# HTTP Status Lookup — Redirects & Response Headers API (`accountable_eel/http-status-lookup`) Actor

Check any URL's live HTTP status code, final URL after redirects, content type, content size, and server header in one call. No third-party API — the actor makes the request directly. Charged for every URL that returns a real response.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accountable\_eel/http-status-lookup.md
- **Developed by:** [Adrian Voss](https://apify.com/accountable_eel) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 successful lookups

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## HTTP Status Lookup

Check any URL's live HTTP response in one call — status code, final URL after
redirects, content type and size, and the `Server` header. No third-party API: this
actor makes the request itself and reports exactly what it gets back, so you don't
need to build your own HTTP client for a simple "is this URL alive" check.

### Features

- **Status & redirect tracking.** Status code, whether the request was redirected, and
  the final URL after any redirect chain.
- **Response shape.** Content-Type, Content-Length (bytes), and the `Server` header, all
  read straight off the live response.
- **Quick health flag.** `statusOk` tells you at a glance whether the status code fell
  in the 2xx range.
- **Bulk-friendly.** Feed in a list of URLs or bare domains with adjustable
  `maxConcurrency`.

### How to use HTTP Status Lookup — Redirects & Response Headers API

1. **In the Apify Console.** Open the actor page and click **Start** — the `items` field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. **Via the API.** Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:
   ```bash
   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~http-status-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"items":["https://apify.com","https://github.com/this-path-does-not-exist-xyz123"]}'
   ```
3. **On a schedule.** Save this actor as an Apify **Task** with the input you want, then add a **Schedule** (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

### Input

```json
{
  "items": ["github.com", "https://cloudflare.com"],
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true }
}
```

`items` is the only required field — a list of URLs or bare domains (a scheme is added
automatically if missing, defaulting to `https://`). One dataset row is returned per
item; rows with `"found": false` are never charged. `maxConcurrency` (default 5, up to
20\) controls how many requests run in parallel. `proxyConfiguration` routes requests
through Apify Proxy — useful if a target rate-limits or blocks by IP.

### Output

```json
{
  "query": "github.com",
  "found": true,
  "data": {
    "requestedUrl": "https://github.com",
    "finalUrl": "https://github.com/",
    "redirected": true,
    "statusCode": 200,
    "statusOk": true,
    "contentType": "text/html; charset=utf-8",
    "contentLength": 234567,
    "server": "GitHub.com"
  },
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-20T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

A URL that returns no response at all — DNS failure, connection refused, or the
request timing out after retries — gets a dataset row with `"found": false` and an
`error` note, so you always get one row per input URL, but you're never charged for it.
Note that a 4xx or 5xx status code still counts as a valid, charged response: the site
answered, it just answered with an error — `statusOk: false` tells you that at a
glance.

### Use cases

- **Uptime and health spot-checks** — verify a list of pages or endpoints is actually
  live before relying on them elsewhere.
- **Redirect auditing** — confirm your canonical URLs, migrations, or link shorteners
  redirect where you expect.
- **Link-rot detection** — sweep a content library or backlink list for dead or broken
  URLs at scale.
- **Server/CDN fingerprinting** — check the `Server` header across a list of domains to
  see what infrastructure they're running.

### Pricing

$5 per 1,000 results, plus a $0.005 start fee. Misses (`found:false`) are never charged.

### Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~http-status-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"items":["https://apify.com","https://github.com/this-path-does-not-exist-xyz123"]}'
```

**n8n.** Add an HTTP Request node: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~http-status-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body Content Type `JSON`, JSON Body `{"items":["https://apify.com","https://github.com/this-path-does-not-exist-xyz123"]}` (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

**Clay.** Add an "HTTP API" column: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~http-status-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body `{"items":["{{value}}"]}`, mapping the row's value into the `items` array.

**MCP.** In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "HTTP Status Lookup | Apify" — the agent will find and run this actor.

### FAQ

**Does a 404 or 500 response count as "found"?**
Yes. Any URL that returns an HTTP response — including error status codes — is
`"found": true` and charged. `found: false` is reserved for requests that never got a
response at all (DNS failure, connection refused, timeout after retries).

**Do I need to include `https://`?**
No. If you submit a bare domain like `github.com`, `https://` is added automatically.
If you already include a scheme, it's used as-is.

**How does redirect tracking work?**
The actor follows the redirect chain itself and reports the final URL plus a
`redirected` flag — you don't need to trace `Location` headers manually.

**Can I check thousands of URLs at once?**
Yes — `maxConcurrency` controls how many requests run in parallel (default 5, up to
20\). This target has no browser fallback, so keep concurrency conservative against
targets that might rate-limit you.

**What if a site blocks the request outright?**
Use `proxyConfiguration` to route through Apify Proxy. If the request still fails after
retries, you'll get a `"found": false` row with an `error` field describing what
happened.

# Actor input Schema

## `items` (type: `array`):

One item per line — see the item shape and examples below. Only the items we actually find are charged — never per run, and never for a miss.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Keep conservative — this target has no browser fallback, so getting blocked costs more than slow-and-steady.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify Proxy config. Residential recommended for anti-bot-sensitive targets.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "items": [
    "https://apify.com",
    "https://github.com/this-path-does-not-exist-xyz123"
  ],
  "maxConcurrency": 5,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "items": [
        "https://apify.com",
        "https://github.com/this-path-does-not-exist-xyz123"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accountable_eel/http-status-lookup").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "items": [
        "https://apify.com",
        "https://github.com/this-path-does-not-exist-xyz123",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accountable_eel/http-status-lookup").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "items": [
    "https://apify.com",
    "https://github.com/this-path-does-not-exist-xyz123"
  ]
}' |
apify call accountable_eel/http-status-lookup --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accountable_eel/http-status-lookup"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/JTqdlOKnuctTYp5H2/builds/YSyAG3PSlkYTzk349/openapi.json