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Click handling & redirect flow (how Detour handles an incoming link click)

This document explains the client-side and platform-side flow executed when a user clicks a Detour deferred link and how the redirect logic works.


High-level flow

  1. User opens https://<host>/<hash>/... in a browser.
  2. The platform handles the click.
  3. Fingerprint of device is collected immediately or a special page for iOS is displayed. On that page users decide whether they want to copy the link to their clipboard. This can be controlled on dashboard during iOS configuration.
  4. Based on OS/context, the platform redirects to the appropriate store or to fallback URL for desktop web.
  5. On first app open, SDK calls match endpoint and gets resolved link data if attribution succeeds.

Click handling

The Detour solution recognizes deferred links on platform hosts (for example *.godetour.link) and also supports configured custom domains. Detour searches for app configuration connected with the deferred link and redirects the user to the appropriate resource based on device OS and runtime context.

During this lookup process, only the base URL segment with the platform-generated hash is considered canonical. This means you can add path segments and URL search parameters to the generated part without affecting deferred-link resolution. These custom segments can then be used while handling the returned link data by mobile SDK.

In other words, one app can support multiple campaign/content routes under the same base hash.

Runtime safeguards

Detour includes safeguards to reduce noisy attribution and redirect loops:

  • Automated and low-quality traffic is filtered out from attribution.
  • Repeated redirect attempts are guarded to avoid redirect loops.
  • If redirect target cannot be resolved, user sees fallback failure view.

For host-specific behavior and /.well-known implications on custom domains, see Custom Domain.

Passing parameters to Redirect URL

You can define one URL for desktop redirection for all deferred links within one app. However, it's possible to pass the same search params which you added to deferred link to desktop fallback. Just select appropriate strategy on Link Settings.

Available strategies:

  • Pass all parameters - all search params used in deferred link will be passed to desktop fallback.
  • Pass specific parameters - only search params you specify will be passed to desktop fallback.
  • Don't pass parameters - leave fallback as it is, don't copy search params from deferred link.

For matching details after first app open, see Matching. For platform-level setup context, see Dashboard Walkthrough.