This is an Obsidian plugin which automatically archives web links via Wayback Machine and appends archived versions in notes. It has a vault-wide archiving, filtering (include/exclude), substitution rule, retrying failed archive, profile based settings, and more.

• Installation
• Core Concepts
  • Archiving Process
  • Archive Links
  • Profiles
  • Filtering
  • Substitution
  • Failed Archives
• Commands
  • Archive links in current note
  • Archive all links in vault
  • Force Re-archive links in current note
  • Force Re-archive all links in vault
  • Retry failed archive attempts
  • Retry failed archive attempts (Force Replace)
  • Export failed archive log
  • Clear failed archive log
• Settings Guide
  • Global API Keys
  • Profiles Management
  • Profile Settings
    • General
    • Filtering Rules
    • URL Substitution Rules
    • Advanced Settings
    • SPN API v2 Options
• Troubleshooting FAQ
• Limitations
• LICENSE

1. Install the plugin via the Obsidian Community Plugins browser.
2. Enable the plugin in your Obsidian settings.
3. Configure the required API keys in the plugin settings tab (see Global API Keys).

The plugin scans your notes (either the current note, selected text, or the entire vault) for markdown links ([text](url) and ![text](url)), HTML links (<a href="url">text</a> and <img src="url"> ), and plain links (https://example.com). For each eligible link, it attempts to save a snapshot using the Archive.org Wayback Machine's SPN API v2.

If archiving is successful, the plugin inserts a new markdown (or html) archive link immediately after the original link. The format of this link is configurable.

Example: [Example Site](https://example.com) becomes [Example Site](https://example.com) [(Archived on 2025-04-10)](https://web.archive.org/web/20250410...)

The plugin avoids adding archive links if one already exists immediately following the original link, unless using a "Force re-archive" command or "freshness" settings.

You can create multiple settings profiles to manage different configurations. Each profile stores its own set of rules (filtering, substitution, API options, etc.), but the Archive.org API keys are shared globally across all profiles. You can switch between profiles easily in the settings.

You can control which links get archived using several filtering mechanisms:

• Ignore Patterns: URLs matching these patterns are always skipped.
• Include Patterns (Path, Word, URL): These patterns define which notes and links are eligible for archiving.
• Path/Word Patterns: Only apply during vault-wide commands. A note must match both a path pattern AND a word pattern (if both are defined) to be processed.
• URL Patterns: Apply during all commands, filtering links within eligible notes.

Before attempting to archive a URL, you can apply find/replace rules. This is useful for fixing common URL issues, or redirecting to specific site versions (e.g., reddit.com -> old.reddit.com).

If the plugin fails to archive a link (due to API errors, timeouts, rate limits, etc.), the attempt is logged. You can view, export, and retry these failed attempts. Failed logs are stored in plugin.app.vault.configDir + /plugins/wayback-archiver/failed_logs/` within your vault.

The plugin provides several commands accessible via the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd+P):

• Scope: Processes links in the currently active note. If text is selected, only processes links within the selection.
• Logic:
  • Applies Ignore URL Patterns and Include URL Patterns.
  • Skips links that already have an adjacent archive link (unless the existing link is older than the Archive Freshness setting).
  • Attempts to archive eligible links using the SPN API.
  • If successful, inserts/replaces the archive link.
  • If the API indicates a recent (within the Archive Freshness setting) snapshot already exists (or rate limit hit), it tries to fetch and insert the URL of the latest specific snapshot, but only if no adjacent archive link already exists.
• Note: Path and Word patterns are not applied.

• Scope: Processes links in all markdown files across the entire vault. Requires confirmation.
• Logic:
  • Filters notes based on Include Path Patterns and Include Word Patterns (note must match both if both are defined). Logs skipped files.
  • Filters links within eligible notes based on Ignore URL Patterns and Include URL Patterns.
  • Applies the same archiving and insertion/replacement logic as "Archive links in current note".
• Note: This can take a significant amount of time depending on vault size and number of links.

• Scope: Processes links in the currently active note. If text is selected, only processes links within the selection.
• Logic:
  • Applies Ignore URL Patterns and Include URL Patterns.
  • Attempts to archive eligible links, ignoring the Archive Freshness setting and any existing adjacent archive links.
  • If successful, replaces any existing adjacent archive link or inserts a new one if none exists.
  • If archiving fails or hits a rate limit, no link is inserted or replaced. The existing link (if any) is kept.
• Note: Path and Word patterns are not applied.

