Boneyard Tools

Redirect Chain Checker

Paste your redirect rules, one per line, and this tool maps out every chain and flags the problems that quietly cost you rankings: loops, multi-hop chains, duplicate sources, and temporary 302s used where a permanent 301 belongs. Nothing is fetched, so it is fast and private.

How to check your redirects

  1. Paste your redirects, one per line, as 'source target' or 'source -> target', with an optional status code.
  2. Read the chain view to see exactly where each URL ends up after every hop.
  3. Fix anything flagged: collapse chains to a single hop, break loops, and switch permanent moves to 301.

Examples

A two-hop chain that leaks link equity

/a /b
/b /c
Chain: /a -> /b -> /c (2 hops). Warning: point /a straight at /c to keep link equity.

A redirect loop

/x /y
/y /x
Error: redirect loop detected: /x -> /y -> /x. This never resolves.

Frequently asked questions

Does this tool fetch my URLs or follow live redirects?

No. It analyzes the redirect map you paste in and never makes any network requests. It builds the source-to-target rules in your browser and walks them logically, so it works on staging rules, .htaccess plans, or redirects that are not live yet.

Is my redirect list sent to a server?

No. All parsing and chain analysis happens entirely in your browser with JavaScript. Nothing you paste is uploaded, logged, or stored, so it is safe to use with internal or pre-launch URLs.

What input format does it expect?

One rule per line as 'source target' or 'source -> target', with an optional trailing status code, for example '/old /new 301'. The status defaults to 301 when you leave it off. Blank lines, lines starting with #, and malformed lines are skipped.

Why are redirect chains a problem?

Each extra hop slows the page load and can dilute the ranking signals passed through the redirect. Search engines prefer a single hop, so the tool warns whenever a source reaches its final URL in more than one step and tells you which two URLs to link directly.

What is the difference between a 301 and a 302?

A 301 is a permanent redirect and passes ranking signals to the new URL, while a 302 (and 303 or 307) is temporary and tells search engines to keep the old URL. The tool flags temporary codes with an info note so you can switch permanent moves to a 301 or 308.

How does it detect a redirect loop?

It follows each chain and watches for a URL it has already visited. If the chain returns to an earlier URL, it reports a loop as an error, because a loop never resolves and browsers will stop with a too-many-redirects message.

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