## GreatDocs.check_links()


Check all links in source code and documentation for broken links.


Usage

``` python
GreatDocs.check_links(
    include_source=True,
    include_docs=True,
    timeout=10.0,
    ignore_patterns=None,
    verbose=False
)
```


> **Note: Note**
>
> In practice, you would normally use the `great-docs check-links` CLI command rather than calling this method directly. See the [CLI reference](cli/check_links.md) for details.

This method scans Python source files and documentation files (`.qmd`, `.md`) for URLs and checks their HTTP status. It reports broken links (404s) and warns about redirects.

The following content is automatically excluded from link checking:

- **Python comments**: URLs in lines starting with `#`
- **Code blocks**: URLs inside fenced code blocks (`...`)
- **Inline code**: URLs inside backticks (`` `...` ``)
- **Marked URLs**: URLs followed by `{.gd-no-link}` in `.qmd`/`.md` files

For documentation, the checker scans the source `user_guide/` directory rather than the generated `docs/` directory to avoid checking transient files.

In `.qmd` files, you can exclude specific URLs from checking by adding `{.gd-no-link}` immediately after the URL:

    Visit http://example.com{.gd-no-link} for an example.
    Also works with inline code: `http://example.com`{.gd-no-link}


## Parameters


`include_source: bool = ``True`  
If `True`, scan Python source files in the package directory for URLs. Default is `True`.

`include_docs: bool = ``True`  
If `True`, scan documentation files (`.qmd`, `.md`) for URLs. Default is `True`.

`timeout: float = ``10.0`  
Timeout in seconds for each HTTP request. Default is `10.0`.

`ignore_patterns: list[str] | None = None`  
List of URL patterns (strings or regex) to ignore. URLs matching any pattern will be skipped. Default is `None`.

`verbose: bool = ``False`  
If `True`, print detailed progress information. Default is `False`.


## Returns


`dict`  
A dictionary containing:

- `total`: total number of unique links checked
- `ok`: list of links that returned 2xx status
- `redirects`: list of dicts with `url`, `status`, `location` for 3xx responses
- `broken`: list of dicts with `url`, `status`, `error` for 4xx/5xx or errors
- `skipped`: list of URLs that were skipped (matched ignore patterns)
- `by_file`: dict mapping file paths to lists of links found in each file


## Examples

Check all links in a project:

``` python
from great_docs import GreatDocs

docs = GreatDocs()
results = docs.check_links()

print(f"Checked {results['total']} links")
print(f"Broken: {len(results['broken'])}")
print(f"Redirects: {len(results['redirects'])}")
```

Check only documentation files with custom timeout:

``` python
results = docs.check_links(
    include_source=False,
    timeout=5.0,
    ignore_patterns=["localhost", "127.0.0.1", "example.com"]
)
```