• Scope: Processes links in all markdown files across the entire vault. Requires confirmation.
• Logic:
  • Filters notes based on Include Path Patterns and Include Word Patterns. Logs skipped files.
  • Filters links within eligible notes based on Ignore URL Patterns and Include URL Patterns.
  • Applies the same archiving and replacement logic as "Force Re-archive links in current note".
• Note: This can take a significant amount of time.

• Action: Prompts you to select a failed log file (.json or .csv) from the plugin.app.vault.configDir + /plugins/wayback-archiver/failed_logs/` folder.
• Logic: Attempts to archive each URL listed in the selected file.
  • On success, removes the entry from the log file and inserts the archive link in the original note only if no adjacent archive link already exists.
  • If all entries succeed, the log file is deleted.
  • Prompts before clearing the internal failed list unless Auto Clear Failed Logs is enabled.

• Action: Same as the standard retry, but uses force logic.
• Logic: Attempts to archive each URL listed in the selected file.
  • On success, removes the entry from the log file and replaces any existing adjacent archive link in the original note (or inserts if none exists).
  • If all entries succeed, the log file is deleted.
  • Prompts before clearing the internal failed list unless Auto Clear Failed Logs is enabled.

• Action: Exports the current list of failed archive attempts to a new file.
• Logic:
  • Prompts you to choose either CSV or JSON format.
  • Saves the log to a timestamped file (e.g., wayback-archiver-failed-log-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.json) inside the plugin.app.vault.configDir + /plugins/wayback-archiver/failed_logs/` folder.
  • Prompts if you want to clear the internal failed log list after successful export.

• Action: Clears the internal list of failed archive attempts after confirmation.
• Note: This does not delete exported log files.

Access the settings via Obsidian's Settings -> Community Plugins -> Wayback Archiver.

These keys are required to use the Archive.org SPN API v2 and are shared across all profiles.

• Archive.org SPN Access Key: Your S3-like Access Key.
• Archive.org SPN Secret Key: Your S3-like Secret Key.
• Get Keys: You can generate API keys from your Archive.org account settings: https://archive.org/account/s3.php

Manage different sets of configurations.

• Active Profile: Dropdown to select the profile whose settings are currently active and being edited below.
• Create Profile: Creates a new profile (based on default settings) and activates it. You'll be prompted for a name.
• Rename Profile: Renames the currently active profile (cannot rename "default").
• Delete Profile: Deletes the currently active profile after confirmation (cannot delete "default"). Switches back to the "default" profile.

These settings apply only to the currently active profile.

• Date Format: Define the format for the {date} placeholder in the archive link text. Uses date-fns format tokens (e.g., yyyy-MM-dd, dd MMM yyyy). Default: yyyy-MM-dd.
• Archive Link Text: The template for the inserted archive link. Use {date} where you want the formatted date to appear. Default: (Archived on {date}).

Control which notes and links are processed.

• Ignore URL Patterns: URLs matching these patterns (one per line, supports simple text or Regex) will be skipped during archiving. web.archive.org is ignored by default.
• URL Patterns: (All commands) Only process links whose URL matches one of these patterns (one per line, simple text or Regex). Leave empty to process links with any URL (respecting Ignore Patterns).
• Path Patterns: (Vault-wide commands only) Only process notes whose file path matches one of these patterns (one per line, simple text or Regex). Leave empty to process notes in any path.
• Word/Phrase Patterns: (Vault-wide commands only) Only process notes containing at least one of these words or phrases (one per line, simple text match). Leave empty to process notes regardless of content.
• Logic: For vault-wide commands, if Path and Word patterns are both defined, a note must match both to be included. URL patterns then filter links within those included notes.

Apply find/replace rules to URLs before they are sent for archiving.

• Click "Add Substitution Rule" to add a new row.
• Find: Enter the text or regular expression to find.
• Replace with: Enter the text to replace the found pattern with. Leave empty to remove the found pattern.
• Regex?: Check this box if the "Find" pattern should be treated as a regular expression (global flag g is applied automatically).
• Remove: Deletes the rule row.
• Rules are applied in the order they appear.

Fine-tune performance and behavior.

