# HTTP Redirect Chain & Final URL Inspector (`tough_haircomb/redirect-chain-inspector`) Actor

Input a URL and get the full redirect chain, final URL, HTTP status, selected response headers, and page title.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/tough_haircomb/redirect-chain-inspector.md
- **Developed by:** [tough_haircomb](https://apify.com/tough_haircomb) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $30.00 / 1,000 results

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

## HTTP Redirect Chain & Final URL Inspector

Input a URL and get the full redirect chain, final URL, HTTP status, selected response headers, and page title.

### Use cases

- Verify where a shortened or tracking link ultimately lands and record the redirect steps.
- Debug why an API endpoint returns an unexpected status by inspecting key caching and server headers.
- Check whether a migration to HTTPS introduces extra redirect hops that slow down page loads.

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `url` | string | Any http(s) URL to fetch and analyze (redirects will be followed up to maxRedirects). |
| `method` | string | GET or HEAD. Use GET to extract pageTitle. |
| `maxRedirects` | integer | Maximum number of redirects to follow before stopping. |
| `timeoutSeconds` | integer | Network timeout for each request in the chain. |

### Output

One result per run.

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `finalUrl` | string | The last URL reached after following redirects (or the original URL if none). |
| `statusCode` | integer | HTTP status code of the final response. |
| `redirectChain` | array | Array of steps in the form 'STATUS FROM_URL -> TO_URL' for each redirect followed. |
| `headers` | array | Selected final response headers as 'name: value' lines (content-type, cache-control, location, server, date, etag, last-modified). |
| `pageTitle` | string | HTML <title> of the final response if method=GET and content looks like HTML, otherwise empty string. |
| `issues` | array | Non-fatal notes, e.g., redirect limit reached, non-HTML content, title not found. |
| `error` | string | Null on success, otherwise an error message. |

### Example input

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "method": "GET",
  "maxRedirects": 10,
  "timeoutSeconds": 15
}
```

### Pricing

$0.03 per result. No subscription: you pay only for the runs you start.

### Limits

- This Actor follows only HTTP redirects and does not execute JavaScript, so JS-based redirects won’t be detected.
- Some servers block unknown clients; in that case you may get 403/429 or timeouts.
- Only the first 128 KB of HTML is read for title extraction.

# Actor input Schema

## `url` (type: `string`):

Any http(s) URL to fetch and analyze (redirects will be followed up to maxRedirects).

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

GET or HEAD. Use GET to extract pageTitle.

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

Maximum number of redirects to follow before stopping.

## `timeoutSeconds` (type: `integer`):

Network timeout for each request in the chain.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "method": "GET",
  "maxRedirects": 10,
  "timeoutSeconds": 15
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (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 = {
    "url": "https://example.com/",
    "method": "GET"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("tough_haircomb/redirect-chain-inspector").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 = {
    "url": "https://example.com/",
    "method": "GET",
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("tough_haircomb/redirect-chain-inspector").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 '{
  "url": "https://example.com/",
  "method": "GET"
}' |
apify call tough_haircomb/redirect-chain-inspector --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,tough_haircomb/redirect-chain-inspector"
        }
    }
}
```

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/d2qL8kBJeQ2KcGWyw/builds/M1LblACkmdhB2P6zB/openapi.json