LinkForty Core

Open-source alternative to Branch.io, AppsFlyer OneLink, and Firebase Dynamic Links

Self-hosted deep linking engine with device detection, analytics, deferred deep linking, and smart routing. No per-click pricing, no vendor lock-in, full data ownership — runs on your own PostgreSQL. Firebase Dynamic Links shut down in August 2025; LinkForty is a production-ready, open-source alternative you can deploy today.

Why LinkForty?

• Self-hosted and open-source — AGPL-3.0 licensed, deploy on your own infrastructure
• No per-click pricing — No usage-based fees, no monthly minimums, no enterprise sales calls
• Full data ownership — All click data, analytics, and attribution stored in your PostgreSQL database
• Privacy-first — No third-party data sharing, no tracking pixels, your users' data stays with you
• REST API and mobile SDKs — SDKs for React Native, Expo, Flutter, iOS (Swift), and Android (Kotlin)
• Firebase Dynamic Links alternative — Google shut down Firebase Dynamic Links in August 2025. LinkForty is a self-hosted, open-source alternative

How LinkForty Compares

	LinkForty Core	Branch	AppsFlyer
Open source	Yes (AGPL-3.0)	No	No
Self-hosted	Yes	No	No
Where your data lives	Your PostgreSQL	Branch's servers	AppsFlyer's servers
Per-click pricing	None	Check their pricing	Check their pricing

Features

• Smart Link Routing - Create short links with device-specific URLs for iOS, Android, and web
• Device Detection - Automatic detection and routing based on user device
• Click Analytics - Track clicks with geolocation, device type, platform, and more
• UTM Parameters - Built-in support for UTM campaign tracking
• Targeting Rules - Filter by country, device, and language before redirecting
• QR Code Generation - Generate QR codes (PNG/SVG) for any link
• Deferred Deep Linking - Install attribution by Google Play install referrer on Android (the redirect puts the click id in the Play listing's referrer), and by probabilistic fingerprint matching
• Webhooks - Event-driven integrations with HMAC-signed payloads and retry logic
• Smart App Opening - Mobile clicks serve an interstitial that tries the app via URI scheme, falls back to the App Store / Play Store. Preserves URL fragments for E2E encryption keys
• OG Preview Pages - Social media scraper detection with Open Graph meta tags
• iOS Universal Links & Android App Links - Serve .well-known files automatically
• Link Expiration - Set expiration dates for time-sensitive links
• Redis Caching - Optional Redis support for high-performance link lookups
• PostgreSQL Storage - Reliable data persistence with full SQL capabilities
• TypeScript - Fully typed API for better developer experience
• No Auth Included - Bring your own authentication; userId is optional for multi-tenant scoping

Installation

npm install @linkforty/core

Quick Start

1. Basic Server

import { createServer } from '@linkforty/core';

async function start() {
  const server = await createServer({
    database: {
      url: 'postgresql://localhost/linkforty',
    },
    redis: {
      url: 'redis://localhost:6379',
    },
  });

  await server.listen({ port: 3000, host: '0.0.0.0' });
  console.log('Server running on http://localhost:3000');
}

start();

2. Docker (Recommended for Production)

Quick Start:

# Pull the latest image
docker pull linkforty/core:latest

# Run with Docker Compose
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linkforty/core/main/docker-compose.yml
docker compose up -d

Or use Docker CLI:

docker run -d \
  --name linkforty \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@host:5432/linkforty?sslmode=disable \
  -e REDIS_URL=redis://host:6379 \
  linkforty/core:latest

Features:

• Pre-built multi-architecture images (AMD64 + ARM64)
• Automatic updates with version tags
• Non-root user for security
• Built-in health checks
• Supply chain attestations (SBOM + Provenance)

See DOCKER.md for complete deployment guide.

Reference

• API
• Redirects
• Configuration: server options and hooks, linkforty.config.json, reverse proxies, environment variables
• Database schema
• Using Core as a library
• Export and import

Deployment

Core runs anywhere you can run a container with PostgreSQL 13+ (Redis is optional). See DOCKER.md for the image, Compose setup, health checks, backups and version pinning.

Performance

• Redis caching: 5-minute TTL on link lookups reduces database queries by 90%
• Database indexes: Optimized queries for fast link lookups and analytics
• Async click tracking: Non-blocking click event logging via setImmediate()
• Connection pooling: Efficient database connection management (min 2, max 10)

Security

• SQL injection protection: Parameterized queries throughout
• Input validation: Zod schema validation on all inputs
• CORS configuration: Configurable CORS for API access control
• Link expiration: Automatic handling of expired links
• Webhook signing: HMAC SHA-256 signed payloads
• No auth included: Core does not include authentication. The optional userId parameter provides data scoping but does not verify identity. Add your own auth middleware as needed.

Mobile SDK Integration

Core serves the verification files for iOS Universal Links and Android App Links. Set these environment variables and it generates them at /.well-known/apple-app-site-association and /.well-known/assetlinks.json:

IOS_TEAM_ID=ABC123XYZ
IOS_BUNDLE_ID=com.yourcompany.yourapp
ANDROID_PACKAGE_NAME=com.yourcompany.yourapp
ANDROID_SHA256_FINGERPRINTS=AA:BB:CC:DD:...   # comma-separated for more than one

See iOS Universal Links and Android App Links for the app-side setup.

Platform	Package	Install
React Native	@linkforty/mobile-sdk-react-native	npm install @linkforty/mobile-sdk-react-native
Expo	@linkforty/mobile-sdk-expo	npx expo install @linkforty/mobile-sdk-expo
Flutter	linkforty_flutter	flutter pub add linkforty_flutter
iOS (Swift)	LinkFortySDK	Swift Package Manager
Android (Kotlin)	LinkFortySDK	Gradle dependency

See the SDK documentation for integration guides.

For AI Tools (llms.txt)

LinkForty provides machine-readable documentation for AI coding assistants (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Copilot).

• Quick reference: docs.linkforty.com/llms.txt
• Complete integration guide: docs.linkforty.com/llms-full.txt

Download into your project for AI-assisted integration:

curl -o LINKFORTY.md https://docs.linkforty.com/llms-full.txt

The npm package also ships with an llms.txt file — AI tools that read from node_modules can discover it automatically.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details.

License

AGPL-3.0 - see LICENSE file for details.

Managed hosting

Prefer not to run it yourself? LinkForty Cloud is the hosted version, with authentication, teams and a dashboard.

Support

• Documentation: docs.linkforty.com
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions