Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Broken Internal Links Audit agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The broken-links skill is a short set of instructions that teaches an AI agent to check a website for internal links that lead to missing pages (404) or server errors (5xx), then recommend updating or removing them. It is written for developers, site owners and SEO specialists who want a checklist-driven review after a migration or content deletion. After reading this guide you will know what the skill does, how to install it, how to ask for an audit in plain language, and where its limits are.
Broken Internal Links Auditthedaviddias/Front-End-Checklist · MIT Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download and unzip the skill. Download the ZIP file for the broken-links skill from this page and unzip it to get the skill folder containing SKILL.md.
- 2Place the folder in the right location. Move the folder to ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or to .claude/skills/ inside one project.
- 3Or upload it in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills and upload the skill.
- 4Make a natural request. Ask the agent in plain language to check your site for internal links that return 404 or 5xx errors.
- 5Review the report. Check each reported link, its page and its status code against the live site.
- 6Apply the fix. Update each broken link to the correct URL or remove it if the destination no longer exists.
What is an agent skill, and what does this one make the agent do?
An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file of instructions that an AI agent can load when a request matches the skill's description. This skill is a checklist item from the Front-End Checklist, with the SEO category, high priority and beginner difficulty listed in its metadata.
Once installed, the agent checks the website for internal links that lead to 404 (Not Found) or 5xx (Server Error) responses. It then recommends updating each broken link to the correct URL, or removing it if the destination no longer exists. It also explains why dead links waste search engine crawl budget, meaning bots spend their visits on error pages instead of live content.
- Finds internal links returning 404 or 5xx codes
- Recommends updating the link to the correct URL, or removing it
- Flags the exact routes or templates where search-facing output breaks the rule (for code reviews)
- Explains crawl budget and how dead links affect indexing in plain language
How do you install the broken-links skill?
Download the ZIP file for this skill from this page and unzip it. You can install it in one of two ways, depending on how you use your agent.
For Claude Code, place the unzipped skill folder in ~/.claude/skills/ to make it available across your projects, or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to that project. In the Claude apps, you can instead upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- Personal (all projects): ~/.claude/skills/
- Single project: .claude/skills/ inside the project folder
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload
How do you trigger the skill with a natural request?
You do not need a special command. The agent loads the skill when your request matches its description, which covers auditing metadata, crawlability, structured data or indexability related to internal broken links. Ask in plain language and name the site or pages you care about.
Be specific about scope. The skill covers internal links only, so say so if you also want outbound links checked, and expect that the agent will not check them under this skill.
- "Check my site for internal links that return 404 or 500 errors."
- "We moved our blog to /articles. Find any internal links that still point to the old paths."
- "Review the navigation and footer on https://example.com for dead internal links and suggest fixes."
- "Explain to my content team why broken internal links waste crawl budget."
What can you expect the audit to cover?
The skill asks the agent to verify the rendered HTML and the HTTP response, not only the source files. This matters because a link can look correct in a template but produce an error once the page is rendered or served. The agent should report the exact link, the page it appears on and the status code it returned.
The skill's guidance has three parts: check for 404 and 5xx links, fix them by updating or removing, and explain crawl budget. A longer reference file, references/rule.md, contains a code example of a broken navigation link and its fix, along with the reasoning behind the rule.
- Check: scan for internal links leading to 404 or 5xx pages
- Fix: update to the correct URL or remove if the page is gone
- Explain: crawl budget and indexing efficiency
- Review: metadata, rendered HTML, structured data and response headers
<nav aria-label="Main Menu">
<ul>
<!-- Bad: Points to a non-existent page -->
<li><a href="/our-servicez">Services</a></li>
<!-- Good: Points to the correct, live URL -->
<li><a href="/services">Services</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>What does the skill need, and what are the safety notes?
The skill lists no required tools or dependencies. It does not run scripts, but it does use the network, because checking responses means requesting pages. Whether the audit can complete depends on what the agent can reach from its environment.
Sites that are private, behind a login, or only available on a staging server may not be reachable, so the agent cannot verify live responses for them. Since the skill makes network requests, review which sites you point it at, as you would with any tool that fetches web pages.
- Requires: nothing listed
- Runs scripts: no
- Uses network: yes
- Not suitable for full-scale crawling: no crawler script is included
What tips help you get useful results?
Run the audit after any migration, URL change or content deletion, since those are the usual causes of dead internal links. Give the agent the list of URLs that changed so it can search for old paths directly.
Treat the output as a checklist. Confirm each reported broken link yourself before editing, and ask the agent to name the template or route that generates the link so the fix happens at the source rather than on one page.
- Audit right after a site migration or deleted pages
- Provide old and new URL paths when you have them
- Ask for the template or route behind each broken link
- Verify findings in a browser before changing content
What people use it for
- Finding old paths left in navigation and footers after a site migration
- Checking for dead internal links after deleting or renaming blog posts or product pages
- Reviewing a template to find the exact route producing a 404 or 5xx link
- Explaining crawl budget and link health to a non-technical content team
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the broken-links agent skill?
Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. Place the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder for one project. In the Claude apps, you can upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
Does the broken-links skill require anything else to run?
The skill lists no requirements and runs no scripts. It does use the network, so the agent needs to be able to reach the site it audits.
Is the broken-links skill free?
The skill is licensed under MIT. The source does not describe pricing beyond that licence, so check the repository for the licence terms.
Can the skill check external links too?
No. The skill covers internal links only. Outbound links to other domains are outside its scope.
Why does the agent say it cannot check my staging site?
The agent can only verify live responses from URLs it can reach. Private, login-protected or staging sites behind access controls may be unreachable from its environment.
Can I use this skill to crawl a large site?
Not as a dedicated crawler. The skill describes what to check but includes no crawler script, so results depend on what the agent can access and how it fetches pages.
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Our verdict
Use this skill if you want a short, checklist-driven review of internal links that return 404 or 5xx errors, especially after a migration or content deletion, and you want the agent to explain why it matters. Pick a dedicated crawler or a full site audit tool if you need large-scale crawling, external link checks or a script you can run on a schedule.
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