# Bulk URL Status & Redirect Checker (`pontio/url-status-checker`) Actor

Check supplied HTTP(S) URLs for status codes and redirect chains. Public hostnames only. Blocked, unreachable and incomplete checks are uncharged.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/pontio/url-status-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Gabor Molnar](https://apify.com/pontio) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools, Automation
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.70 / 1,000 url status checkeds

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/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

## Bulk URL Status & Redirect Checker

Check a supplied URL list for HTTP status codes and redirect chains. No crawling, browser or JavaScript execution.

```json
{"urls":["https://example.com","http://github.com","https://example.com/missing-status-probe"]}
```

Each processed distinct canonical URL produces one row with `url`, `finalUrl`, `httpStatus`, `method`, `redirects`, `elapsedMs` and `reasonCode`. `finalUrl` is the last URL actually requested, not a claim that an incomplete redirect chain finished. Redirect entries contain the source URL, status and resolved destination.

### Billing

Configured price: **$0.001 per answered URL**. One `url-status-checked` event per answered URL, including observed 404/410 responses. Partial redirect chains do not bill.

| reasonCode | Meaning | Charged |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `checked` | Final response was 2xx | yes |
| `not_found` | Final response was 404 or 410 | yes |
| `blocked` | Final response was 401, 403 or 429 | no |
| `http_error` | Another non-redirect status, including 5xx | no |
| `unreachable` | DNS, connection, TLS or deadline failure | no |
| `invalid_url` | Unsupported or malformed submitted URL | no |
| `unsafe_target` | A resolved address was not public unicast | no |
| `invalid_redirect` | Missing, malformed or unsupported redirect destination | no |
| `redirect_loop` | A canonical URL repeated in the chain | no |
| `redirect_limit` | More than five redirects needed | no |

A 404/410 reports what this request received; it does not prove permanent removal. A 2xx is not proof the page has the expected content or works in a browser. Some bot walls return 200 and cannot be identified from headers alone.

### Limits

- Up to 100 URLs per run, 8 at a time, so rows arrive in finish order, not input order; join on `url`. Each check has a 15-second total deadline including DNS and redirects; the worst-case batch takes about 3–4 minutes before platform overhead.
- HEAD requests; when HEAD answers any 4xx/5xx, the URL is asked again with GET and only that answer is reported (some servers answer HEAD 404 for a live page). Response bodies are not read. Headers are limited to 16 KiB. No retries, proxies, custom headers or authentication.
- Up to five redirects (301/302/303/307/308), with public-address checks on every hop. Connections are pinned to a validated DNS address and TLS certificate verification stays enabled. Only the first validated address is tried; another address might work when it fails.
- HTTP(S) on registrable hostnames, ports 80/443 only. IP literals, credentials, local names and DNS with any non-public address are refused. This conservative policy also rejects some special-purpose IPv6 ranges.
- URL parsing folds host case, default ports and dot segments; fragments are dropped. Paths and query strings remain distinct. First submitted spelling wins; different invalid strings remain separate rows.
- A charge cap stops new work. Up to seven other URLs may already be in flight and can return uncharged rows. Inputs not started are absent; join rows to inputs by `url` and resubmit only missing URLs.

The Actor contacts target websites and DNS infrastructure; do not put secrets in URL queries. Check only targets you are authorized to access.

# Changelog

This Actor's version history is a separate document: https://apify.com/pontio/url-status-checker/changelog.md

# Actor input Schema

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

Up to 100 supplied HTTP(S) URLs on public hostnames, ports 80/443 only, no credentials. Canonical repeats (including fragments and default ports) are checked once. Paths and queries remain distinct.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Results produced by this run, in its default dataset.

# 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": [
        "https://example.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("pontio/url-status-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 = { "urls": ["https://example.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("pontio/url-status-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 '{
  "urls": [
    "https://example.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call pontio/url-status-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,pontio/url-status-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/JEiylcxl0G7KSjHTX/builds/aOYPz3nY1JvWExHeU/openapi.json