Internet Archive

agent.md for AI agents

Digital library of books, video, audio, images and software with an open API; rights are set per item.

Open and public-domain media Library

Is Internet Archive free for commercial use? Yes with conditions →

Website License API docs

Price

Free

Free to access.

Commercial use

With conditions

Per item (uploader-supplied; no guarantee from the Internet Archive)

Credit the author

Per item

Credit depends on the item

Agent access

Public API

no key needed

Internet Archive popularity

Gid Score

29 /100

same scale as developer tools

GitHub stars

1,923

259 forks · jjjake/internetarchive

Downloads

39.2K

PyPI, last 7 days, internetarchive · -3.9% in 4 weeks

Internet Archive: downloads per weekPyPI, internetarchive 37,663

Internet Archive: GitHub starsjjjake/internetarchive 1,923

Downloads from pypistats.org (without mirrors), stars and forks from GitHub, checked Oct 22, 2026. How the Gid Score is calculated.

Rules for your agent

- Internet Archive (Open and public-domain media). Digital library of books, video, audio, images and software with an open API; rights are set per item. Price: free; commercial use with conditions; credit depends on the item; ship inside your app with conditions.
  Connect: API docs https://archive.org/developers/; PyPI internetarchive. Limits: No numbers published; honor 429 and Retry-After; automated requests need a descriptive User-Agent.
  Get files: Internet Archive API (archive.org/developers/) or the 'internetarchive' Python package; send a descriptive User-Agent on every automated request.
  Not allowed: Automated requests must include a descriptive User-Agent header (bot name, version, and AI model if you are an AI agent)
  Not allowed: Honor 429 Too Many Requests and Retry-After; add delays between requests in bulk jobs
  Not allowed: The Archive makes no guarantee of an item's copyright status; check each item's rights
  Rule: Check the rights information or Creative Commons license on each item page.
  Rule: The Internet Archive makes no guarantee of an item's copyright status; use is at your own risk.
  Rule: Send a descriptive User-Agent with automated requests and back off on HTTP 429.
  License: https://help.archive.org/help/rights/ (checked 2026-10-20; details: https://agentgid.com/assets/internet-archive/)

Paste it into your prompt or AGENTS.md. It is built from the license and API terms below.

License

License	Per item (uploader-supplied; no guarantee from the Internet Archive)
Commercial use	Commercial use with conditions “The person who uploads an item often provides information related to use rights” help.archive.org/help/rights/
Credit	Credit depends on the item Same clause as quoted for commercial use.
Inside your app or game	Ship inside your app with conditions Same clause as quoted for commercial use.
AI training	Not stated
Bots and bulk downloads	Allowed through the official API or by the terms “All automated requests to archive.org must include a descriptive User-Agent header.” archive.org/developers/bots.html
Rules	Check the rights information or Creative Commons license on each item page. The Internet Archive makes no guarantee of an item's copyright status; use is at your own risk. Send a descriptive User-Agent with automated requests and back off on HTTP 429.

Connect it to an agent

How an agent gets files	Internet Archive API (archive.org/developers/) or the 'internetarchive' Python package; send a descriptive User-Agent on every automated request · no sign-in
Not allowed	Automated requests must include a descriptive User-Agent header (bot name, version, and AI model if you are an AI agent) Honor 429 Too Many Requests and Retry-After; add delays between requests in bulk jobs The Archive makes no guarantee of an item's copyright status; check each item's rights
MCP server	None found
API	API docs
Limits	No numbers published; honor 429 and Retry-After; automated requests need a descriptive User-Agent.
PyPI	`pip install internetarchive`
GitHub	jjjake/internetarchive

Pricing

Free	Free to access.
Paid from	—
Usage price	—
Good to know	The Internet Archive says it asserts no new copyright over its database. Check each item for its own terms.

Sources

Read on Oct 20, 2026: help.archive.org/help/rights/, archive.org/developers/, archive.org/developers/bots.html.

Not legal advice. Check the license page before you ship.

Alternatives to Internet Archive

All open and public-domain media

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NASA 3D Resources Free NASA 3D models, with a GitHub mirror (nasa/NASA-3D-Resources); no API. agent.md	Free	Commercial: conditions Credit required	—	Download
Europeana Aggregator of European cultural heritage items with a free API; metadata is CC0 and each object shows its own rights statement. agent.md	Free	Commercial: conditions Credit varies	—	API
Icosa Gallery Open-source community 3D gallery with a public REST API and per-asset Creative Commons licenses. agent.md	Free	Commercial: conditions Credit varies	—	API
LibriVox Free public domain audiobooks read by volunteers, with a catalog of more than 21,000 completed projects in 49 languages. agent.md	Free	Commercial OK No credit	Unclear	API
Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access CC0 images and data for public-domain artworks in The Met collection, with a free REST API. agent.md	Free	Commercial OK No credit	Yes	API
NASA Image and Video Library NASA images, video and audio, generally not copyrighted in the US, with a keyless search API. agent.md	Free	Commercial: conditions Credit required	With conditions	API
Openverse Search engine and API for openly licensed and public-domain images and audio. agent.md	Free	Commercial: conditions Credit varies No bots	With conditions	API
Smithsonian Open Access CC0 Smithsonian collection records and 3D models, with a REST API (api.data.gov key) and an alpha 3D API. agent.md	Free	Commercial: conditions No credit	With conditions	API