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Your README’s Demo Link Is Broken: How to Diagnose and Fix It

Find out whether a dead README demo link is a typo, bad relative path, moved file, or outdated deployment—and how to verify the repair and catch future link failures.
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Start by opening the README as visitors see it on GitHub and clicking the demo link. Record the exact destination and what happens before editing anything. Then determine whether the target is a typo, a repository file, a changed deployment URL, or a demo that is temporarily or permanently unavailable. After fixing it, click through again and confirm the demo itself works.

First, reproduce the failure in the rendered README

Open the repository’s rendered README on GitHub and click the demo link. Note the full destination, including its scheme (http or https), path, capitalization, trailing slash, and any fragment after #. Record the result: for example, whether it is a 404, a redirect, a browser or network error, or a page that loads but does not show the demo.

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If the rendered link does not match what you expected, inspect the raw Markdown and compare the link target with the visible text. GitHub may display a README from the repository root, .github, or docs; make sure you are editing the file that supplies the README you saw. GitHub explains README placement and rendering in About the repository README file.

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A link checker can report that a URL or path failed a check. It cannot tell you whether an interactive demo behaves as intended. Open the destination yourself and confirm the experience a visitor is supposed to get.

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Work out what kind of link is broken

A typo or malformed destination

Compare the Markdown target character by character with the intended destination. Check the protocol, hostname, spelling, capitalization, path, trailing slash, and fragment. A host may treat path capitalization as significant. Also check for an outdated redirect or a copied URL that points to a preview rather than the public demo.

A repository-relative file path

If the link points to a file in the repository, resolve the path from the directory containing the Markdown file—not automatically from the repository root. For example, a README inside docs/ needs a different relative path to a file at the root than a root-level README does.

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GitHub supports ./ and ../ in relative links. A path beginning with / is relative to the repository root. GitHub also transforms relative links for the branch being viewed. See GitHub’s README guidance for the rules and examples. Prefer repository-relative links when the target is a repository file: absolute paths on your own machine, or URLs tied to one clone, will not work for other people cloning the repository.

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A moved or deleted destination

If the target is a repository file, check whether it was renamed, moved, or removed. If it still exists, update the Markdown path. If it was intentionally deleted, replace the link with the intended current resource or remove the link rather than sending readers to a dead destination.

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If the link points to a file under a branch name, remember that the content can change as commits are made. For a code example or file that must stay tied to one revision, use a commit permalink. GitHub documents how to get one in Getting permanent links to files. A permalink preserves a reference to repository content; it does not make a live demo deployment permanent.

A changed or unavailable demo deployment

A live demo usually has a separate deployment URL. Check the project’s current hosting or deployment configuration and identify the canonical public URL. A preview URL, an old custom domain, or a deployment that was removed can leave the README pointing somewhere that no longer serves the demo. Update the README to the current public destination once you have confirmed it.

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If the destination returns an error, do not assume immediately that the demo is gone. A 403 or 429 response, timeout, or temporary server error may reflect access controls, rate limiting, or an outage rather than a permanently dead URL. Try the destination in a normal browser session and investigate the deployment before changing a valid link.

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Repair the Markdown target

  1. For a live demo: replace the old target with the canonical public deployment URL. Keep the visible link text clear about what it opens, such as “Live demo.”
  2. For a repository file: use a path relative to the Markdown file, or a leading-slash path when the target is intentionally relative to the repository root. Check that the file exists at that location.
  3. For a stable file reference: use a GitHub commit permalink if readers must see the exact version of a file. Keep that separate from the live demo link, whose deployment needs its own current URL.
  4. Save the change and inspect the rendered README. Confirm that the displayed link points where you expect, then click it and check the destination.
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Catch future failures with a Markdown link check

Add a Markdown link-checking step to CI or a scheduled workflow so failures are surfaced without waiting for a reader to report them. GitHub Marketplace has examples including Markdown Link Checker, Markdown dead link checker, and Check Markdown. Their listings describe different checks; they are examples, not a tested ranking.

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Before adopting an Action, check its current maintenance and versioning, then verify that its configuration covers the Markdown files you care about and the link types you need. In particular, check:

  • Whether it checks external URLs, repository-local files, and fragments.
  • How it treats 403 and 429 responses, timeouts, and transient server errors.
  • Whether you can scope files and exclude destinations that should not be checked.
  • How failures are reported in CI and whether the team can investigate them.

Run the check, inspect each reported failure, and fix confirmed problems. A checker’s failed request is a signal to investigate, not proof on its own that the demo is permanently unavailable. Likewise, a passing link check does not verify that an interactive demo renders or works correctly.

Verify the fix from a visitor’s perspective

  • Open the rendered README on GitHub, not only the Markdown editor.
  • Click the demo link and confirm it reaches the expected destination.
  • Check that the demo actually loads and presents the intended experience.
  • For a repository file link, confirm the target opens from the README’s location and the branch readers will view.
  • Run the automated Markdown check after the edit and investigate any ambiguous response.

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