# Find dead links on a site from the early web

**Use case:** 

Crawl six pages of info.cern.ch, a site that still carries links written in the early 1990s, and list the links that lead nowhere today: pages that answer 404 on the same site and on other sites. The Broken links view shows each broken link with its HTTP status and its anchor text. Swap in any site to run the same check.

## Input

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "info.cern.ch"
  ],
  "maxPagesPerSite": 6,
  "checkExternalLinks": true,
  "includeImages": false,
  "onlyPagesWithBrokenLinks": false,
  "includeSubdomains": false,
  "maxItems": 0,
  "maxExternalHosts": 1000,
  "onlyNew": false,
  "stateName": "default",
  "notifyWhenEmpty": false,
  "requestIntervalMs": 500
}
```

## Output

```json
{
  "pageUrl": {
    "label": "Address of the page that was read (after redirects)",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "brokenCount": {
    "label": "Number of broken links on the page",
    "format": "integer"
  },
  "brokenPreview": {
    "label": "The first three broken addresses as one line of text with their HTTP status or state (empty when none are broken)",
    "format": "string"
  },
  "brokenLinks": {
    "label": "Every broken link: address, state, HTTP status or error, anchor text, internal or external, tag (a, link, img) and the final address when it redirected first",
    "format": "array"
  },
  "checkedAt": {
    "label": "When the page was checked (ISO 8601, UTC)",
    "format": "string"
  }
}
```

## How it works

### 1. Sign up on Apify or log in

The Broken Link Checker – Find 404s and Dead Links API Actor is ready to run with the inputs already set for "Find dead links on a site from the early web". [Sign up or log in](https://console.apify.com/create-task-from-example/dqJmi0mapxu0VBefb) and you'll land in Apify Console with a copy of this exact task.

### 2. Start the "Find dead links on a site from the early web" task

The Broken Link Checker – Find 404s and Dead Links API Actor will start running based on the input automatically. You can also change all the input fields, like websites or pages, pages to crawl per site, and more, to match your specific use case.

### 3. Receive the "Find dead links on a site from the early web" output

Monitor the progress in real time. You will be notified as soon as your dataset is complete and ready for review. Each result includes data such as address of the page that was read (after redirects), number of broken links on the page, the first three broken addresses as one line of text with their http status or state (empty when none are broken), and more.

### 4. Integrate into your workflow

The final output is delivered in JSON, CSV, or Excel format, ready to be plugged into your workflow. You can also [run the "Find dead links on a site from the early web" task via API](https://apify.com/rowcraft/broken-link-checker.md).

## About this Actor

This example demonstrates how to use [Broken Link Checker – Find 404s and Dead Links API](https://apify.com/rowcraft/broken-link-checker.md) with a specific input configuration. Visit the [Actor detail page](https://apify.com/rowcraft/broken-link-checker.md) to learn more, explore other use cases, and run it yourself.


## How to integrate an Actor?

This Task's input is already configured above. Use it as-is rather than inventing a new one.

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 full API examples (JavaScript, Python, CLI, MCP, OpenAPI), see this Task's Actor page: https://apify.com/rowcraft/broken-link-checker.md

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`).