# Bulk URL Status, Redirect & Broken Link Checker (`propped_cloak/bulk-url-status-checker`) Actor

Check HTTP status codes, redirect chains and broken links for thousands of URLs. Final URL, response time, content type. Polite crawling, no proxy fees. $0.50 per 1,000 URLs.

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

## Pricing

from $0.40 / 1,000 url 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 & Broken Link Checker

Check thousands of URLs in one run and get, for each one, the **HTTP status code, the full redirect chain, the final URL and the response time**. Or point it at your pages and it finds **every broken link** on them.

- **Full redirect chain.** Each hop is listed with its status (301, 302, 307, 308...) up to the final URL. Use it to find redirect chains, loops and http → https problems before an SEO migration.
- **Broken link mode.** Give it page URLs, and it reads each page and checks every link on it, internal and external. Each row tells you on which page the link was found.
- **Reliable results.** It sends HEAD first and falls back to GET when a server refuses HEAD (405/403/501), so working pages are not reported as broken. Timeouts and dead hosts are reported clearly.
- **Polite and cheap.** At most 4 requests per second per website, no proxy fees, no browser: **$0.50 per 1,000 URLs**.

### What can I use it for?

- **SEO audits and site migrations:** check that every old URL redirects to the right page in one hop.
- **Broken link monitoring:** schedule a weekly run on your key pages and get the links that return 404 or 5xx.
- **Cleaning link lists:** remove dead URLs from a database, a directory or a newsletter before you send it.
- **AI agents:** an agent can verify links before citing them, through the Apify MCP server (see below).

### Input

Check a list of URLs:

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

Find the broken links on your pages:

```json
{ "urls": ["https://your-site.com/", "https://your-site.com/blog/"], "checkLinksOnPages": true, "maxLinksPerPage": 1000 }
```

`https://` is added when it's missing. Duplicates are removed. In broken link mode, a link that appears on several pages is checked once, unless you turn off `dedupeAcrossPages`.

### Output

One row per URL. Example from a real run:

```json
{
    "url": "http://github.com/",
    "status": 200,
    "ok": true,
    "finalUrl": "https://github.com/",
    "redirected": true,
    "redirectCount": 1,
    "redirectChain": [{ "url": "http://github.com/", "status": 301 }],
    "responseTimeMs": 336,
    "contentType": "text/html; charset=utf-8",
    "contentLength": null,
    "server": "github.com",
    "error": null,
    "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T15:09:46.042Z"
}
```

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `status` | HTTP status of the final response. `null` when the host does not respond (see `error`). |
| `ok` | `true` for 2xx. A 403 often means the site blocks bots, not that the page is missing. |
| `redirectChain` | Each redirect hop with its status, in order. |
| `sourcePage` | Broken link mode only: the page where the link was found. |
| `error` | `Host not found (DNS)`, `Timeout after 15 s`, `More than 10 redirects`... |

### Pricing

**$0.0005 per URL checked ($0.50 per 1,000 URLs)**, plus Apify's small run-start fee. Dead hosts and timeouts count as checked, because that is the answer you need. Invalid URLs are free.

### Fair use and safety

The Actor sends at most 4 requests per second to the same website, with a clear user agent. Private and internal network addresses are refused, so it only checks public websites. It does not run JavaScript: links added by scripts after the page loads are not seen in broken link mode.

### Use it from AI agents (MCP)

Add `bulk-url-status-checker` to the [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com) in your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, VS Code...).

### Integrations

Apify API, schedules, webhooks, Make, Zapier, n8n. Export as JSON, CSV, Excel or HTML.

### FAQ

**Why do some sites return 403?** Many sites block automated clients (Cloudflare, LinkedIn, Amazon...). The page may work in a browser. Treat 403 as "blocked", not "missing".

**Need the URLs of a whole website first?** Extract them from the sitemap with [Sitemap URL Extractor](https://apify.com/propped_cloak/sitemap-url-extractor), then check them here.

**Something wrong or missing?** Open an issue on the Issues tab.

# Actor input Schema

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

URLs to check, one per line (https:// is added when missing). In broken link mode, these are the pages whose links are checked.

## `checkLinksOnPages` (type: `boolean`):

Read each page and check all the links it contains (internal and external). Each output row has a sourcePage field.

## `maxLinksPerPage` (type: `integer`):

Broken link mode only.

## `dedupeAcrossPages` (type: `boolean`):

Broken link mode only. When a link appears on several pages, check it once (reported with the first page).

## `followRedirects` (type: `boolean`):

Follow 3xx redirects (up to 10) and return the full chain and the final URL. Turn off to get the first response only.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://apify.com",
    "http://github.com",
    "https://example.com/missing-page"
  ],
  "checkLinksOnPages": false,
  "maxLinksPerPage": 1000,
  "dedupeAcrossPages": true,
  "followRedirects": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One row per URL: HTTP status, final URL, redirect chain, response time and content type.

# 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://apify.com",
        "http://github.com",
        "https://example.com/missing-page"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("propped_cloak/bulk-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://apify.com",
        "http://github.com",
        "https://example.com/missing-page",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("propped_cloak/bulk-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://apify.com",
    "http://github.com",
    "https://example.com/missing-page"
  ]
}' |
apify call propped_cloak/bulk-url-status-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,propped_cloak/bulk-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/qzgPOd236YnstJIEF/builds/aOlaFNBR4BYN1ihmO/openapi.json