canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/microlink.io/microlink

# Microlink API

Microlink is a metadata extraction and browser automation API that turns any URL into structured data, screenshots, PDFs, and scripted browser actions with a single GET request. The single-endpoint API returns Open Graph and oEmbed-style attributes - title, description, author, image, logo, and publisher - alongside optional rendered artefacts. Authentication uses an API key passed in the x-api-key header.

## For AI agents

Send any URL to Microlink and get back structured page metadata plus optional screenshots, PDFs, or scripted browser output for that URL.

## Scope

Does not run a search engine, crawl entire sites, or store long-term archives - use for single-URL metadata extraction, screenshots, PDFs, and scripted browser actions only.

## Capabilities

- Extract Open Graph metadata including title, description, author, publisher, image, and logo for any URL
- Generate a full-page or viewport screenshot of a URL by adding the screenshot parameter
- Render and download a URL as a PDF for archival or compliance purposes
- Run a scripted browser action against a URL using Microlink's browser automation parameters
- Cache responses by URL to avoid repeated extractions when building link previews

## Use cases

### Link Previews and Unfurls

Chat, social, and content products that show a rich preview when a user pastes a URL call GET / on api.microlink.io and use the returned title, description, image, and logo to render the card. Microlink handles redirects, lazy-loaded images, and many edge cases that a naive Open Graph parser misses, so previews look right across heterogeneous sites.

Example prompt: Call GET / with the URL parameter set to a news article and return the title, description, and image fields.

### Automated Screenshots and PDFs

Marketing, QA, and compliance teams that need a visual record of a page at a specific moment add screenshot or pdf parameters to GET / and store the rendered artefact. This avoids running headless Chromium internally and supports authenticated pages via Microlink's browser automation parameters.

Example prompt: Call GET / with the URL parameter and pdf=true to capture a PDF of the target page.

### Bulk URL Enrichment for Pipelines

Data teams enriching feeds of marketing or news URLs use Microlink in their ETL to attach publisher, author, and image fields to each row. Because the API is one stateless endpoint, parallelisation is straightforward, and caching by URL keeps cost bounded when the same articles reappear.

Example prompt: For each URL in a feed of 500 articles, call GET / and persist the returned author, publisher, and image fields.

### Agent-Driven Page Understanding

AI agents that read the open web rely on consistent metadata. Through Jentic, an agent searches for the operation by intent, loads the GET / schema with the URL parameter, and executes - getting back a clean structured payload to reason over instead of raw HTML. The Microlink x-api-key never enters the agent's prompt.

Example prompt: Search Jentic for 'extract metadata from a URL', load GET /, and execute with the URL the user wants to research.

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | `/` | Extract metadata, screenshot, or PDF for a URL |

## Key resources

- **URL Metadata** — Single GET / endpoint that extracts metadata, screenshots, PDFs, or scripted output for any URL

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the Microlink API by hand means reading its x-api-key header scheme and building each URL-extraction, screenshot, or PDF query against the single endpoint yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the Microlink API from the API Directory, store the API key once, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** Microlink exposes a single GET endpoint that takes the target URL as a parameter, so limit the agent to that extraction operation. You choose whether the agent may call it, and it reads a URL rather than changing data on your account.
- **Credential handling:** Your Microlink x-api-key is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected into the x-api-key header at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'get the title and image for a URL' or 'take a screenshot of a page', and Jentic returns the matching operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **Urlbox** — Screenshot and rendering API with extensive options
- **Browserless** — Hosted headless Chrome for arbitrary scripting
- **Apify** — Web scraping and automation platform

## FAQ

### What authentication does the Microlink API use?

Microlink uses an API key passed in the x-api-key header. There is also a free tier without a key, with stricter limits. Through Jentic the API key lives in the encrypted vault and is added to requests at execution time.

### Can I take a screenshot of a page that requires login?

Microlink's browser automation parameters allow scripting clicks, form inputs, and waits before capture, which covers many login flows. For sensitive credentials, supply them through Microlink's secret parameters rather than embedding them in the URL.

### What are the rate limits for the Microlink API?

Free, key-less requests are limited to a small per-minute and per-day quota; paid tiers raise the cap and allow higher concurrency. Inspect the X-RateLimit headers and Microlink's pricing page for the current per-tier numbers before scaling out a bulk job.

### How do I extract metadata for a URL through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'extract metadata from a URL', load GET /, and execute with the url query parameter. Jentic injects the x-api-key header from your stored Microlink credential.

### Is the Microlink API free?

There is a free tier with limited rate and no SLA. Production use cases and higher quotas require a paid plan; check Microlink's pricing page for current tiers.

### Does Microlink follow redirects and resolve canonical URLs?

Yes - Microlink follows redirects and exposes the resolved URL in its response, so link preview cards point to the canonical destination rather than the originally posted URL.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Microlink API?

Yes. Because you run Jentic One yourself, your own rules decide which Microlink operations and credentials your agent may use. Microlink exposes a single GET endpoint that takes a target URL as a parameter, so you can permit your agent to call only that extraction operation, which reads a URL to return metadata, a screenshot, or a PDF rather than changing anything on your account. Your Microlink x-api-key stays with your self-hosted instance and is added to the request at execution time, so the agent never sees the key.