Redirect Chain (redirect-chain)

Summary

Redirect chains, loops, length, and permanent vs temporary redirects.

Classification

• Category: SEO
• Plugin id: redirect-chain
• Version: 1.0.0
• Target types: WEBSITE, WEBSHOP
• Weight class: LIGHT
• Risk level: not set on plugin object
• Browser required: No (HTTP / Node / other — see source)
• Tier / group: Tier 1 — HTTP-only

Schedule

• scheduleHints: { defaultInterval: '0 */6 * * *', priority: 5 }
• Prerequisites: None declared on this plugin.

Configurable inputs

Public keys are derived from inputSchema: z.object({ ... }) (underscore-prefixed keys are runtime-only and omitted here).

Field	Notes
timeout	Default 10000 ms per hop (1000–30000).
maxChainLength	Default 2 — chains longer than this trigger a finding (severity escalates at >4 hops).
checkCommonVariants	Default true — also trace http↔https and www↔non-www variants.

Runtime / injected config

• None documented beyond standard worker context (target, config, logger, reportProgress). Underscore-prefixed keys are internal.

Checks that produce findings

These checks run inside this plugin during a single test run. They are not separate tests in the database — each becomes a Finding linked to the Run for redirect-chain.

When checkCommonVariants is enabled, http/www variants are checked in addition to the primary URL.

Check	Typical severity	Why
Redirect loop	CRITICAL	Same URL appears twice in the chain — browsers and crawlers may never reach content.
Long redirect chain (> maxChainLength, default 2)	INFO if 3–4 hops; WARNING if >4	Each hop adds latency and dilutes PageRank/link equity to the final URL.
Temporary redirect (302/307) per hop	INFO (one finding per hop)	Temporary codes do not consolidate SEO signals like 301/308 would for permanent moves.
Redirect trace error	WARNING	Fetch failed or exceeded 20 hops — partial chain in evidence.

How each check works

1. URL set — Primary target URL plus, when variants enabled: HTTP counterpart of HTTPS URL, and www vs bare hostname variant.
2. Trace — GET each URL with redirect: 'manual', follow Location manually up to 20 hops, SSRF-check each hop.
3. Loop detection — Compare all URLs in chain + final URL; duplicate → CRITICAL finding.
4. Length — If chain.length > maxChainLength (default 2): INFO when length ≤4, WARNING when >4.
5. Temporary hops — Each 302 or 307 in the chain emits its own INFO finding (can duplicate across variant traces).
6. Errors — Network/timeout/max-depth → WARNING with partial chain.
7. Score — −40 for loop, −8 per hop (max −30), −3 per INFO finding.

Caveats and concerns

• GET not HEAD — Uses GET with manual redirect handling; some servers behave differently per method.
• Per-hop 302 noise — Legitimate temporary redirects (A/B, geo) still flag INFO on every run.
• Variant overlap — www and canonical URL may report duplicate temporary-redirect findings for the same hop.
• No 301 vs 308 distinction — Only 302/307 flagged as “temporary”; 301/308 are silent.
• Single path — Does not crawl sitemap URLs or internal links for redirect issues.

Source

packages/test-plugins/src/plugins/redirect-chain.ts