URL Redirect Tracer & Unshortener

Follow the full redirect chain of any URL and reveal where short links really go. Expand bit.ly, t.co, lnkd.in, goo.gl and any 301/302/307 chain — see every hop, the final landing page, and the tracking parameters attached to it.

What you get

• ✅ Final destination of any short or redirecting link
• ✅ Every hop in the chain, with status code and location
• ✅ UTM & click IDs (utm_*, gclid, fbclid) parsed from the landing URL
• ✅ Loop-safe — detects circular redirects and never hangs
• ✅ Bulk-ready — trace hundreds of URLs in a single run
• ✅ No API key, no proxy — just paste your links and run

Input

{ "urls": ["https://bit.ly/3xExample", "t.co/abc123"], "maxHops": 12 }

Output (per URL)

{
  "input_url": "https://bit.ly/3xExample",
  "final_url": "https://example.com/landing?utm_source=twitter",
  "final_status": 200,
  "hop_count": 3,
  "hops": [
    { "url": "https://bit.ly/3xExample", "status": 301, "location": "https://t.co/abc" },
    { "url": "https://t.co/abc", "status": 301, "location": "https://example.com/landing?..." },
    { "url": "https://example.com/landing?...", "status": 200 }
  ],
  "final_params": { "utm_source": "twitter" }
}

Use cases

• 🔒 Security — unshorten and vet links before clicking (phishing / malware checks)
• 📈 Marketing — reveal affiliate and tracking chains, capture UTM attribution
• 🕵️ Research — competitor link analysis and redirect audits
• ✅ QA — verify your own redirects resolve to the right page

FAQ

Do I need an API key or proxy? No — just paste your URLs and run. Can it handle many URLs at once? Yes, it traces them in parallel (bulk-ready). What happens with redirect loops? They're detected and reported safely — the run never hangs. Which redirects are followed? Standard HTTP 301/302/303/307/308 Location redirects.

⭐ Enjoying this Actor?

If it saved you time, a quick rating/review means a lot — it helps other people find it and keeps it actively maintained. Need an extra field or hit a snag? Open a ticket on the Issues tab and I'll take a look.