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Tool 08 of 194 · Indexing

Redirect Chain Tracer

See every redirect between an old address and the page people land on, what each hop changes, and the single rule that would replace the chain.

Use the tool All developer tools Live · free
Redirect Chain Tracer at a glanceIllustration: 1, Old URLs; 2, processed in your browser; 3, Every hop, and a fix.Redirect Chain Tracer?utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=1Old URLs/old3013Every hop, and a fix2In yourbrowser
1 Old URLs 2 processed on your device 3 Every hop, and a fix

Redirect Chain Tracer

Trace live

https:// only. For a plain-http start, paste curl output on the right.

Fetch sends these addresses to leej.uk, which reads each address and follows up to 10 redirects by hand, checking every hop as LeejTools/1.0 and keeps only a count. Pasted text never leaves your device.

Or paste curl -sIL output

Run: curl -sIL https://your-address (I = headers only, L = follow redirects)

Hops

    #StatusFromToWhat changes

    One-hop rules

    Send each starting address straight to its final page. Same formats as the Redirect Generator.

    Apache .htaccess
    Nginx
    Netlify / Cloudflare Pages _redirects

    01

    What it does

    Follows up to 20 URLs through up to 10 redirects each, labels what every hop changes, finds loops and temporary redirects and writes one-hop rules.

    • Up to 20 URLs, 10 hops each, every hop re-checked
    • Labels each hop: http to https, www, slash, case, query, path
    • Loops, temporary 302/307s and mixed redirect types
    • Final page canonical, meta refresh and JS redirects

    02

    Private by design

    Everything you paste or upload stays in your browser. Only when you press Fetch does leej.uk read the address you give, once, as LeejTools/1.0, keeping nothing but a daily count.

    03

    What you get

    A hop table and one-hop rules, with a Copy and a Download button on every result.

    • Redirects
    • 301
    • Crawl budget
    • Migrations

    Why it matters

    Redirect chains build up quietly. A site moves to https, then to www, then someone lower-cases the URLs and adds trailing slashes, and an old link now takes four hops to arrive. Each hop is another request for every visitor and crawler, temporary redirects hold back the move of ranking signals, and a single bad rule can make a loop nobody notices until traffic drops.

    This tracer follows each address one hop at a time, the way a crawler does, and says what every hop changes. It checks where the chain ends: a 404, a page whose canonical points elsewhere, or a meta refresh or JavaScript redirect that only some crawlers follow. Then it writes the one rule per URL that sends the old address straight to the final page.

    How it works

    1. InputURLs, or pasted response headers
    2. In your browserEach hop followed and labelled
    3. OutputChains, loops and one-hop rules for Apache, nginx and Netlify

    Where it fits in a designer's workflow

    1. Plan
    2. Design
    3. Build
    4. Test
    5. Launch
    Cleaning up after a migration.

    By the numbers

    Redirect hops before a page is reachedSample chain: 3 redirects; After the suggested rule: 1 redirect; Googlebot gives up after: 10 hopsSample chain3 redirectsAfter the suggested rule1 redirectGooglebot gives up after10 hops
    The sample chain is traced by this tool: adds www, changes case, adds trailing slash. Its suggested rule (/Tables https://www.example.co.uk/tables/ 301) goes straight to the final URL. Google follows up to 10 hops; each extra hop costs a round trip for visitors. Source: Google: HTTP status codes and redirects.
    Show the numbers as a table
    StatusFromToWhat changes
    301https://example.co.uk/Tableshttps://www.example.co.uk/Tablesadds www
    302https://www.example.co.uk/Tableshttps://www.example.co.uk/tableschanges case
    301https://www.example.co.uk/tableshttps://www.example.co.uk/tables/adds trailing slash
    200https://www.example.co.uk/tables/final page

    How to use it

    1. Enter up to 20 https:// addresses and press Trace, or paste the output of curl -sIL.
    2. Read the hop strip: green ends on a 200, amber marks temporary redirects, red marks loops and errors.
    3. Check the 'What changes' column to see which rule adds each hop.
    4. Copy the one-hop rules into your server config and trace again.

    FAQ

    How many redirects is too many?

    Googlebot follows up to 10 hops, but every hop slows crawling and page loads. Aim for one: old address straight to the final page.

    Why can't I trace a plain-http address live?

    The live fetch reads https only, for safety. Run curl -sIL with the plain-http address and paste the output; the tracer reads every response in it.

    Does it follow JavaScript redirects?

    No. It flags JavaScript and meta refresh redirects on the final page, because only crawlers that render JavaScript follow the first kind.

    What does HSTS change?

    Browsers that have seen your Strict-Transport-Security header go to https themselves, so they skip the http hop. Crawlers and first-time visitors still make it.

    What does it send to leej.uk?

    Only when you press Trace: the addresses, which leej.uk fetches as LeejTools/1.0, following redirects by hand. Only a daily count is kept.

    Work with me

    Want a site that gets these right?

    I build fast, accessible websites and web apps that pass these checks from day one. Tell me about your project and I'll reply personally with honest next steps.

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