# Link Expander

> Link Expander is a paid API for AI agents from bess-x402.onrender.com, paid per call via x402, $0.002/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-29).

Expands short or tracking URLs hop-by-hop, returning every redirect in the chain, the final destination URL, and a cleaned URL with tracking parameters stripped — without fetching the final page.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://bess-x402.onrender.com/v1/web/expand-url?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.002/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-29
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/link-expander-6767418c
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_QBHbp_Gz3eJOUs4_tD6Va

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability link-expander-6767418c
```

Example prompt: Can you expand this bit.ly link and show me every redirect hop, the final destination URL, and a clean version without tracking parameters? https://bit.ly/3xYzAbc

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need to safely inspect a shortened or obfuscated URL without triggering the final page load — ideal for security checks, privacy-preserving link inspection, or cleaning affiliate/tracking URLs. Prefer it over general web scrapers when you only care about the redirect chain and clean destination, not page content.

## Known failure modes

- URL is malformed or missing — returns validation error
- Link has expired or been deleted — redirect chain ends with 404 or similar
- Too many hops / infinite redirect loop — may time out or return partial chain
- Destination server is unreachable — returns connection error
- URL uses a non-HTTP scheme not supported by the service

## How this service works

Expand a short or tracking link (bit.ly, t.co, lnkd.in...) hop by hop without opening the final page: every redirect, final URL and host, and a clean URL with tracking parameters removed. Use to check links safely.

## Output

Returns an ordered list of every redirect hop (URL and HTTP status code), the final destination URL and its hostname, and a cleaned version of the final URL with tracking query parameters (UTM codes, etc.) removed. The final page content is never fetched.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET",
      "HEAD",
      "DELETE"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "url"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "url": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Link to expand"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/link-expander-6767418c/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from bess-x402.onrender.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/bess-x402.onrender.com/llms.txt)