Client-Side Reconstruction of Composite Mementos Using ServiceWorker

Abstract

We use the ServiceWorker (SW) API to intercept HTTP requests for embedded resources and reconstruct Composite Mementos without the need for conventional URL rewriting typically performed by web archives. URL rewriting is a problem for archival replay systems, especially for URLs constructed by JavaScript, that frequently results in incorrect URI references. By intercepting requests on the client using SW, we are able to strategically reroute instead of rewrite. Our implementation moves rewriting to clients, saving servers' computing resources and allowing servers to return responses more quickly. In our experiments, retrieving the original instead of rewritten pages from the archive resulted in a one- third reduction in time overhead and a one-fifth reduction in data overhead. Our system, reconstructive.js, prevents the live web from leaking into Composite Mementos while being easy to distribute and maintain.