Quickstart

Create an app, generate its API keys, create a link with curl and open it on a phone.

1. Create your organization and app

Name: it becomes the app's link host, https://{name}.dev.thedbl.ink. It's a DNS label (letters, digits and inner hyphens, up to 63 characters) and unique across Deep Blue Links. Pick one you'll keep: links carry it in their URLs.
iOS team ID and bundle ID, from your Apple developer account.
Android package name and SHA-256 certificate fingerprints, one for each key that signs the app. See Apps.

Paths and a custom URL scheme are optional; Apps explains both.

2. Generate the API keys

On the app's page, generate the live API key. The dashboard shows it once, so store it in your secrets manager. Generate a sandbox key too, for your test builds and sandbox backend: it starts with sandbox_, and the links it creates are sandbox links.

The app's page also shows its id, which every request about a link sends as appId.

3. Check the verification files

Your link host already serves the files iOS and Android read before they open your app from a link:

curl https://demo.dev.thedbl.ink/.well-known/apple-app-site-association
curl https://demo.dev.thedbl.ink/.well-known/assetlinks.json

Replace demo with your app's name. Both answer with your app's identifiers.

4. Create a link

curl -X POST https://dev.thedbl.ink/api/links \
  -H 'Api-Key: YOUR_SANDBOX_API_KEY' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "appId": 42,
    "fullUrl": "/products/1234",
    "title": "Spring sale",
    "description": "Up to 50% off this week only.",
    "imageUrl": "",
    "fallbackUrl": "https://example.com/spring-sale"
  }'

The response has the link's shortUrl, such as https://demo.dev.thedbl.ink/Xy3kP9aQ, and its fullUrl, https://demo.dev.thedbl.ink/products/1234.

5. Open it

On a computer, the short URL shows the preview page and then goes to the fallback URL.
On a phone without your app, it shows the preview page and then the App Store or Google Play.
On a phone with your app, once the app is set up for its link host, the link opens the app directly.

Next, set up your app with the guide for your platform: iOS, Android, Flutter, React Native, Capacitor or .NET MAUI.