Link directly to final destination URLs
SkillDev toolsredirect-chains is a skill for auditing internal link structure after a URL migration, domain change, or site rebuild. It guides an agent through checking redirect chains and fixing broken links on any site that has had redirects in place for more than a month.
Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.
No other account needed.
Have a site that has had redirects in place for more than a month, such as after a URL migration, domain change, or rebuild.
Then ask your AI: use the Link directly to final destination URLs skill
What your AI can do with it
- Audit internal link structure after a URL migration or domain change
- Check redirect chains across a site
- Identify broken links left over from a site move or redesign
- Guide fixes for links affected by redirects in place for more than a month
Getting started
- Have a site that has had redirects in place for more than a month, such as after a URL migration, domain change, or rebuild.
- Add the redirect-chains skill to the agent's available skills.
- Ask the agent to audit the site's internal link structure and follow its guidance to check redirect chains and fix broken links.
What this skill tells your AI
The instructions your AI receives, as published by thedaviddias/front-end-checklist in skills/redirect-chains/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.
Internal links that point to redirect URLs add latency, waste crawl budget, and pass less PageRank to the destination than a direct link would—reducing the ranking potential of linked pages.
Quick Reference
- Internal links should point directly to the final destination URL, not to a URL that redirects
- Each redirect in a chain dilutes the PageRank passed through it
- Update internal links after URL migrations to point to the new URLs
- Use 301 redirects for permanent moves, but then update source links
Check
Crawl internal links across the site. For each tag, follow the URL and check the HTTP response code. Flag any internal link that resolves to a 301 or 302 redirect rather than a direct 200 response. Report the source page, linked URL, and the final destination URL after following the redirect.
Fix
For each internal link pointing to a redirect URL: update the href attribute to point directly to the final destination URL (the 200-status URL after following all redirects). Keep the redirect in place for external links, but update all internal links to point directly to the canonical-url destination.
Explain
When Googlebot follows a link to a URL that then redirects to another URL, PageRank is partially lost at each hop. Google has stated that redirects dilute PageRank. Additionally, linking to redirect URLs wastes crawl budget since Googlebot must make multiple requests to reach the final content. Updating internal links to point directly to destination URLs passes full PageRank and improves crawl efficiency.
Code Review
For each internal link, follow the URL and check the HTTP response code. If the response is 301 or 302, record the Location header and continue following. Report all internal links that resolve via one or more redirects before reaching a 200 response. Include: source page, link href, each redirect URL in the chain, and final destination URL.
For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance,
see references/rule.md.
Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/en/rules/seo/redirect-chains
Signals
- GitHub stars
- 74k
- Forks
- 7k
- Last commit
- Aug 2026
Questions
- When should this skill be used?
- Use it when auditing internal link structure after a URL migration, domain change, or site rebuild. It applies to any site that has had redirects in place for more than a month.
- Does it work on any site?
- It applies to any site that has had redirects in place for more than a month, such as one that went through a move or redesign.
Advanced
- Item type
- skill
- Key
redirect-chains- Source
- github.com/thedaviddias/front-end-checklist