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    DeadFinder

    Usage

    This section covers the basic usage of DeadFinder and provides examples for common use cases.

    Basic Usage

    Scan a Single URL

    To scan a single URL for dead links:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com

    Scan URLs from a File

    Create a file with URLs (one per line) and scan them:

    # Create urls.txt with URLs
echo "https://www.example.com" > urls.txt
echo "https://www.example.org" >> urls.txt

# Scan the file
deadfinder file urls.txt

    Scan from Sitemap

    Scan all URLs listed in a sitemap:

    deadfinder sitemap https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml

    Scan from STDIN (Pipe Mode)

    You can pipe URLs from other commands:

    cat urls.txt | deadfinder pipe

    Or combine with other tools:

    echo "https://www.example.com" | deadfinder pipe

    Output Options

    Save Results to File

    Save the scan results to a file:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com -o results.json

    Different Output Formats

    DeadFinder supports JSON (default), YAML, and CSV output formats:

    # JSON format (default)
deadfinder url https://www.example.com -f json -o results.json

# YAML format
deadfinder url https://www.example.com -f yaml -o results.yaml

# CSV format
deadfinder url https://www.example.com -f csv -o results.csv

    Performance Options

    Adjust Concurrency

    Control the number of concurrent workers (default is 50):

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --concurrency=30

    Set Timeout

    Set the request timeout in seconds (default is 10):

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --timeout=15

    Combine Options

    deadfinder sitemap https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml \
  --concurrency=30 \
  --timeout=15 \
  -o results.json

    Filtering Options

    URL Pattern Matching

    Match only URLs that match a specific pattern:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --match="api|v1|graphql"

    Ignore URL Patterns

    Ignore URLs that match specific patterns:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --ignore="static|images|css"

    Include 30x Redirections

    By default, redirects (30x) are not considered as dead links. To include them:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --include30x

    Network Options

    Custom Headers

    Add custom HTTP headers to the initial request:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --headers "Authorization: Bearer token"

    Add custom headers for worker requests:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --worker-headers "User-Agent: CustomBot"

    Custom User-Agent

    Set a custom User-Agent string:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --user-agent="MyBot/1.0"

    Proxy Configuration

    Use a proxy server for requests:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --proxy="http://localhost:8080"

    With authentication:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com \
  --proxy="http://localhost:8080" \
  --proxy-auth="username:password"

    Coverage and Visualization

    Enable Coverage Analysis

    Get detailed statistics about your scan:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --coverage

    This will show:

    • Total URLs tested
    • Total dead links found
    • Coverage percentage

    Visualize Results

    Generate a visualization of the results:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --visualize=report.png

    Output Modes

    Silent Mode

    Suppress progress output during scanning:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --silent

    Verbose Mode

    Enable detailed output for debugging:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --verbose

    Debug Mode

    Enable debug output for troubleshooting:

    deadfinder url https://www.example.com --debug

    Advanced Examples

    Complete Workflow

    Here's a complete example combining multiple options:

    deadfinder sitemap https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml \
  --concurrency=50 \
  --timeout=10 \
  --include30x \
  --match="blog|docs" \
  --ignore="static|cdn" \
  --headers "User-Agent: DeadFinderBot" \
  --coverage \
  --visualize=report.png \
  -f json \
  -o results.json

    Monitoring Multiple Sites

    Create a script to monitor multiple sites:

    #!/bin/bash
for site in site1.com site2.com site3.com; do
  deadfinder url "https://$site" \
    --silent \
    -o "results-${site}.json"
done

    Shell Completion

    Generate shell completion scripts for bash, zsh, or fish:

    # Bash
deadfinder completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/deadfinder

# Zsh
deadfinder completion zsh > ~/.zsh/completion/_deadfinder

# Fish
deadfinder completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/deadfinder.fish