# Sharing PageCrawl Archives Publicly

Source: PageCrawl.io Help Center
URL: https://pagecrawl.io/help/web-archives/article/share-archives-publicly

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[Image: Web archiving: timestamped snapshots of web pages preserved over time]

Some audiences need to verify a PageCrawl archive without a PageCrawl account: a regulator examining your records, opposing counsel reviewing a docket capture, an auditor packaging evidence for a board, a journalist citing a primary source. PageCrawl supports this through a public verification page accessible via a signed URL.

This article explains how the link works, what the recipient sees, and how to revoke a link if needed.

### Generating a public verification link

From the PageCrawl interface, on any tracked change with an archive:

1. Click the link icon (or open the archive information panel).
2. Click "Copy public verification link".
3. Paste the link into an email, a docket filing, an audit report, or wherever else.

The link is a cryptographically signed URL. Anyone who has the link can open the verification page, and the link cannot be guessed by anyone who does not have it.

### What the recipient sees

The verification page renders without authentication. It shows:

- The source URL and capture timestamp.
- The archive's manifest hash (SHA-256 of the WACZ datapackage).
- Every cryptographic attestation present:
  - The embedded WACZ Auth signature (with signing-service domain and creation time)
  - The OpenTimestamps Bitcoin anchor proof
  - The RFC 3161 timestamps from each commercial Trust Service Provider used at capture time
  - The eIDAS qualified timestamp (Custom plan only, when applicable)
- A download button for each raw proof file with an inline command-line verification hint (e.g. `ots verify ...`, `openssl ts -reply -in ...`).
- A link to open the WACZ in ReplayWeb.page for a fully interactive replay of the captured page.

The page does not expose any other archives, settings, or account information from your workspace. Only the specific archive corresponding to the link.

### Audit log of public access

Every public verification page view and every public proof download is logged in your archive access audit log, recording whether it was a verification view or a proof download, the recipient's IP address, the user agent, and the timestamp. The log is queryable from the PageCrawl interface and via the API. Chain of custody is preserved even when the recipient is anonymous.

### Link expiry and revocation

By default the signed link does not expire. The link remains valid for as long as the archive is retained and you have not revoked it.

To revoke previously issued links, use the revoke option in your workspace security settings. All previously issued public verification links become invalid; any links you generate afterward keep working.

For situations where you want time-bound access (for example, sharing with a vendor for a specific audit window), generate a fresh link from the API with an explicit `expires_at` parameter. The link will reject access after the expiry timestamp.

### Why this matters

A public verification link is the lightest practical way to deliver an attested archive to an external party. The recipient does not need credentials, does not need to install tooling (although they can, for offline verification), and does not need to take your word for it. The page itself shows them every cryptographic attestation, and the underlying proofs are independently verifiable by any standard tooling.

In an era when AI can fabricate any screenshot or document, the public verification page is how PageCrawl users hand off "this is what the page looked like at this moment, attested by parties we don't control" without friction.

### Related articles

- [Verifying a PageCrawl Web Archive](/help/web-archives/article/verifying-a-web-archive.md)
- [Packaging a PageCrawl Audit Trail for a Regulator](/help/web-archives/article/audit-trail-for-regulators.md)
- [What is WACZ?](/help/web-archives/article/wacz-format-explained.md)

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