# Redirect Chain Tracer — Full Hop Path (`hipersoft/redirect-chain-tracer`) Actor

Follow every URL through its full redirect chain and report each hop's status, location and timing plus the final destination. For SEO migrations, link audits and tracking checks.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hipersoft/redirect-chain-tracer.md
- **Developed by:** [hiper soft](https://apify.com/hipersoft) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.001 / url traced

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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

## Redirect Chain Tracer — Full Hop-by-Hop Path

**Follow every URL through its full redirect chain** and get each hop's status code, location and timing, plus the final destination. Essential for SEO migrations, link audits, tracking-link checks and spotting redirect loops or chains that leak crawl budget.

![Redirect Chain Tracer input — configure the options in the Apify Console](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/SUfvnaFLd9z9eBCtV/records/redirect-chain-tracer-input.png)

### What it does

- Traces each URL **hop by hop** (301/302/307/308…) to its final URL.
- Reports **status, target and response time** for every hop.
- Flags **redirect loops**, chains that are too long, and the final HTTP status.

### Use cases

- **SEO** — audit redirects after a site migration; find chains and loops.
- **Marketing** — verify short/tracking links land on the right page.
- **QA** — confirm HTTPS and www/non-www redirects behave correctly.

### Input

```json
{ "urls": ["http://google.com", "https://bit.ly/example"], "maxHops": 15, "method": "GET" }
```

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `urls` | array | URLs to trace. |
| `maxHops` | integer | Stop after this many redirects (1–30). |
| `method` | string | `GET` or `HEAD`. |
| `userAgent` | string | Optional custom User-Agent. |

### Output

![Redirect Chain Tracer output — the results as a clean dataset](https://api.apify.com/v2/key-value-stores/SUfvnaFLd9z9eBCtV/records/redirect-chain-tracer-output.png)

```json
{ "url": "http://google.com", "finalUrl": "https://www.google.com/", "hopCount": 2, "finalStatus": 200, "hops": [ { "url": "http://google.com", "status": 301, "location": "http://www.google.com/", "ms": 40 } ] }
```

#### Output schema

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `url` | string (URL) | The starting URL. |
| `finalUrl` | string (URL) | The final destination. |
| `hopCount` | integer | Number of redirects. |
| `finalStatus` | integer | Final HTTP status code. |

### FAQ

**Does it detect loops?** Yes — if the chain exceeds `maxHops` it's flagged rather than looping forever.

**Can I automate it?** Yes — via [integrations on the Apify platform](https://apify.com/integrations) and the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2).

### Notes

Original clean-room implementation.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

The URLs to trace. Each is followed hop-by-hop to its final destination.

## `maxHops` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many redirects (1–30).

## `method` (type: `string`):

HEAD is faster; some servers only redirect correctly on GET.

## `userAgent` (type: `string`):

Optional custom User-Agent header.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "http://example.com",
    "https://t.co/abc"
  ],
  "maxHops": 15,
  "method": "GET"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

The results as dataset items.

# 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 = {
    "urls": [
        "http://google.com",
        "https://bit.ly/3xyz"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hipersoft/redirect-chain-tracer").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 = { "urls": [
        "http://google.com",
        "https://bit.ly/3xyz",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hipersoft/redirect-chain-tracer").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 '{
  "urls": [
    "http://google.com",
    "https://bit.ly/3xyz"
  ]
}' |
apify call hipersoft/redirect-chain-tracer --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hipersoft/redirect-chain-tracer"
        }
    }
}

```

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/cxCjPEE6rw1XEbOrA/builds/Ep9K7scbnKoTzZWdy/openapi.json