# Broken Link Checker (Website Crawl) (`proper_ecosystem_cie/broken-link-checker`) Actor

Crawl your website and find broken links: 404s, 5xx errors, timeouts and dead external links, with the pages each broken link appears on. Honors robots.txt. Optional image checks.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/proper_ecosystem_cie/broken-link-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [Proper Ecosystem Tools](https://apify.com/proper_ecosystem_cie) (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

$2.00 / 1,000 page crawleds

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 (Website Crawl)

Find every **broken link** on your website. The Actor crawls your pages (same domain, honoring robots.txt), checks every internal and external link, and reports **404s, 5xx errors, and timeouts** with the exact pages each broken link appears on.

### Features

- Crawls up to N pages per site
- Checks internal and external links (HEAD first, GET fallback)
- Optional image (`<img src>`) checks
- Each broken link comes with the pages that link to it
- Summary row per site: pages crawled, links checked, broken count
- Pay per page crawled; link checks included

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `startUrls` | Domains or full URLs, one per line. |
| `maxPagesPerSite` | Pages to crawl per site. |
| `checkExternalLinks` | Also check links to other domains. |
| `checkImages` | Also check <img> sources. |
| `concurrency` | Items processed in parallel. |

### Output (illustrative example)

```json
{
 "type": "broken-link",
 "brokenUrl": "https://www.example.com/old-page",
 "statusCode": 404,
 "isInternal": true,
 "foundOn": [
  "https://www.example.com/blog",
  "https://www.example.com/about"
 ],
 "foundOnCount": 2
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event: **page crawled**. Rows that fail with an `error` are free. Set a maximum charge per run to cap spend.

### Use cases

- SEO audits and site health monitoring
- Post-migration QA
- Agencies reporting to clients
- Scheduled weekly checks with alerts

Works with the Apify API, schedules, webhooks, Make, Zapier, n8n, and AI agents via MCP.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Domains or full URLs, one per line.

## `maxPagesPerSite` (type: `integer`):

Pages to crawl per site.

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

Also check links to other domains.

## `checkImages` (type: `boolean`):

Also check <img> sources.

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

Items processed in parallel.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.example.com"
  ],
  "maxPagesPerSite": 100,
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "checkImages": false,
  "concurrency": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Dataset with one row per input item

## `runStats` (type: `string`):

Summary counts for the run

# 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 = {
    "startUrls": [
        "https://www.example.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("proper_ecosystem_cie/broken-link-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 = { "startUrls": ["https://www.example.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("proper_ecosystem_cie/broken-link-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 '{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://www.example.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call proper_ecosystem_cie/broken-link-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,proper_ecosystem_cie/broken-link-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/x1hsZTUhEvAWoZ7FO/builds/lYXrNAk4712fsHQEe/openapi.json