test-a-deep-link

name	test-a-deep-link
category	web
description	Test a deep link across cold and warm launch, authentication, authorization, routing, fallback, app and web handoff, parameters, and recovery. Use when a URL or app link should open a specific destination safely.

test-a-deep-link

When to use

• Use for web routes, universal links, app links, custom schemes, invitations, or notifications.
• Do not expose tokens or allow links to bypass authorization.

Procedure

1. Record canonical link, destination, platforms, install state, user state, expiry, and expected fallback.
2. Test web, installed app, uninstalled app, cold, warm, signed-out, signed-in, and wrong-account states.
3. Verify domain association, routing, parameter decoding, Unicode, encoding, and fragment handling.
4. Check authorization, tenant, invite, one-time token, replay, and expiration.
5. Test unavailable content, old app, browser choice, back navigation, and recovery.
6. Record observable outcomes without leaking sensitive URLs.

Failure plan

• Route to a safe login or explanation when destination authority cannot be proven.

Worked example

An invite deep link opens the right app but wrong tenant, so post-login authorization is repaired.

Done

• A deep-link test report records link, platforms, states, routing, parameters, authorization, fallback, and outcomes
• Cold, warm, install, auth, tenant, encoding, expiry, replay, unavailable, back, and privacy tests verify behavior