because less work finishes sooner.

### 412

The entity was not found, or a precondition failed

What to do: Retrying will not help: either the entity does not exist, or the input points at a different one.

### 429

Too many requests: a rate limit or a usage window is exhausted

What to do: When the response carries an X-Retry-After header, wait that many seconds and retry: the same number is in the body as `detail.retry_after`, and the limit clears once that window passes. The message in the body names the limit that was hit.

### 500

Something broke on our side

What to do: Retrying will not help. If it keeps happening, send us the X-Request-ID from the response headers.

### 529

Rate limit reached, or the endpoint is overloaded

What to do: Wait at least 30 seconds, then retry.

## Response envelope

Success: Array of objects (may be empty if no results)

Error: Error may coexist with partial results if it occurs mid-execution. Check X-Error header and status code.

Every response carries these headers:

- `X-Error` — Error message text (present only on error)
- `X-Request-ID` — Unique request identifier
- `X-Execution-Time` — Execution time in seconds
- `X-Result-Count` — How many records the body carries. 0 means an empty result, which is a normal answer and not by itself an error. A non-zero count can come back together with X-Error when the failure happened partway through — read this header and X-Error independently.
- `X-Total-Available-Results` — How many records exist for this query, when the endpoint can say. On a `dry_run` request this is the answer and the body is empty. It saturates: the endpoint's documented maximum means 'at least that many', any smaller number is exact.
- `X-Warning` — Present when the request body carried keys this endpoint does not document. They were ignored, so any filter you meant to apply through them did not apply. Check the spelling against this schema and retry.
- `X-Retry-After` — Seconds to wait before retrying. Present only on 429.