How to use Link Alpha
This page describes exactly what the current version of Link Alpha does — nothing here is aspirational or planned-but-unbuilt.
1. Install and open it
Add Link Alpha from the Chrome Web Store. No account or sign-up is required. Once installed, pin it to your toolbar so it's one click away, then open any normal webpage and click the Link Alpha icon.
2. Start a scan
Click Start scan. Link Alpha reads the links already present in the page's HTML (every <a href>), then checks each destination with a live progress indicator — a link count, a running total checked, and a cancel button if you want to stop partway through.
Link Alpha scans the current page only by default. Scanning an entire site is a separate, explicit action — see full-site scanning below.
3. Read the results
Every checked link gets one of four statuses:
- Working — responded successfully.
- Redirect — forwards to a destination that responded successfully. This is reported separately from Broken, since a working redirect usually isn't a problem.
- Broken — a confirmed error response, or the host couldn't be reached at all.
- Inconclusive — couldn't be reliably confirmed, because of a cross-origin browser restriction, a timeout, rate-limiting, or a site that blocks automated checks or requires a login. This is never treated as evidence that a link is actually broken.
From the dashboard you can search by URL or link text, filter by status or by internal/external, sort any column, and copy a URL with one click. Links that point to the same destination from multiple places on the page are grouped, with the occurrence count shown.
4. Locate a link on the page
Click Locate on any result to jump to that link and highlight it directly on the page you scanned. The highlight is temporary and non-destructive — it doesn't change the page's content, and it clears automatically.
5. Export your results
Export the full result set as CSV or JSON. Both formats include the URL, status, description, link text, source page, timestamp, and relevant scan metadata (scan ID, duration, counts). CSV values are escaped to guard against formula-injection when opened in a spreadsheet.
6. Manage scan history
Your last 10 scans are saved locally so you can revisit results without rescanning — including if you close the popup mid-scan and come back later. Reopen a previous scan, delete a single entry, or clear all history from the popup at any time.
Permissions, explained
| Permission | What it's for |
|---|---|
activeTab | Lets Link Alpha read the page you're currently viewing, only when you click the icon — not on every page you visit. |
scripting | Injects the scanning code into the current page when you start a scan. It never runs on pages you haven't asked it to scan. |
storage / unlimitedStorage | Stores settings, scan history, and your daily usage count locally on your device. unlimitedStorage exists so pages with thousands of links don't hit Chrome's default local-storage limit. |
| Optional host access | Requested at runtime, scoped to one site at a time, only when you click "Scan entire site" — never granted upfront. |
Pages Link Alpha can't scan
Chrome itself blocks extensions from reading certain pages —chrome:// pages, the Chrome Web Store's own pages, and a few other browser-internal surfaces. On those pages Link Alpha shows a plain "can't scan this page" message rather than freezing or failing silently.
Free tier and Pro
The free tier includes 40 scans a day with every feature described above — full results, both export formats, and scan history. An optional Pro upgrade ($3.99/month, $24.99/year, or $39 one-time) removes the daily scan cap and changes nothing else.