forum-archive
4plebs (4chan archive)
A long-running archive of several 4chan boards (/pol/, /x/, /tv/, /adv/ and others) holding years of full-text-searchable history. Search it through the website; its JSON API exists but anti-scraping defenses block it from many networks, so automated access is unreliable. A key source for tracing old or deleted 4chan threads on its boards, be aware it carries NSFW and extreme content.
No programmatic check, opens the archive’s own search.
Why it’s useful & how it works
4plebs is one of the oldest continuously running 4chan archives and the main place to search boards including /pol/, /x/, /tv/, /adv/, /o/, and /sp/, with some coverage going back to 2010-2013. You search it through the website by keyword, tripcode, image hash, or date range. Its JSON API exists but is protected by anti-scraping measures that make automated access unreliable from many networks, so Echo links you to the site for manual searching. The boards it covers carry NSFW and at times extreme content.
What’s inside
Covers 11 boards with full-text search; the /pol/ board alone runs to tens of gigabytes of archived text. Some board history extends back to 2010, with continuous archiving since 2012-2013.
API access
FoolFuuka https://archive.4plebs.org/_/api/chan/search/?boards=pol&text= <q>
What we measured
Our own probes, not the archive’s own claims. Re-run periodically; every reading below is dated.
Reachability
- Direct request
- Blocked HTTP 403 281 ms
- Through a datacenter proxy
- Blocked HTTP 403 1.1 s
- API, direct
- Responded HTTP 200 469 ms
- API, through a proxy
- Responded HTTP 200 1.8 s
Reachability measured 2026-08-22.
Access
May be geo- or IP-blocked from some networks.