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Beck Links

Links for every item

Overview

One URL pattern gives every item in your app a link, with its own preview.

An app with thousands of items (challenges, products, profiles, ads) does not need a link per item. You describe the URL shape once, for example https://yourbrand.becklinks.com/c/{id}, and every item already has a working link. No row is created per item or per sharer.

What you get#

VisitorWhat happens
Person, app installed and the host verifiedThe app opens directly (App Link or Universal Link) on the item
Person, app not installedThe store, or your web page for that item; after the install the app receives the same item
Chat app or social network (a link-preview bot)A page with the title, description and image of that item, fetched from your own metadata endpoint
Person on a desktopYour web page for the item

The click is recorded with the item's id and, if you want, the parameters of the link (a referral code, a campaign). Humans never wait for your server: only the preview of a link in a chat app calls it, and the answer is cached.

The parts#

  1. A resource type, such as challenge: what the items are. See URL templates.
  2. A URL template, such as /c/{id}, with the shape of an id and where each platform goes.
  3. A metadata API (optional): the endpoint Beck Links asks for an item's title, description and image, so each shared link has its own card. See Metadata API.
  4. Your app, which receives LinkEvent.resource (type and id) and loads the item through your own API. See Install and initialise.
  5. Your backend, which builds link strings, validates referrals and tells Beck Links when items change. See Referrals and parameters and Keeping previews fresh.

A link is just a string#

Your backend builds https://yourbrand.becklinks.com/c/4521?ref=U7K2X9AB itself. It does not call Beck Links, and nothing is stored for it until someone clicks.

Set it up#

You can configure everything in the dashboard (Resources) or in code with a secret key: see Manage with the API. Do it in the test environment first.

Verify it works#

  1. In Resources, use Test a URL with /c/4521: it shows which template matches and the destinations with the id filled in.
  2. Use Preview a link to see the card a chat app would show.
  3. Share a test link to yourself and open it.