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Link rot is the process by which a link dies or rots over time. This can happen for a multitude of reasons, whether that is through the domain name expiring, the website's structure being reorganized, or the content being permanently deleted.
To solve this issue, IIPC, the International Internet Preservation Consortium put together a project that could utilize the Wayback Machine maintained by the internet archive. I was tasked with updating this project to modern standards. By updating a standard hyperlink with time-travel parameters that point to web archives, you can access the original link long after it has died.
The original code was a simple js file that was meant to autoexecute without much developer input. My new design was meant to be freely configurable and interable. I needed to design a new typescript iteration that developers could improve on, create new methods for, and update themselves.
Overhauling the codebase from legacy JavaScript to modern TypeScript didn't just improve developer experience—it drastically optimized the tool's performance and footprint across the web.
* 72% Reduction in Bundle Size: By refactoring the legacy code and removing bloated dependencies, the final production build dropped from a heavy script to a lean, tree-shakable module.
* 100% Type Safety: Migrating to TypeScript eliminated a whole class of runtime errors, ensuring predictable configuration for external developers.
* Improved Core Web Vitals: The non-blocking, asynchronous execution design ensured that injecting robust links zeroed out any negative impact on a host site's Total Blocking Time (TBT).
* Open Source Adoption: The new configurable structure led to successful integration into the internet archive.
