How do I install the Dead Link Scanner skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add dvcrn/dead-link-scanner in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Dead Link Scanner safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Dead Link Scanner?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Dead Link Scanner free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Dead Link Scanner?

dvcrn (@dvcrn) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Dead Link Scanner by dvcrn — Agent Skill

Name: Dead Link Scanner
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Author: dvcrn

Dead Link Scanner

Scan websites, markdown files, and HTML files for broken links (dead links). Use when checking a website for 404s, validating links in documentation or README files, auditing link health before a deploy, or finding broken internal/external links. Supports recursive crawling with depth limits, markdown file scanning, and output in text or JSON format.

dvcrn Updated Sep 8, 2026 32 repo stars

File contents

dead-link-scanner

Find broken links in websites, markdown files, and HTML documents.

Quick Start

# Scan a website for broken links
python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com

# Scan with depth limit (default: 1)
python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com --depth 3

# Scan a local markdown file
python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py file README.md

# Scan multiple files
python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py file docs/*.md

# JSON output
python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com --json

# Only show broken links
python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com --broken-only

Commands

`scan`

Crawl a website and check all links on each page.

python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan <url> [options]

Options:

--depth <n> — Max crawl depth (default: 1, 0 = single page only)
--timeout <seconds> — Request timeout (default: 10)
--json — Output results as JSON
--broken-only — Only show broken links
--internal-only — Only check links within the same domain
--max-urls <n> — Max URLs to check (default: 200)
--delay <seconds> — Delay between requests (default: 0.2)

`file`

Scan local markdown or HTML files for broken links.

python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py file <path>... [options]

Options:

--timeout <seconds> — Request timeout (default: 10)
--json — Output as JSON
--broken-only — Only show broken links

Output

Default text output:

✓ 200  https://example.com/about
✓ 200  https://example.com/blog
✗ 404  https://example.com/old-page  (found on: https://example.com)
✗ ERR  https://dead-domain.xyz  (found on: https://example.com) — ConnectionError

Summary line:

Checked 42 links: 39 OK, 3 broken

---name: dead-link-scannerdescription: Scan websites, markdown files, and HTML files for broken links (dead links). Use when checking a website for 404s, validating links in documentation or README files, auditing link health before a deploy, or finding broken internal/external links. Supports recursive crawling with depth limits, markdown file scanning, and output in text or JSON format.---# dead-link-scannerFind broken links in websites, markdown files, and HTML documents.## Quick Start```bash# Scan a website for broken linkspython3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com# Scan with depth limit (default: 1)python3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com --depth 3# Scan a local markdown filepython3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py file README.md# Scan multiple filespython3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py file docs/*.md# JSON outputpython3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com --json# Only show broken linkspython3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan https://example.com --broken-only```## Commands### `scan`Crawl a website and check all links on each page.```bashpython3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py scan <url> [options]```Options:- `--depth <n>` — Max crawl depth (default: 1, 0 = single page only)- `--timeout <seconds>` — Request timeout (default: 10)- `--json` — Output results as JSON- `--broken-only` — Only show broken links- `--internal-only` — Only check links within the same domain- `--max-urls <n>` — Max URLs to check (default: 200)- `--delay <seconds>` — Delay between requests (default: 0.2)### `file`Scan local markdown or HTML files for broken links.```bashpython3 scripts/dead_link_scanner.py file <path>... [options]```Options:- `--timeout <seconds>` — Request timeout (default: 10)- `--json` — Output as JSON- `--broken-only` — Only show broken links## OutputDefault text output:```✓ 200 https://example.com/about✓ 200 https://example.com/blog✗ 404 https://example.com/old-page (found on: https://example.com)✗ ERR https://dead-domain.xyz (found on: https://example.com) — ConnectionError```Summary line:```Checked 42 links: 39 OK, 3 broken```

Frequently asked questions