Cryptographically-preserved URLs

Every link, preserved. Every destination, proved. Years from now, that URL still means what it meant.

VeritaLink turns any URL into a permanent, tamper-evident reference. We capture a content snapshot, sign it, and give you a short link. When someone follows it years later, they get the original content — and a cryptographic proof that nothing's been quietly swapped.

Get early access See how it works

vl.link/r/9f2ba17→sha256:9f2b…c8f3d·captured 2026-04-21

How it works

Three steps. No link-rot.

Links break. Pages change. "Citation needed" becomes "citation lost." VeritaLink fixes that by treating each link as a signed, preserved reference rather than a trust-me-it-was-there pointer.

01 · CAPTURE

snapshot & hash

Submit a URL. VeritaLink fetches the content, hashes it, and stores an immutable snapshot — HTML, screenshot, or full resource set, depending on the link type.

02 · SIGN

notarize & issue

The snapshot is signed and included in an append-only transparency log with public checkpoints. You get back a short link and a receipt.

03 · RESOLVE

always, verifiably

Following the short link shows the preserved content with a badge: this matches the original hash. The original URL lives alongside; if it's still good, we say so. If it's drifted, we flag it.

On the command line

Quick look.

# Preserve a URL — snapshot, sign, get back a short link + receipt.
$ veritalink capture https://example.gov/policy/2026-q1.pdf
  captured-at  2026-04-21T12:00:00Z
  digest       sha256:9f2b54…c8f3d
  short-link   https://vl.link/r/9f2ba17
  receipt      policy-2026-q1.vl-receipt.json
  OK included in log checkpoint #00042

# Resolve and verify — offline-checkable, no trust in us required.
$ veritalink resolve https://vl.link/r/9f2ba17 --verify
  ✓ snapshot digest matches
  ✓ signature valid, timestamp 2026-04-21T12:00:00Z
  ✓ included at leaf 18,204 of log
  ✓ original URL currently returns matching content (liveness ok)
  RESULT: preserved and still live

# Batch-preserve an entire bibliography or references file.
$ veritalink capture --from references.bib --out references-preserved.bib
  ✓ 48 URLs captured, 47 live on first fetch, 1 already 404 (snapshot preserved)

What it does — and doesn't

A honest reference, not a copy of the web.

VeritaLink can prove…

✓ this URL resolved to this content on this date
✓ the snapshot has not been modified since capture
✓ whether the current URL still returns matching content
✓ our log hasn't been silently rewritten (public checkpoints)
✓ any of the above, offline, from the signed receipt

It can't…

· vouch that the content was true — only that it was said
· capture pages behind login, paywalls, or geoblocks (without you)
· preserve content that is illegal or violates a publisher's terms
· resurrect a URL we never got to capture before it died

Who it's for

Built for people whose citations have to last.

Academic & publishing

Citation integrity for journals, preprints, and theses — every reference a preserved, hashable record rather than a rotting URL.

Legal & policy

Briefs, filings, and policy documents that cite live web resources. Preserve what you cited; prove what you saw.

Journalism & research

Source links that don't rot. Anchor every outbound URL in your reporting to a snapshot that survives takedowns and edits.