Scoop review
Configurable page capture to WARC or WACZ, for workflows that handle storage and replay elsewhere.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Scoop is an open-source capture engine from Harvard Library Innovation Lab, delivered as a command-line tool and a JavaScript library for Node.js. It is aimed at developers and organizations building web-preservation workflows, rather than people seeking a hosted service to browse and search an archive. Capture runs through Chromium and can be initiated from the CLI or programmatically, including through a JavaScript library/API. It is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with self-hosted deployment.
Capture controls and output formats are the central strengths. Scoop saves individual pages and resources in WARC, compressed WARC, or WACZ, with configurable timeouts, page dimensions, and size limits; raw exchanges can also be optional capture material. Attachments can include screenshots, PDF and DOM snapshots, videos with subtitles and metadata, provenance summaries, and SSL certificates. WACZ signing and verification are supported, including integration with a compatible signing endpoint. This makes Scoop a fit when a preservation workflow needs control over what a capture contains and how it is packaged, not simply a page snapshot.
The trade-off is scope: Scoop creates archive files for storage and later replay with compatible web archive software, but does not provide archive search or a hosted archive service. Its ecosystem centers on Node.js, Playwright, Chromium, and the WACZ signing endpoint; support is community-based. There are no paid tiers to weigh: Scoop is open source and has a free plan. Choose it if you can build or maintain the surrounding capture, storage, and replay workflow. A team that needs a ready-to-use searchable archive should choose a different kind of product.
Scoop pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Exports captures in WARC, compressed WARC, or WACZ formats
- Adds optional screenshots, PDFs, DOM snapshots, video, and provenance
- Supports configurable capture limits plus WACZ signing and verification
- Where it doesn't
- Captures individual pages rather than providing a hosted archive
- Does not include archive search
- Requires a separate workflow for storing and replaying captures
Scoop fact sheet, pricing and score →
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