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Pathgrind

To try this project for yourself, head to pathgrind.com

Overview​

Pathgrind is a redirection resolution service available via a web interface and a free API. The idea came when I was looking for a service to programmatically follow client-side redirects for a given URL. While the web is full of services advertising redirect detection capabilities, all the ones I tested rely on HTTP headers to detect and track redirects. Some websites however execute JavaScript on the browser to redirect the user to a different URL after the page is loaded, which these services fail to detect. I also saw this idea as a great learning opportunity, as it was the first time I built and shipped my own web service from start to finish. It also served as a good excuse to get more comfortable with the powerful tool that is Docker.

Website screenshot

Features​

  • Find redirections for any given URL
  • REST API
  • Ability to alter resolution parameters to get the most optimal results (API only)

Implementation details​

To resolve URLs with the greatest accuracy, Pathgrind simulates a regular user visit using a headless instance of Chrome running in a Docker container. The system connects to the browser instance using the Chrome DevTools Protocol to extract the final URL. The timings can be configured using the API.