• API Request Delay (ms): Minimum time (in milliseconds) to wait between consecutive API calls (e.g., initiating capture, checking status, processing the next link). Helps avoid rate limiting. Default: 2000ms (2 seconds).
• Max Status Check Retries: How many times the plugin should check the status of a pending archive job before giving up and marking it as failed (Timeout). Default: 3.
• Archive Freshness (Days): (Standard archive commands only) Only request a new archive if the URL hasn't been archived within this many days. If a recent enough archive exists, the API might return that instead. Set to 0 to always try and create a new archive if one isn't already adjacent to the link. Default: 0.
• Auto Clear Failed Logs: If enabled, successfully retried entries will be removed from the internal failed log without asking for confirmation. Default: false.

Control specific features of the Archive.org SPN API v2 capture process. Please read API docs for details.

• Capture Screenshot: Request a screenshot (capture_screenshot=1). Default: false.
• Capture All Resources (capture_all=1): Attempt to capture more embedded resources (JS, CSS, etc.) and handle errors better (capture_all=1). May increase capture time. Default: false.
• JS Behavior Timeout (ms): Maximum time (in milliseconds) to allow JavaScript execution during capture. 0 uses the API default (js_behavior_timeout). Default: 0.
• Force GET Request (force_get=1): Force the archiver to use an HTTP GET request (force_get=1). Default: false.
• Capture Outlinks (capture_outlinks=1): Attempt to capture pages linked from the target URL (capture_outlinks=1). Use with caution, can be slow and consume more resources. Default: false.

Q: Why are my API keys not working? / Getting "Configuration Error".

A:

1. Ensure you have copied the Access Key and Secret Key correctly from https://archive.org/account/s3.php into the Global API Keys section of the plugin settings.
2. Make sure there are no leading/trailing spaces.
3. Remember these keys are global; they don't need to be set per profile.

Q: Archiving fails frequently or I get rate limit errors (like HTTP 429).

A:

1. The Archive.org API has usage limits. Try increasing the API Request Delay in Advanced Settings (e.g., to 3000ms or 5000ms).
2. You might be hitting daily capture limits imposed by Archive.org. The plugin attempts to handle this by fetching the latest available snapshot URL when a 429 or similar "too many captures" response is received during standard archiving.
3. Check the Failed Archive Log (using the Export or Retry commands) for specific error messages.

Q: Certain links are not being archived. Why?

A: Check the following:

1. Ignore Patterns: Does the URL match any pattern in the "Ignore URL Patterns" setting for the active profile?
2. Include Patterns:
   • (Vault-wide) Does the note's path match your "Path Patterns"?
   • (Vault-wide) Does the note's content match your "Word/Phrase Patterns"?
   • (All commands) Does the link's URL match your "URL Patterns"? Remember the filtering logic described in the settings guide.
3. Adjacent Archive Link: Is there already an archive link immediately following the original link? Standard archive commands will skip unless the existing link is older than the "Archive Freshness" setting. Force commands should still process it.
4. Non-HTTP(S): The plugin only archives http:// and https:// links. Other protocols (like ftp://, mailto:) are ignored.
5. API Errors: The link might be failing to archive on the Archive.org side. Check the Failed Archive Log.

Q: I used "Force Re-archive", but an old archive link wasn't replaced.

A: Force Re-archive only replaces an existing link if the new archive attempt is successful. If the attempt fails or hits a rate limit, the plugin will not modify the note, leaving the old link intact (or inserting nothing if no old link existed).

Q: How do I manage links that consistently fail to archive?

A:

1. Use the Export failed archive log command to get a list (CSV or JSON) of failed URLs and their errors.
2. Investigate why they might be failing (e.g., website blocking archivers, temporary site issues).
3. Use the Retry failed archive attempts command periodically to try again.
4. If a URL will never be archivable, consider adding it to your Ignore URL Patterns.
5. Use the Clear failed archive log command to remove persistent failures if you no longer wish to track them.

Q: My Substitution Rules aren't working correctly.

A:

1. If using Regex, ensure the Regex? box is checked and your pattern syntax is correct. Remember the g flag is added automatically.
2. Check the order of rules; they are applied sequentially.
3. Ensure the "Find" pattern accurately matches the part of the URL you intend to replace. Simple text matching is case-sensitive.

Q: Filtering by Path/Word patterns doesn't work when archiving the current note.

A: This is expected behavior. Path and Word patterns are designed to filter which notes are processed during vault-wide operations ("Archive all links in vault", "Force Re-archive all links in vault"). They do not apply when using the "current note" commands. URL patterns, however, apply in all commands.

Megalodon and archive.today are not supported because they do not provide API.

Wayback Machine often fails to archive pages and there's a rate limit. Please be patient and try them again later.

MIT (Archive Box icon is by b farias from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0))