Node CLI · v1.0.0 · MIT
A redirect chain checker for the terminal and CI
crawlcove-redirect-chain-checker is the command line half of the redirect checker on this site. Give it one URL, several, or a file of them, and it follows each redirect hop, prints the status code and Location for every step, and names the finding: a chain to collapse, a loop that never resolves, an HTTPS-to-HTTP downgrade, a meta refresh, a temporary redirect on a permanent move, or a redirect that lands on an error. Exit code 1 in CI when a gated finding appears.
Free · MIT-licensed · README checked September 2026
Install and run
# one-off, nothing installed (Node 18+):
npx github:CrawlCove/crawlcove-redirect-chain-checker https://example.com/old-page
# global command, from the release tarball:
npm install -g https://github.com/CrawlCove/crawlcove-redirect-chain-checker/archive/refs/tags/v1.0.0.tar.gz
redirect-chain-checker --versionOptions
redirect-chain-checker <url...> [options]
redirect-chain-checker --file urls.txt # one URL per line, # comments allowed
--max-hops <n> give up after this many redirects (default 10)
--timeout <ms> per-request timeout (default 10000)
--json JSON output for scripts
--fail-on <codes> finding codes that set exit code 1, or "none"The README in the repo is the authoritative reference; the commands above are copied from it as of September 2026. If they disagree, the README is newer.
What it checks
- chain: several redirects in a row; point the first URL straight at the final one.
- loop and too-many-hops: the URL never resolves, or resolves past the point a crawler will follow.
- https-to-http: a secure page redirecting to an insecure one.
- http-to-https: fine as a safety net, but every internal link that starts on HTTP costs a hop.
- temporary-redirect: a 302 or 307 on what looks like a permanent move.
- meta-refresh and redirect-to-error, plus fetch errors, each with the fix spelled out in the README.
Works with Crawl Cove
Redirect chain checker CLI covers the checks it lists above. The desktop app runs the full site audit: every page, every finding ranked by impact, history over time and Search Console data alongside. See the desktop checker or compare the plans.
Frequently asked questions
- How is this different from the browser tool?
- Same check, different place. The browser version at /tools/redirect-checker is for one URL you have in front of you; the CLI takes a list, prints machine-readable JSON, and returns an exit code so a deploy can fail on a bad redirect.
- What does a chain cost?
- Every extra hop costs crawlers time and leaks a little link equity, and Google follows at most around ten before giving up. The fix is always the same: point the first URL straight at the final one and update internal links to the final URL.
- Can it check a whole site?
- It checks the URLs you give it. To find every redirect chain across a site, including the internal links that cause them, crawl it with Crawl Cove or the Crawl Cove CLI, which flags two-hop-plus chains per page.
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