# Redirect Chain Tracer

> Redirect Chain Tracer is a paid API for AI agents from x402.forgemesh.io, paid per call via x402, $0.003/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-09-14).

Follows a URL through up to six hops of redirects and returns every intermediate URL, the final destination, and HTTP status codes at each step.

## Facts

- Endpoint: POST https://x402.forgemesh.io/redirect-chain-lookup
- Price: $0.003/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-09-14
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/redirect-chain-tracer-11efe3fa
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_rw-M0ctpOB4Y03pS_aIRo

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 redirect-chain-tracer-11efe3fa -d '<json body>'
```

Example prompt: Can you trace the full redirect chain for this link — https://bit.ly/3xFakeLink — and tell me every URL it hops through and where it finally lands?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need to audit the full redirect path of a shortened, affiliate, or marketing URL before an agent or user follows it — especially when verifying the true landing domain, checking for suspicious redirects, or confirming affiliate link integrity. Prefer this over a simple URL unfurler when you need visibility into every intermediate hop, not just the final destination.

## Known failure modes

- URL is invalid or malformed — returns error
- URL resolves to an internal or private address — blocked for security
- Redirect chain exceeds six hops — chain truncated at six
- Target server is unreachable or times out — returns network error
- Non-redirect response at first hop (200 OK) — returns single-hop result with no redirects

## How this service works

Redirect chain tracer: follows any shortened or redirecting link up to six hops and reports every URL in the chain along with the final destination and HTTP status. Guarded against requests to internal addresses. Use it to audit affiliate links, verify marketing redirects, or confirm a link's true destination before an agent follows it.

## Output

An ordered list of up to six intermediate URLs encountered during the redirect chain, the final destination URL, and the HTTP status code at each hop. Requests to internal/private IP ranges are blocked for security.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "properties": {
  "url": {
   "type": "string"
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "chain": [
   "https://bit.ly/example",
   "https://t.co/x",
   "https://example.com/landing"
  ],
  "final_url": "https://example.com/landing",
  "redirects": 2
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/redirect-chain-tracer-11efe3fa/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from x402.forgemesh.io](https://www.zero.xyz/host/x402.forgemesh.io/llms.txt)