System Design: Web Crawler

System DesignOpenAILast reported February 2026Medium Frequency
Reported
4× across candidate reports
First seen
March 2025
Last reported
February 2026
Reported outcome
mixed

Problem Overview

Design and/or implement a web crawler system. Two main variants observed: (1) System design variant — Design a system to crawl and archive Wikipedia-like content using donated hardware resources (e.g., phones/computers with installed clients). The system must stay up-to-date as content changes and minimize cost by maximizing utilization of donated/volunteer…

  • 4 candidate-reported follow-ups — the exact probes interviewers asked, with the trigger for each
  • The rest of the problem statement — full requirements, constraints, and edge cases
  • Approach and trade-offs — what passing candidates did, and the mistakes that sink people
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Verified Source
Every question is reconstructed from multiple independent candidate reports. Verbatim follow-ups, not invented ones.
Codex Fact-Checked
Technical claims, formulas, and scale numbers are reviewed against primary sources.
Interviewer Follow-ups
The exact follow-ups reported by candidates, with the trigger that prompts each one — plus the mistakes that sink people.
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