# Bulk URL Status & Redirect Chain Checker (`technicaldost/bulk-url-status-redirect-checker`) Actor

Check thousands of URLs for broken links, redirect chains and HTTP status in one run. Returns every hop of each redirect, the final destination, whether HTTP upgraded to HTTPS, and redirect loops. No browser, no API key.

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

## Pricing

$1.00 / 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.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

## Bulk URL Status & Redirect Chain Checker

**Check thousands of URLs for broken links, redirect chains and HTTP status — and see every hop, not just where you landed.**

Most checkers follow redirects silently and report the final code. This one records each hop, so you can see that a link 301s to `http://`, then to `www`, then to the real page — three round-trips that cost you crawl budget and link equity.

### What you get

```json
{
  "url": "http://github.com",
  "ok": true,
  "finalStatus": 200,
  "statusClass": "ok",
  "finalUrl": "https://github.com/",
  "redirectCount": 1,
  "httpsUpgraded": true,
  "crossDomain": false,
  "redirectLoop": false,
  "responseTimeMs": 412,
  "redirectChain": [
    { "url": "http://github.com", "status": 301, "location": "https://github.com/" },
    { "url": "https://github.com/", "status": 200, "location": null }
  ]
}
```

`statusClass` buckets every result into `ok`, `redirect`, `not-found`, `blocked`, `rate-limited`, `client-error`, `server-error` or `unreachable`, so you can filter without writing status-code logic.

### Main use cases

- **Broken-link audits** across a whole site or backlink profile.
- **Migration QA.** After a replatform, confirm every old URL lands where it should — and in one hop.
- **Redirect-chain cleanup.** `redirectCount > 1` is the list to fix.
- **HTTPS coverage.** `httpsUpgraded` shows which links still start on `http://`.
- **Redirect-loop detection**, reported explicitly rather than as a timeout.
- **Affiliate and outbound link monitoring** on a schedule.

### Pricing

| Event | Price | When |
|---|---|---|
| **URL checked** | **$0.001** | One URL checked, including every redirect hop |

Not charged for URLs that could not be parsed.

**1,000 URLs = $1.00.** **10,000 URLs = $10.00.**

For comparison at the same volume: `smart-digital/complete-seo-audit-tool` charges **$0.04 per page** — 40× more, though it runs a broader audit — and `automation-lab/http-status-checker` adds **$0.035 per run** on top of its per-URL price. This Actor has no per-run fee at all.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| `urls` | array | **required** | Bare domains work: `example.com` → `https://example.com`. Up to 20,000. |
| `maxRedirects` | integer | `10` | Hop ceiling. Loops are detected separately. |
| `method` | select | `GET` | `HEAD` is faster but some servers answer it incorrectly. |
| `concurrency` | integer | `8` | Parallel requests. |

### Limitations

- **No JavaScript.** A page that redirects via `window.location` or a meta-refresh tag reports the status the server returned. Server-side redirects (301/302/307/308) are what this measures.
- **Bot protection reports as `blocked`** (401/403) rather than being bypassed. That is the honest result, not a failure to work around.
- Response times include network variance and are indicative, not a benchmark.

### Related Actors

- **[Link Preview API](https://apify.com/technicaldost/link-preview-api)** — OpenGraph metadata for the URLs that come back `ok`.
- **[Website Brand & Favicon Extractor](https://apify.com/technicaldost/website-brand-favicon-extractor)** — brand assets for the same URL list.

### Reliability

- Retries on 429 and 5xx with exponential backoff; permanent 4xx errors are not retried.
- Bad input is reported and skipped, never charged.
- One failing target never aborts the rest of the run.
- Concurrency is bounded and configurable — this work is network-bound, so parallel requests, not memory, are what control speed.

### Data source and responsible use

Reads only publicly available data. No authentication bypass, no CAPTCHA circumvention, no browser automation.

Not affiliated with any of the services checked.

# Actor input Schema

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

URLs to check. A bare domain works too - example.com becomes https://example.com.

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

How many to process at once. This work is network-bound, so concurrency - not memory - is what controls speed.

## `maxRedirects` (type: `integer`):

Stop following after this many hops. Redirect loops are detected separately and reported.

## `method` (type: `string`):

HEAD is faster but a minority of servers answer it incorrectly. Use GET if results look wrong.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://github.com",
    "http://github.com",
    "https://httpbin.org/status/404"
  ],
  "concurrency": 8,
  "maxRedirects": 10,
  "method": "GET"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

## `csv` (type: `string`):

No description

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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://github.com",
        "http://github.com",
        "https://httpbin.org/status/404"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("technicaldost/bulk-url-status-redirect-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://github.com",
        "http://github.com",
        "https://httpbin.org/status/404",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("technicaldost/bulk-url-status-redirect-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://github.com",
    "http://github.com",
    "https://httpbin.org/status/404"
  ]
}' |
apify call technicaldost/bulk-url-status-redirect-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,technicaldost/bulk-url-status-redirect-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/Izi5Jfin4kFwMDK4F/builds/3mRlcMc5O302Fbf02/openapi.json