Build Software Heritage Git repository retrieval tool

[simonw]

Build a tool for retrieving Git repositories archived on softwareheritage.org

These APIs all support CORS

Given a URL to a GitHub repo, start with this GraphQL query to https://archive.softwareheritage.org/graphql/

query {
  origin(url: "https://github.com/uktrade/sqlite-s3vfs") {
    url
    latestSnapshot {
      swhid
    }
  }
}

This returns a swhid - then make a POST request like this to get back the download URL for that:

POST https://archive.softwareheritage.org/api/1/vault/git-bare/swh:1:snp:1930ecd7bcc8c8666c721c4def3944c98d650abf/

Which returns JSON like this:

{
  "fetch_url": "https://archive.softwareheritage.org/api/1/vault/git-bare/swh:1:snp:1930ecd7bcc8c8666c721c4def3944c98d650abf/raw/",
  "progress_message": null,
  "id": 417949633,
  "status": "done",
  "swhid": "swh:1:snp:1930ecd7bcc8c8666c721c4def3944c98d650abf"
}

Provide the user with a prominent Download which links to that URL. It redirects them to blob storage.

A single-page tool that allows users to download archived Git repositories from Software Heritage. Given a repository URL (e.g., GitHub), it queries the Software Heritage GraphQL API to get the SWHID, requests the archive from the vault API, and provides a prominent download link once ready.

Features:

• GraphQL lookup for repository snapshots
• Vault API integration with polling for archive preparation
• URL fragment support for bookmarking/sharing
• Responsive design with prominent download button
• Error handling for missing repos and API failures

Claude Code transcript: https://gistpreview.github.io/?3a76a868095c989d159c226b7622b092/index.html

[claude]

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[simonw]