How do I install the Linkcheck Throttle skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add mrbinnacle/linkcheck-throttle 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.

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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 Linkcheck Throttle free to use?

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

Who published Linkcheck Throttle?

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

Linkcheck Throttle by mrbinnacle — Agent Skill

Name: Linkcheck Throttle
Author: MrBinnacle

File contents

GitHub Link-Check 404-Throttle False Negative

Problem

Link checkers hit github.com issue/PR pages anonymously. GitHub's anti-scraping throttle answers some of those requests with 404, not 429 — so a checker configured to tolerate rate limits (--accept 200,206,429, the common lychee setup) still reports a hard "dead link" on a URL that resolves fine in a browser or via the API. During a GitHub platform incident the same false-404s appear repo-wide at once.

Context / Trigger Conditions

CI job red with lines like: [404] https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/issues/47 | Rejected status code: 404 Not Found
The links are same-forge issue/PR URLs, often many at once.
The failing files were not touched by the change under test.
Bonus tell for the outage variant: a second unrelated job (CodeQL, actions analysis) fails in the same run, or the Actions API itself returns 503.

Solution

Verify the links via the API, not the page: gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/issues/<n> --jq '.number,.state' — if this returns, the link is alive and the 404 is throttle/outage noise.
Check platform status before diagnosing the repo: curl -s https://www.githubstatus.com/api/v2/status.json — an indicator of major/critical explains everything at once; stop repo-side diagnosis.
Re-run the failed job after the throttle window / incident passes: gh run rerun <run-id> --failed. Note: a rerun is refused while the workflow is still in_progress, and returns 503 during an outage — wait for terminal.
Durable hardening (apply on clean evidence only): give the checker an authenticated path for github.com links — lychee reads GITHUB_TOKEN and uses the API instead of anonymous HTML requests. Do not ship this change during/just after an outage window: the evidence that motivated it is contaminated, and you cannot tell hardening from coincidence when it "works".

Verification

The re-run goes green with zero content changes, and gh api confirmed each flagged issue exists. If the check stays red on a quiet platform with the token wired, THEN treat the links as genuinely suspect.

Notes

Never mass-edit or remove issue links on the strength of a checker 404 alone — that converts a false negative into real information loss.
The two-unrelated-jobs-failing-at-once pattern generalizes: check githubstatus.com before any surprising CI diagnosis.

References

lychee GitHub token support: https://github.com/lycheeverse/lychee (README, --github-token / GITHUB_TOKEN)
GitHub status API: https://www.githubstatus.com/api

---name: linkcheck-throttledescription: Use when a CI link checker reports 404 on github.com issue or PR URLs that gh api resolves fine. GitHub throttles anonymous page requests with 404, not 429, which reads exactly like a dead link.---# GitHub Link-Check 404-Throttle False Negative## ProblemLink checkers hit github.com issue/PR pages anonymously. GitHub's anti-scrapingthrottle answers some of those requests with **404, not 429** — so a checkerconfigured to tolerate rate limits (`--accept 200,206,429`, the common lycheesetup) still reports a hard "dead link" on a URL that resolves fine in a browseror via the API. During a GitHub platform incident the same false-404s appearrepo-wide at once.## Context / Trigger Conditions- CI job red with lines like: `[404] https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/issues/47 | Rejected status code: 404 Not Found`- The links are same-forge issue/PR URLs, often many at once.- The failing files were not touched by the change under test.- Bonus tell for the outage variant: a second unrelated job (CodeQL, actions analysis) fails in the same run, or the Actions API itself returns 503.## Solution1. **Verify the links via the API, not the page**: `gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/issues/<n> --jq '.number,.state'` — if this returns, the link is alive and the 404 is throttle/outage noise.2. **Check platform status before diagnosing the repo**: `curl -s https://www.githubstatus.com/api/v2/status.json` — an `indicator` of `major`/`critical` explains everything at once; stop repo-side diagnosis.3. **Re-run the failed job after the throttle window / incident passes**: `gh run rerun <run-id> --failed`. Note: a rerun is refused while the workflow is still `in_progress`, and returns 503 during an outage — wait for terminal.4. **Durable hardening (apply on clean evidence only)**: give the checker an authenticated path for github.com links — lychee reads `GITHUB_TOKEN` and uses the API instead of anonymous HTML requests. Do not ship this change during/just after an outage window: the evidence that motivated it is contaminated, and you cannot tell hardening from coincidence when it "works".## VerificationThe re-run goes green with zero content changes, and `gh api` confirmed eachflagged issue exists. If the check stays red on a quiet platform with the tokenwired, THEN treat the links as genuinely suspect.## Notes- Never mass-edit or remove issue links on the strength of a checker 404 alone — that converts a false negative into real information loss.- The two-unrelated-jobs-failing-at-once pattern generalizes: check githubstatus.com before any surprising CI diagnosis.## References- lychee GitHub token support: https://github.com/lycheeverse/lychee (README, `--github-token` / `GITHUB_TOKEN`)- GitHub status API: https://www.githubstatus.com/api

Frequently asked questions

Linkcheck Throttle