Dead Link Fixer

Dead Link Fixer is a web tool that scans GitHub repositories for dead hyperlinks, replaces them with archive.org snapshots, and automatically opens a pull request with the fixes. Based on an idea by Yush G at https://aayushg.com/ideas.

Features

• Detects dead links in .md and text files
• Replaces dead URLs with working archive.org snapshots
• Authenticates via GitHub OAuth
• Supports public and private repositories
• Fully automated PR creation
• Runs on GitHub Pages + Render backend

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Deployment

Frontend (GitHub Pages)

1. Upload contents of /frontend to the root of your GitHub repository
2. Go to Settings → Pages
3. Set:
   • Source: main
   • Folder: / (root)

Backend (Render)

1. Create a GitHub OAuth App

   • Authorization callback: https://<your-backend>.onrender.com/callback
   • Homepage URL: https://<your-username>.github.io/deadlink-fixer/

2. Deploy your backend folder to Render

   • Build command: pip install -r requirements.txt
   • Start command: flask run --host=0.0.0.0 --port=10000
   • Start command for production: gunicorn -w 4 -b 0.0.0.0:$PORT app:app
   • Runtime: Python 3.11+

3. Set the following environment variables in Render:

FLASK_APP=app.py
PORT=10000
SECRET_KEY=your_flask_secret
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=your_secret
GITHUB_AUTHORIZE_URL=https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize
GITHUB_TOKEN_URL=https://github.com/login/oauth/access_token
GITHUB_API_BASE_URL=https://api.github.com
OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI=https://your-backend.onrender.com/callback
FRONTEND_URL=https://yourusername.github.io/deadlink-fixer/
DEFAULT_BRANCH=main
DEFAULT_PR_TITLE=Fix dead links
DEFAULT_PR_BODY=Fix dead links via DeadLinkFixer

Where to Get Environment Variables

Variable	Where to Get It
SECRET_KEY	Run python -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))" to generate one
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID	From GitHub Developer Settings → OAuth Apps
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET	From the same place as above
GITHUB_AUTHORIZE_URL	Usually https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize
GITHUB_TOKEN_URL	Usually https://github.com/login/oauth/access_token
GITHUB_API_BASE_URL	Usually https://api.github.com
OAUTH_REDIRECT_URI	Matches your Render service: https://your-backend.onrender.com/callback
FRONTEND_URL	Your GitHub Pages site: https://yourusername.github.io/deadlink-fixer/
DEFAULT_BRANCH	Target PR branch (main, master, etc.)
DEFAULT_PR_TITLE	Text for the PR title
DEFAULT_PR_BODY	Text for the PR body

4. (Optional) Add .nojekyll to your GitHub Pages root if using raw index.html

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Local Development

Create (do NOT share) a .env file based on .env.example:

cp .env.example .env

Then run locally:

cd backend
python -m flask run

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FAQ

• Does this work for GitHub Enterprise or GitLab? GitHub only.

• Why doesn't login work on mobile? Mobile browsers may block cross-site cookies. Use desktop Chrome/Firefox for best results, or self-host frontend and backend under one domain.

• Can I preview changes before PR is created? Nope.

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License

This project is licensed under the GPL-3.0 License.

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Author

Made by Mathias Hamza Mirza.