Wayback

Wayback is an open-source web archiving and playback tool used to capture and preserve web content. It utilizes an instant messaging style interface to receive and present archived pages, while providing a search and playback service for retrieving stored content.

The software is deployed as a server or a command line interface tool. It can be installed via GitHub Releases, Snapcraft, APT, or RPM, and it supports operation as a Tor Hidden Service for increased privacy.

Key features

• Batch archiving of URLs for increased speed
• Integration with Internet Archive, archive.todayLtoday, IPFS, and Telegraph
• Daemon service support for IRC, Matrix, Telegram, Discord, Mastodon, Twitter, and XMPP
• Publishing of results to Telegram channels, Mastodon, and GitHub Issues
• Local disk storage for offline access to archived files
• Streaming media downloads using FFmpeg
• Prometheus metrics exposure for monitoring
• Built-in CLI for manual operation

Wayback is designed for web archivists and researchers who require a systematic way to snapshot web pages. The architecture allows it to function as a bot across various communication platforms, enabling users to trigger archives through chat interfaces. It supports cross-platform compatibility and can be integrated into existing workflows via its CLI or web entry points.

This tool serves as a utility for long-term digital preservation and web content recovery.