About LinkSniffer

LinkSniffer answers one question thoroughly: what does the server behind an address actually reply?

What it is for

An address looks fine in the browser but in truth returns a redirect chain, a status code 410, or a page that only exists for signed-in visitors. A screenshot does not show that. The HTTP header does.

LinkSniffer makes those answers readable – for everyone who works with links: developers, SEO teams, editorial staff, shop owners, and anyone wondering why a link behaves oddly.

What LinkSniffer does

The check runs on the server, not in your browser. That is the difference to a glance at the developer tools: the server follows the chain step by step and records every single hop.

• Redirects individually instead of collapsed. Every hop is listed with its own status code and target, up to 20 steps.
• As desktop, mobile or Googlebot. Some servers answer differently depending on the user agent – only the comparison reveals it.
• GET or HEAD. HEAD asks for the headers only, when the content is not of interest.
• Response body as a preview. The first 60 KB or so of the HTML, JSON or text content, without visiting the target page.

Where the limits are

A tool is only useful if you know what it cannot do:

• Only the standard ports 80 and 443 and publicly reachable addresses are checked. Requests aimed at private or internal networks are refused – re-checked at every redirect step, not just the first.
• LinkSniffer does not execute JavaScript. Whatever a page loads only in the browser will not appear in the content preview.
• Servers that block data-centre addresses answer our server differently than your browser. A 403 here does not necessarily mean a 403 for you.
• The answer is a snapshot. There is no monitoring over time and no notification when something changes.

Free, no account, no tracking

LinkSniffer requires no sign-up, sets no cookies and embeds neither advertising nor analytics. The address you check is not stored – neither in a database nor in the server logs. What exactly happens is described step by step in the privacy policy.

Who is behind it

LinkSniffer is developed and operated by Florian Silbereis, who has worked in e-commerce for 17 years and maintains large link inventories daily – the requirements for this tool come from that practice, not from a drawing board.

Questions, bug reports and suggestions go to kontakt@linksniffer.de. The full provider identification is in the legal notice.