The link that lived in the author's hand

Description and use

Automated link validation in the publishing pipeline ensures all internal links exist on disk, eliminating 404 errors and improving content reliability.

Problem

Manual link validation in a publishing pipeline caused missed broken links and 404 errors, leading to defects that only surfaced during manual review.

Outcome

All internal links are verified against the local disk before publishing, eliminating 404 errors and ensuring content integrity.

Workflow

• Parse note for all href and src attributes
• Resolve relative paths against site root
• Fold same‑domain absolute URLs to local paths
• Skip external URLs, mailto, and anchors
• Check existence of each resolved file on disk
• Abort push and report note with dead target if any missing
• Include guard in pre‑flight pipeline alongside other checks

Evidence

The repair reads every href and src in the note before anything is written.

Source