DATA

Wayback Machine Lookup API

Find the closest Wayback Machine snapshot of a URL (optionally near a target timestamp). Returns the snapshot URL, its capture timestamp, and HTTP status.

waybackarchiveinternet-archivepython
Try it freeGet an API key

How to call it

Send one POST to api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get with your key in the X-Api-Key header and the parameters below as a JSON body. Each call spends 1 weighted unit of your monthly quota. The operation times out after 15 seconds. Identical requests are served from cache for 3600 seconds, unbilled.

endpoint
POST https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get

Wayback Machine Lookup API reference

Request parameters

url
stringrequired — URL to look up in the Wayback Machine
timestamp
string — Optional target time YYYYMMDDhhmmss (partial ok). Omit for the newest snapshot.

Response fields

found
booleanrequired
closest
objectrequired
fetchedAt
stringrequired
queriedUrl
stringrequired

Example request and response

The example response is generated from this operation’s published output schema — it shows the shape and field names, not values from a recorded call.

json — example request body
{
  "url": "https://github.com"
}
json — example response shape
{
  "found": false,
  "closest": {
    "url": "https://github.com",
    "status": 1,
    "takenAt": "example",
    "timestamp": "example"
  },
  "fetchedAt": "example",
  "queriedUrl": "example"
}

Code snippets

cURL
curl
curl -X POST https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY' \
  -d '{ "url": "https://github.com" }'
JavaScript
javascript
const response = await fetch('https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
  "url": "https://github.com"
}),
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);
Python
python
import requests

response = requests.post(
    'https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get',
    headers={
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'x-api-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY',
    },
    json={
  "url": "https://github.com"
},
)

print(response.json())
Go
go
package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	payload := []byte(`{ "url": "https://github.com" }`)

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get", bytes.NewBuffer(payload))
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	req.Header.Set("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, err := client.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer resp.Body.Close()

	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	var result map[string]any
	json.Unmarshal(body, &result)
	fmt.Println(result)
}
PHP
php
<?php

$payload = json_encode([
    'url' => 'https://github.com',
]);

$ch = curl_init('https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get');
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
    CURLOPT_POST           => true,
    CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS     => $payload,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER     => [
        'Content-Type: application/json',
        'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY',
    ],
]);

$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);

$data = json_decode($response, true);
var_dump($data);
Ruby
ruby
require 'net/http'
require 'uri'
require 'json'

uri = URI('https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get')
http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == 'https'

request = Net::HTTP::Post.new(uri.path)
request['Content-Type'] = 'application/json'
request['x-api-key'] = 'YOUR_API_KEY'
request.body = { "url": "https://github.com" }.to_json

response = http.request(request)
puts JSON.parse(response.body)
Java
java
import okhttp3.*;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import java.util.Map;

OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient();
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

String json = "{ \"url\": \"https://github.com\" }";

RequestBody body = RequestBody.create(json, MediaType.get("application/json"));
Request request = new Request.Builder()
    .url("https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get")
    .post(body)
    .addHeader("Content-Type", "application/json")
    .addHeader("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY")
    .build();

try (Response response = client.newCall(request).execute()) {
    Map<?, ?> result = mapper.readValue(response.body().string(), Map.class);
    System.out.println(result);
}
C#
csharp
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json;

using var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", "YOUR_API_KEY");

var payload = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<object>("{ \"url\": \"https://github.com\" }");
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync("https://api.upapi.io/archive-wayback.get", payload);

var result = await response.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<JsonElement>();
Console.WriteLine(result);

Frequently asked questions

How much does the Wayback Machine Lookup API cost per call?

Each call spends 1 weighted unit of your plan's monthly quota. Full pricing is at https://upapi.io/pricing.

How do I authenticate to the Wayback Machine Lookup API?

Send your key in the X-Api-Key header. A free guest key is available without creating an account.

Are Wayback Machine Lookup API responses cached?

Yes — identical requests are served from cache for 3600 seconds, and a cache hit is not billed.

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