# Broken Link Checker (`autoloom/broken-link-checker`) Actor

Crawl a website and find its broken links. Every problem link comes with the page it's on, the anchor text, the HTTP status and the full redirect chain — and genuinely broken links are separated from ones that are just blocking bots.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/autoloom/broken-link-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Autoloom](https://apify.com/autoloom) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Broken Link Checker

Crawl a website and find every **broken link** — with the exact page it's on, the **anchor text**, the status code and the **full redirect chain**. Fast, cheap, and honest about what's actually broken versus just blocking bots.

> **Pricing:** pay per result: $1.00 per 1,000 results ($0.10 per 100, $10.00 per 10,000), plus $0.00005 per run start. You only pay for rows in your dataset.

### What you get for each problem link

- **The page it was found on** and the **anchor text**, so you can fix it in seconds.
- The **HTTP status code** and a clear **type**:
  - `broken` — genuine 4xx/5xx (dead page)
  - `blocked` — 401/403/429, i.e. the site is blocking bots, not actually broken (tried with retry/backoff first)
  - `redirect` — works, but the link should be updated; includes the **full redirect chain**
  - `timeout` — no response in time
- Whether the link is **internal or external**, and its **final URL**.

### Why this one

- **Source page + anchor text + redirect chain by default** — cheaper rivals leave these out, so you know where the link is, not just that it's bad.
- **Separates `blocked` from `broken`** (with retries), so you don't waste time chasing links that are fine for real visitors.
- **Clean, cheap crawling** — no headless browser.

### Input

- `startUrls` — the sites to check.
- `maxPages` — how many pages to crawl per site.
- `checkExternal` — also check links to other sites (on by default).

### Output

One row per problem link — exportable to JSON, CSV or Excel, or via the API. (If a site is clean, you get a single "no broken links" row.)

***

Built by **autoloom** — small, fast web-data and SEO tools. New tools shipping regularly.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

The websites to crawl for broken links.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

How many pages of each site to crawl and scan for links.

## `checkExternal` (type: `boolean`):

Check links that point to other websites, not just internal ones.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://apify.com"
    }
  ],
  "maxPages": 20,
  "checkExternal": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

One row per problem link: the page it's on, the anchor text, the status code, whether it's broken/blocked/redirect/timeout, and the redirect chain.

# 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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        {
            "url": "https://apify.com"
        }
    ],
    "maxPages": 20
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("autoloom/broken-link-checker").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 = {
    "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://apify.com" }],
    "maxPages": 20,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("autoloom/broken-link-checker").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 '{
  "startUrls": [
    {
      "url": "https://apify.com"
    }
  ],
  "maxPages": 20
}' |
apify call autoloom/broken-link-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,autoloom/broken-link-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

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/msCq9kxGIKIXM5a7V/builds/0Iu4Crvhscaeokmx7/openapi.json