Advanced Link Controls

Use this guide to configure scheduling, expiry, click caps, password protection, routing rules, and social previews on your short links.

When to use

• You want a link to go live at a specific date and time.
• You need a link to automatically expire after a deadline or click threshold.
• You want to password-protect a link before sharing it publicly.
• You need to route different audiences to different destinations from a single link.

Scheduling

Schedule a link to become active and/or deactivate at specific times.

Both fields are optional. If neither is set, the link is active immediately and indefinitely (subject to the enabled flag).

Behavior at access time:

• Before scheduledStartAt: visitor sees a 404 (link appears to not exist).
• After scheduledEndAt: visitor sees a 410 (link has ended).
• Between the two: normal redirect behavior.

Expiry

Set an absolute expiration time after which the link stops working.

After expiry:

• The link record is not deleted — it remains queryable via the API for history and analytics.
• The redirect returns HTTP 410 (Gone).
• Analytics collected before expiry are preserved.

Click caps

Limit the total number of clicks a link can receive.

Set maxClicks to null or omit it to disable the cap. The minimum value is 1.

Password protection

Protect a link with a password. Visitors must enter the correct password before being redirected.

When a password is set:

1. Visitor navigates to the short link.
2. Instead of a redirect, a password entry form is displayed.
3. Visitor enters the password.
4. If correct, the visitor is redirected to the destination.
5. If incorrect, the form re-displays with an error message.

Set password to null or empty string to remove password protection.

Note: The API never returns the plaintext password — it returns a boolean indicating whether a password is set.

Routing rules

Route different visitors to different destinations from a single short link using conditional routing rules.

Each rule has:

Condition types

Rules are evaluated in priority order. The first matching rule wins. If no rule matches, the link's default destinationUrl is used.

Tracking policy

Control how click tracking and context tokens work for a link.

Social preview

Customize the Open Graph metadata shown when the link is shared on social platforms.

Additional SEO controls:

Link status

Links use a simple enabled/disabled model combined with scheduling and expiry:

Version history

The platform keeps up to 3 versions of each link snapshot. Each version records:

• Version number (auto-incremented)
• Snapshot timestamp
• Actor who made the change
• Complete link state at that version

Use the version history to audit who changed a link and when.

Tags and categories

Organize links with custom metadata:

Tags and categories also feed into the platform's link embedding system for personalization.

UI path

1. Open https://app.{PUBLIC_DOMAIN}.
2. Navigate to your handle and open Links.
3. Select a link or create a new one.
4. Expand the Advanced Settings section.
5. Configure scheduling, expiry, password, routing rules, or social preview.
6. Save changes.

Required auth

• CREATOR-level JWT or above to manage link settings.
• PAT with links.write scope for automation.

API fallback

Create or update a link

PUT /v2/handles/{handle}/links/{slug}

{
  "destinationUrl": "https://example.com",
  "title": "My Campaign Link",
  "enabled": true,
  "scheduledStartAt": "2026-03-01T00:00:00Z",
  "scheduledEndAt": "2026-03-31T23:59:59Z",
  "expiresAt": null,
  "maxClicks": 1000,
  "password": null,
  "redirectType": "302",
  "routingRules": [
    {
      "id": "rule-mobile",
      "priority": 100,
      "destinationUrl": "https://m.example.com",
      "conditions": { "deviceIn": ["MOBILE"] }
    }
  ],
  "trackingPolicy": {
    "mode": "DIRECT",
    "appendContextParam": true
  },
  "socialPreview": {
    "ogTitle": "Spring Campaign",
    "ogDescription": "Check out our spring deals",
    "ogImage": "https://cdn.example.com/spring.jpg"
  },
  "tags": ["spring", "promo"],
  "categories": ["marketing"],
  "nofollow": false,
  "sponsored": false
}

Preview routing decision

POST /v2/handles/{handle}/links/{slug}/route-preview

{
  "country": "US",
  "device": "mobile",
  "source": "email"
}

Returns which destination URL would be selected for the given conditions.

Common errors

Related:

• Short Links and Redirects
• Smart Link Personalization
• Context Token Lifecycle
• Campaign Funnel Workflow