pyarchivist

name	pyarchivist
description	Archive online content into archives/ with automatic index.md updates via pyarchivist tool.

pyarchivist Workflow

Continuous improvement: see continuous_improvement.md in this folder for a history of feedback and tips for using pyarchivist.

Use this skill when archiving web content, media, or online documents into the knowledge base.

What pyarchivist does

pyarchivist/ is a git submodule that automatically archives online content to archives/ and updates index.md files with metadata (source URL, timestamp, file hash).

When to use

• Archiving articles, web pages, or media from online sources
• Storing Wikimedia Commons images alongside notes
• Creating permanent backups of time-sensitive online content
• Auto-maintaining archives/index.md files

Basic workflow

1. Use pyarchivist's interface (CLI or Python API) to download and archive content
2. Specify target directory (archives/Wikimedia Commons/ for media, archives/sparse/ for documents)
3. pyarchivist auto-generates metadata (timestamp, source URL, content hash)
4. index.md entries are auto-created with source and timestamp information
5. Filenames are generated consistently (hash-based for deduplication or descriptive for media)

Best practices

• Let pyarchivist handle file naming and index.md updates
• Use archives/Wikimedia Commons/ for images/media with descriptive names
• Use archives/sparse/ for miscellaneous content (hashes for filenames automatically)
• Always preserve source URL and timestamp metadata in index.md
• Check that index.md was updated correctly after archiving

Typical command pattern

uv run -m pyarchivist [options] --target <archives/folder> <source_url>

(Exact interface depends on pyarchivist's implementation)

When in doubt

Consult the pyarchivist documentation or ask the user for guidance on specific archiving needs.