# Broken Link Checker with Bot-Block Detection (`metaparse/broken-links`) Actor

Crawl a website and find dead links, listing every page that links to them. Separates truly broken links from sites that just block bots, so you skip false alarms.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/metaparse/broken-links.md
- **Developed by:** [Meta Parse](https://apify.com/metaparse) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 link checkeds

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 its dead links, with every page that links to each one and the anchor text to look for.

Many checkers report a link as broken when a site merely refuses bots. This one keeps those apart, so you can fix real problems first.

| State | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| `broken` | 404, 410, server error, no DNS, or connection refused | Fix it |
| `blocked` | 401, 403, 405, 406, 429, 451, 503 or 999: the server refused a robot | Check by hand; it often works in a browser |
| `error` | Timeout or another failure that may be temporary | Rerun |

### Input

```json
{
  "startUrl": "https://example.com/",
  "maxPages": 50,
  "maxLinks": 500,
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "includeWorkingLinks": false
}
```

### Output

Broken links come first:

```json
{
  "url": "https://everything.curl.dev/usingcurl/netrc",
  "state": "broken",
  "status": 404,
  "error": null,
  "finalUrl": "https://everything.curl.dev/usingcurl/netrc",
  "foundOn": [{ "page": "https://example.com/guide/", "anchorText": "netrc" }],
  "foundOnCount": 1
}
```

The `SUMMARY` record in the key-value store has totals for pages crawled, links checked and paths skipped by `robots.txt`.

### Pricing

**$0.0005 per unique link checked.** The default limit is 500 links, or $0.25. Raise `maxLinks` for bigger sites: 2,000 links costs at most $1. Runs also stop within any spending limit you set.

Each run also has a $0.00005 start fee per GB of memory. All compute is included.

### Behaviour

- It only reads the site you name, and follows that site's `robots.txt`. Other sites' links are tested, not crawled.
- It reads links from the HTML the server sends, so links that only appear after JavaScript runs aren't found.
- Subdomains count as other sites.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrl` (type: `string`):

Page where the crawl starts. Only this site is crawled.

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

How many of the site's own pages are opened and read for links.

## `maxLinks` (type: `integer`):

Hard cap on unique links, which also caps the cost of the run.

## `checkExternalLinks` (type: `boolean`):

Also test links that leave the site.

## `includeWorkingLinks` (type: `boolean`):

Return every link rather than only problems.

## `concurrency` (type: `integer`):

How many requests run at once.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrl": "https://docs.apify.com/",
  "maxPages": 50,
  "maxLinks": 500,
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "includeWorkingLinks": false,
  "concurrency": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `summary` (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 = {
    "startUrl": "https://docs.apify.com/"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("metaparse/broken-links").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 = { "startUrl": "https://docs.apify.com/" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("metaparse/broken-links").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 '{
  "startUrl": "https://docs.apify.com/"
}' |
apify call metaparse/broken-links --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/H49gZJMRrQB9XhGUX/builds/lJLzGJTHMg1AcspxU/openapi.json