# Find Broken Links on a Website (404 Checker)

**Use case:** 

Crawl a website and check every link it contains: internal pages, external links and (optionally) images, scripts and stylesheets. Each link row shows its HTTP status, redirect target and the page it was found on, so you know exactly what to fix. Respects robots.txt and the sitemap. Unverifiable answers (401, 403, 429) are flagged, not called broken.

## Input

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://books.toscrape.com/"
  ],
  "maxPages": 20,
  "maxDepth": 10,
  "crawlScope": "sameHost",
  "includeSitemap": true,
  "respectRobotsTxt": true,
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "checkResources": false,
  "onlyBrokenInOutput": false,
  "timeoutSecs": 15,
  "concurrency": 10,
  "perHostConcurrency": 2
}
```

## Output

```json
{
  "url": {
    "label": "Link",
    "format": "link"
  },
  "statusCode": {
    "label": "Status",
    "format": "number"
  },
  "isBroken": {
    "label": "Broken",
    "format": "boolean"
  },
  "isUnverified": {
    "label": "Unverified (blocked)",
    "format": "boolean"
  },
  "linkType": {
    "label": "Internal / external",
    "format": "text"
  },
  "resourceType": {
    "label": "Type",
    "format": "text"
  },
  "firstFoundOn": {
    "label": "Found on",
    "format": "link"
  },
  "foundOnCount": {
    "label": "Pages linking",
    "format": "number"
  },
  "finalUrl": {
    "label": "Final URL",
    "format": "link"
  },
  "redirectCount": {
    "label": "Redirects",
    "format": "number"
  },
  "isRedirectLoop": {
    "label": "Loop",
    "format": "boolean"
  },
  "responseTimeMs": {
    "label": "Time (ms)",
    "format": "number"
  },
  "error": {
    "label": "Error",
    "format": "text"
  }
}
```

## How it works

### 1. Sign up on Apify or log in

The Broken Link Checker: Crawl a Website, Find 404s & Redirects Actor is ready to run with the inputs already set for "Find Broken Links on a Website (404 Checker)". [Sign up or log in](https://console.apify.com/create-task-from-example/8Yhsasd5IdJhtfdgc) and you'll land in Apify Console with a copy of this exact task.

### 2. Start the "Find Broken Links on a Website (404 Checker)" task

The Broken Link Checker: Crawl a Website, Find 404s & Redirects Actor will start running based on the input automatically. You can also change all the input fields, like start urls, max pages to crawl, and more, to match your specific use case.

### 3. Receive the "Find Broken Links on a Website (404 Checker)" output

Monitor the progress in real time. You will be notified as soon as your dataset is complete and ready for review. Each result includes data such as link, status, broken, and more.

### 4. Integrate into your workflow

The final output is delivered in JSON, CSV, or Excel format, ready to be plugged into your workflow. You can also [run the "Find Broken Links on a Website (404 Checker)" task via API](https://apify.com/charlesmarkette/broken-link-checker-crawl-website-404.md).

## About this Actor

This example demonstrates how to use [Broken Link Checker: Crawl a Website, Find 404s & Redirects](https://apify.com/charlesmarkette/broken-link-checker-crawl-website-404.md) with a specific input configuration. Visit the [Actor detail page](https://apify.com/charlesmarkette/broken-link-checker-crawl-website-404.md) to learn more, explore other use cases, and run it yourself.


## How to integrate an Actor?

This Task's input is already configured above. Use it as-is rather than inventing a new one.

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 full API examples (JavaScript, Python, CLI, MCP, OpenAPI), see this Task's Actor page: https://apify.com/charlesmarkette/broken-link-checker-crawl-website-404.md

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`).