To find what is taking up space in ArchiveBox, measure the data directory’s archive/ tree and inspect its snapshot directories with ordinary filesystem tools such as du. To remove a known capture, use ArchiveBox’s application-level removal command rather than deleting its files by hand: archivebox remove --yes URL. First confirm the data path and exact snapshot; deletion cannot be undone.
Where ArchiveBox stores captures
ArchiveBox’s data directory contains the main SQLite index, configuration, and archived output. The default index is index.sqlite3; archived snapshots and extractor results live below archive/. A snapshot can contain an index.jsonl, an index.html, and outputs such as wget/warc/, ytdlp/media/, or git/. Current snapshot directories are sharded beneath paths like archive/users/<user>/snapshots/<date>/<domain>/<uuid>/, according to the ArchiveBox Security Overview.
Check the actual OUTPUT_DIR or data path for your installation before measuring. A Docker container path may map to a different host directory; a bind mount, network mount, or separate filesystem can also mean the space pressure is elsewhere than the container’s root filesystem. ArchiveBox’s Usage documentation shows the data layout and UI, but does not document a built-in report that sorts snapshots by disk size.
Measure the archive and find large snapshot directories
These are general operating-system shell commands, not ArchiveBox features. Replace /path/to/data with the real data directory. Run them on the host or mounted filesystem that stores the archive, using an account that can read the directories.
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Check total data and archive usage
du -sh /path/to/data /path/to/data/archiveThe first value reports the data directory total; the second reports the archive tree. If they differ substantially, inspect other data such as imports, logs, or the database rather than assuming snapshots account for all usage.
Sort snapshot directories by size
On Linux with GNU du, this command measures first-level directories beneath archive/ and sorts them largest first:
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du -sh /path/to/data/archive/* 2>/dev/null | sort -hBecause snapshot paths are sharded, a large directory at this level may aggregate several descendants. Drill into the relevant branch, or use this recursive directory listing to sort individual directories by their reported size:
du -ah /path/to/data/archive 2>/dev/null | sort -h | tail -n 30This lists the 30 largest files and directories together, not a guaranteed one-row-per-snapshot report. Interpret parent-directory totals carefully: a parent’s size includes its descendants. macOS and other Unix-like systems may have different du options or sort behavior; check man du and man sort for your system. Permission errors can make totals incomplete, so run with appropriate read access rather than treating a partial result as the full archive size.
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Match a large directory to the snapshot
Use the ArchiveBox UI or the installed version’s list/help commands to identify the URL associated with the snapshot or UUID. CLI commands and snapshot layouts can change between releases; check archivebox help and the relevant command help for your installed version. Do not remove a directory just because its size is large: verify the URL and the exact snapshot first.
Remove a capture through ArchiveBox
- Identify the exact snapshot. Confirm its URL in the UI or with the CLI appropriate to your installed version. If the capture matters, make and verify a backup before proceeding.
- Run the documented removal command. From the ArchiveBox environment, use
archivebox remove --yes URL, replacingURLwith the target URL. For example:archivebox remove --yes https://example.com/article. - Allow ArchiveBox to process cleanup. The project’s Security Overview says the command deletes matching Snapshot rows and schedules their directories for cleanup through the normal state-machine path. Check the installed version’s CLI help if its accepted URL syntax or behavior differs.
- Measure again on the storage that holds the data. Repeat the
dumeasurement and check the host or mount’s available space. On remote filesystems, delayed cleanup, permissions, or server-side UID/GID mappings and ACLs can affect when space is reclaimed.
The ArchiveBox UI’s Delete action removes a snapshot and its archive results and warns that the action cannot be undone. The legacy --delete flag is accepted for CLI compatibility and does not change the documented removal behavior. Avoid using rm -rf as the normal cleanup method: snapshot files and index records are related state, and direct filesystem deletion bypasses ArchiveBox’s normal path.
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What removal does not necessarily erase
Removing the snapshot output is not necessarily complete erasure of every trace. Imported URL lists may remain in sources/, operational history may remain in logs/, and an external search backend may retain indexed information. If the goal is privacy erasure rather than reclaiming archive space, identify and address those stores separately, subject to your own retention requirements.
Why archives grow and how to limit future use
Media and extractor choices
ArchiveBox’s project repository estimates storage can range from about 1 GB per 1,000 snapshots to about 50 GB per 1,000, attributing the wide range mainly to video/audio saving and the YTDLP_MAX_SIZE limit. This is a broad project estimate, not a per-article guarantee. An ArchiveBox Usage wiki contributor separately describes roughly 1 GB for 1,000 articles on a single-threaded i5 system with a 50 Mbps connection, taking about an hour; the contributor explicitly says results may vary. Neither figure predicts the size of your own collection.
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Disable extractors you do not need if reduced archival completeness is acceptable. Video and audio capture can be especially storage-intensive. ArchiveBox also mentions compression and deduplication approaches, including ZFS/BTRFS and tools such as fdupes or rdfind; these are system-level options, not automatic ArchiveBox cleanup controls, and require evaluating filesystem and maintenance trade-offs.
Choose storage placement deliberately
ArchiveBox’s Setting Up Storage guide describes keeping index/configuration data on a local SSD while placing bulk archive output on an HDD or remote filesystem. The repository advises keeping the SQLite index on reliable local storage; slower bulk storage may be suitable for the archive tree. With Docker, NFS, SMB, or FUSE, ensure the non-root ArchiveBox user can create and remove files through the relevant UID/GID mappings or ACLs. Diagnose a full disk at the actual mount holding archive/, not merely from the container’s root filesystem report.
Use automatic retention only as an explicit policy
The Configuration documentation describes DELETE_AFTER for removing Crawls, Snapshots, ArchiveResults, and Process rows with their on-disk outputs after a configured duration. Its most-specific setting wins across global, persona, crawl, and snapshot levels. The documented default is disabled: 0, an empty value, or None disables auto-deletion. Retention is destructive and irreversible, so define the policy’s scope and validate backup and recovery procedures before enabling it; it is not a harmless space optimization.
Troubleshooting inaccurate totals or failed cleanup
- The measured directory is unexpectedly small: Confirm
OUTPUT_DIRand the host path behind any Docker volume or bind mount. Check whetherarchive/is on another filesystem or mount. dureports permission errors: The totals may be incomplete. Use an account with read permission on the data tree, and separately verify that ArchiveBox’s non-root identity has permission to remove files.- Removal completes but free space does not change: Recheck the filesystem that actually stores the archive, allow scheduled cleanup to run, and check remote-storage behavior and UID/GID or ACL permissions. Files outside
archive/or retained by another system may account for the remaining use. - You cannot identify the snapshot from a large shard: Drill down through the date/domain/UUID path and cross-reference the URL in the UI or version-appropriate CLI. Do not guess which capture to delete.
- You need to recover space from a manually deleted directory: Do not apply a generic database or filesystem fix. Back up the data and follow recovery guidance for your exact ArchiveBox release; the documented normal cleanup path is application-level removal.
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