Internet Archive MCP Server

@cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server Search the Wayback Machine and IA library (40M+ items), fetch archived snapshots, retrieve item metadata and full text via MCP. STDIO or Streamable HTTP. Its 5 documented tools cluster into snapshots, snapshot, items, item.

People who work with cyanheads, archive and wayback machine and want it reachable from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in TypeScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-08-21 · ★ 4 · #325 OF 945 MAINTAINED OTHER · VERIFIED 2026-09-18

Apache-2.0 · TypeScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Internet Archive MCP Server

before you install - you'll need

Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add cyanheads-internet-archive-mcp-server -- npx -y @cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cyanheads-internet-archive-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license Apache-2.0 - declared in the repository

npm package @cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server - published under the repo owner's npm scope (@cyanheads)

registry namespace io.github.cyanheads is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Internet Archive MCP Server can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

An agent gets 5 documented tools across snapshots, snapshot, items, including ia_find_snapshots, ia_get_snapshot, ia_search_items, ia_get_item.

Capability map

Tools grouped from the project's README - what Internet Archive MCP Server lets an agent do.

Snapshots

1 tool - e.g. Find Wayback Machine snapshots of a URL. Mode closest returns the nearest capture to a given timestamp. Mode history returns the full capture list via CDX with

ia_find_snapshots

Snapshot

1 tool - e.g. Fetch the archived content of a URL at a specific Wayback timestamp. Strips HTML to readable text and returns the canonical replay URL.

ia_get_snapshot

Items

1 tool - e.g. Search the IA library (40M+ items). Filter by media type, collection, creator, date range, and language. Sort by relevance, date, or downloads. Returns identifi

ia_search_items

Item

1 tool - e.g. Retrieve full metadata and the file manifest for an Archive item by identifier - title, creator, description, subjects, collections, license, and every file wit

ia_get_item

Text

1 tool - e.g. Retrieve readable OCR text (DjVuTXT or plain-text) from a text item. Length-aware truncation with continuation pointer (char_offset) for paging through large do

ia_get_text

Latest releases

v0.1.4 · 2026-08-21

Restricted-download contract completion and mcp-ts-core 0.12.3 adoption · ia_get_text restricted-item downloads now consistently throw the declared download_forbidden contract: IA answers both 401 and 403 for…

v0.1.3 · 2026-06-13

mcp-ts-core 0.10.6 adoption · Maintenance release adopting @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core ^0.10.6 and the framework primitives it brings - response enrichment, explicit server identity, and a leaner MCPB bundle. · Added…

v0.1.2 · 2026-06-07

SSRF fix, dark-item error, exact-timestamp 404 contract · Four bug fixes to the Wayback Machine and IA Metadata service. · Fixed: · ia_find_snapshots closest mode: SSRF guard now accepts (Availability API returns…

04 · Who maintains Internet Archive MCP Server

internet-archive-mcp-server is maintained by cyanheads. We track 125 MCP servers from cyanheads - 119 actively maintained, 1,816 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Dec 2024. Full record: all servers from cyanheads.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server
category: other - ranked #325 of 945 actively-maintained other servers as of 2026-09-18.
release cadence: 1 release in the last 90 days (latest 2026-08-21)
registry: io.github.cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server (active, first published 2026-06-05 · 4 versions)
packages: npm:@cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server · npm:@cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server

06 · Internet Archive MCP Server FAQ

Is Internet Archive MCP Server still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-09-18, its last commit was 2026-08-21 and it shipped 1 release in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

What can Internet Archive MCP Server do?

An agent gets 5 documented tools across snapshots, snapshot, items, including ia_find_snapshots, ia_get_snapshot, ia_search_items, ia_get_item.

How do I install Internet Archive MCP Server?

Run `npx -y @cyanheads/internet-archive-mcp-server`. The README documents 2 environment variables (MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL) to set first. Set MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Internet Archive MCP Server run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via npx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Internet Archive MCP Server

Alternatives to Internet Archive MCP Server

Maintained other servers if Internet Archive MCP Server isn't the fit.

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