# 🔗 Broken Link Checker (`taroyamada/broken-link-checker`) Actor

Crawl websites to find broken links, 404 errors, and dead URLs. Checks internal and external links with configurable depth. Essential for SEO audits, website maintenance, and content teams.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/taroyamada/broken-link-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [太郎 山田](https://apify.com/taroyamada) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## 🔗 Broken Link Checker

Crawl websites to find broken links, 404 errors, and dead URLs. Essential for SEO audits, website maintenance, and content teams.

### Store Quickstart

Start with the **Quickstart** template (single starting URL, depth 2). For full-site audits, use **Deep Crawl** (depth 5, up to 500 pages).

### Key Features

- 🕸️ **Configurable crawl depth** — Follows internal links up to 5 levels deep, up to 500 pages per run
- 🌐 **Internal + external checks** — Validate both your own links and outbound references
- 📍 **Anchor text reporting** — Identify which link text points to the broken URL
- 🏷️ **Error classification** — TIMEOUT, DNS_FAILED, CONNECTION_REFUSED, SSL_ERROR
- ⚡ **Concurrent fetching** — 1-10 parallel requests to speed up crawls
- 📊 **Per-page breakdown** — Each result shows all broken links grouped by source page

### Use Cases

| Who | Why |
|-----|-----|
| **SEO agencies** | Regular broken-link audits for client websites to protect ranking |
| **Content editors** | Find dead outbound links in blog posts and documentation |
| **E-commerce sites** | Monitor product pages for broken navigation and outbound partner links |
| **Site migrations** | Validate internal linking after URL restructuring |
| **Technical SEO** | Identify redirect chains and crawl traps that waste crawl budget |

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| startUrls | string[] | (required) | URLs to start crawling (max 10) |
| maxDepth | integer | 2 | Crawl depth (1-5) |
| maxPages | integer | 50 | Max pages to crawl (1-500) |
| concurrency | integer | 5 | Parallel requests (1-10) |
| checkExternal | boolean | true | Check external links |
| timeoutMs | integer | 10000 | Request timeout in ms |

### Input Example

```json
{
  "startUrls": ["https://example.com"],
  "maxDepth": 2,
  "maxPages": 50,
  "concurrency": 5,
  "checkExternal": true
}
````

### Output Example

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com/blog",
  "brokenLinks": [
    {
      "href": "https://example.com/deleted-page",
      "statusCode": 404,
      "anchorText": "Old announcement",
      "isExternal": false,
      "error": null
    }
  ]
}
```

### FAQ

**How does crawl depth work?**

Depth 1 = only starting URLs. Depth 2 = starting URLs + links found on them. Depth 5 is the maximum and covers most typical sites.

**Does it respect robots.txt?**

Yes. Pages blocked by robots.txt are skipped during crawl.

**Can I exclude certain URL patterns?**

Not in the current version. Add URL pattern exclusion to input if needed in future releases.

**How long does a 500-page crawl take?**

With concurrency=5 and 10s timeout: roughly 5-15 minutes depending on site speed.

### Related Actors

URL/Link Tools cluster — explore related Apify tools:

- [🔗 URL Health Checker](https://apify.com/taroyamada/bulk-url-health-checker) — Bulk-check HTTP status codes, redirects, SSL validity, and response times for thousands of URLs.
- [🔗 URL Unshortener](https://apify.com/taroyamada/url-shortener-resolver) — Expand bit.
- [🏷️ Meta Tag Analyzer](https://apify.com/taroyamada/meta-tag-analyzer) — Analyze meta tags, Open Graph, Twitter Cards, JSON-LD, and hreflang for any URL.
- [📚 Wayback Machine Checker](https://apify.com/taroyamada/wayback-machine-checker) — Check if URLs are archived on the Wayback Machine and find closest snapshots by date.

### Cost

**Pay Per Event**:

- `actor-start`: $0.01 (flat fee per run)
- `dataset-item`: $0.005 per output item

**Example**: 1,000 items = $0.01 + (1,000 × $0.005) = **$5.01**

No subscription required — you only pay for what you use.

# Actor input Schema

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

URLs to start crawling from (max 10).

## `maxDepth` (type: `integer`):

How many levels deep to follow links.

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

Maximum number of pages to crawl.

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

Number of parallel requests

## `checkExternal` (type: `boolean`):

Also check links pointing to external domains.

## `timeoutMs` (type: `integer`):

Request timeout in milliseconds

## `delivery` (type: `string`):

Where to send results: dataset or webhook

## `webhookUrl` (type: `string`):

Webhook URL to POST results to (if delivery=webhook)

## `dryRun` (type: `boolean`):

Run without saving results (for testing)

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrls": [
    "https://example.com"
  ],
  "maxDepth": 2,
  "maxPages": 50,
  "concurrency": 5,
  "checkExternal": true,
  "timeoutMs": 10000,
  "delivery": "dataset",
  "dryRun": false
}
```

# 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://example.com"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("taroyamada/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://example.com"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("taroyamada/broken-link-checker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).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://example.com"
  ]
}' |
apify call taroyamada/broken-link-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=taroyamada/broken-link-checker",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "🔗 Broken Link Checker",
        "description": "Crawl websites to find broken links, 404 errors, and dead URLs. Checks internal and external links with configurable depth. Essential for SEO audits, website maintenance, and content teams.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "q0QDYfHYhudL85swC"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/taroyamada~broken-link-checker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-taroyamada-broken-link-checker",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/taroyamada~broken-link-checker/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-taroyamada-broken-link-checker",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/taroyamada~broken-link-checker/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-taroyamada-broken-link-checker",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "startUrls"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "startUrls": {
                        "title": "Start URLs",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "URLs to start crawling from (max 10).",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "maxDepth": {
                        "title": "Max Crawl Depth",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 5,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "How many levels deep to follow links.",
                        "default": 2
                    },
                    "maxPages": {
                        "title": "Max Pages",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 500,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of pages to crawl.",
                        "default": 50
                    },
                    "concurrency": {
                        "title": "Concurrency",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 10,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Number of parallel requests",
                        "default": 5
                    },
                    "checkExternal": {
                        "title": "Check External Links",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Also check links pointing to external domains.",
                        "default": true
                    },
                    "timeoutMs": {
                        "title": "Timeout (ms)",
                        "minimum": 1000,
                        "maximum": 30000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Request timeout in milliseconds",
                        "default": 10000
                    },
                    "delivery": {
                        "title": "Delivery Mode",
                        "enum": [
                            "dataset",
                            "webhook"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Where to send results: dataset or webhook",
                        "default": "dataset"
                    },
                    "webhookUrl": {
                        "title": "Webhook URL",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Webhook URL to POST results to (if delivery=webhook)"
                    },
                    "dryRun": {
                        "title": "Dry Run",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "Run without saving results (for testing)",
                        "default": false
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```