Temporary links

A temporary link is a slug with an expiry. It routes like a permanent link until expires_at passes, then sends taps to its expired URL or answers 410, and without an expired URL is deleted a day later. Use them for one-off shares, invites, QR codes on printed material with a deadline, or links minted by a script for a campaign.

Differences from permanent links

	Permanent	Temporary
Expiry	Never	ttl_seconds after creation, 60 seconds to 30 days
Slug	Required	Optional; auto-generated as t_ plus 10 hex characters
App	The link’s app, else the default app	Always the account’s default (oldest) app
Target	Optional; null inherits the app’s fallback URL	Same
Deep-link paths, custom mobile redirect, custom desktop fallback, Tracking defaults	Yes	No
dec_* and utm_* on the shared URL	Applied	Applied the same way, except that the tracking values have no link defaults to fall back to
Social preview	Per link, else the app’s	Per link, else the app’s
Lifetime click counter	click_count	None (null in the resolve response)
Per-link numbers in the Links list	Clicks, installs, opens, leads, revenue	Only the expiry

Slugs share one namespace: a temporary link cannot take a permanent link’s slug and vice versa. The API answers 409 {"error":{"code":"conflict","message":"Slug already exists","slug":"..."}}.

Creating one

Where	How
Dashboard	Links > New link, then pick an Expires value other than Never: 5 min, 1 hour, 1 day or 7 days. The slug box reads auto and may stay empty. The button becomes Create temporary link, and the list switches to the Temporary tab.
API	POST /api/v1/temp-links with ttlSeconds (a number; omitted means 900), an optional slug, an optional target and optional og_* fields. The admin route POST /api/admin/temp-links takes the same body.
SDK	dectog.createTempLink(target: ..., slug: ..., ttlSeconds: 3600); ttlSeconds defaults to 900.

ttlSeconds is floored to a whole number and clamped to the range 60 to 2,592,000 (30 days). A value of 0 becomes the default of 900 seconds. A non-numeric value is rejected with 400 {"error":{"code":"invalid_request","message":"ttlSeconds must be a number"}}. The response carries expires_at and ttl_seconds:

POST /api/v1/temp-links → 201

{
  "id": "…",
  "slug": "t_3f9a1c27b0",
  "target": "https://example.com/offer",
  "url": "https://acme.dectog.com/t_3f9a1c27b0",
  "expires_at": "2026-10-13T09:15:00.000Z",
  "created_at": "2026-10-12T09:15:00.000Z",
  "ttl_seconds": 86400,
  "og_title": null,
  "og_description": null,
  "og_image_url": null
}

Routing

A tap follows the normal engine with the default app’s store URLs, schemes, interstitial and tap-to-store settings, and its fallback URL. Because a temporary link has no deep-link paths, scheme and intent URLs open scheme://acme/{slug} unless the shared URL carries dec_deeplink. There is no per-link mobile redirect or desktop fallback, so on desktop the chain is dec_redirect_<os> or dec_redirect, then dec_fallback, the app’s fallback URL, then the QR page. See How a tap is routed.

Installs attribute to temporary links like to permanent ones. The verdict then carries username and slug but no link object, and custom_params is null, because temporary links have no metadata.

Editing

The edit drawer on the Temporary tab and PUT /api/v1/temp-links/{slug} (SDK: updateTempLink) can change the target and the social preview; the drawer and the API also set the expired URL, and pause, archive or delete the link like a permanent one (Dashboard: Links). The TTL and the expiry cannot be changed; create a new link instead.

Expiry lifecycle

Phase	Tap on the link	GET /api/v1/resolve/{username}/{slug}	Dashboard
Before expires_at	Routed normally	200 with type: "temporary", expires_at, ttl_seconds	Green chip with the time left, for example “3h 5m left”
After expires_at, before the daily delete	A 302 to the link’s expired URL when it has one, else a 410 page “Link expired” / “This link has expired and is no longer available.”, for bots too. No click is recorded.	410 {"error":{"code":"link_expired","expired_url":…}}	Red Expired chip; the Delete expired button appears
After the daily delete	404 page “Link not found”	404 {"error":{"code":"not_found","message":"Link not found"}}	In the Deleted view

The daily cron at 03:17 UTC deletes temporary links whose expires_at is more than 24 hours in the past and that have no expired URL; a link with one keeps redirecting there until you delete it. A link expires at a precise second but can therefore stay visible as an expired link for up to two days. The delete is a soft one, like the trash icon’s: the link’s history stays, and so does its slug, which a new link cannot take (409, “Slug belongs to a deleted link”) until you restore the link or delete it permanently. That way a new link never inherits an old one’s clicks and revenue.

Deleting and what is kept

Action	Removes the link	Removes its data
Trash icon on a row, DELETE /api/v1/temp-links/{slug}, deleteTempLink	Hides it (404 on tap), restorable from the Deleted view or with POST /api/v1/temp-links/{slug}/restore	No
Delete permanently on the Deleted view, ?permanent=true, deleteTempLink(slug, permanently: true)	Yes	Yes: its clicks, and the installs, events and app opens attributed to it, which then disappear from the Overview
Delete expired (confirm “Delete all expired temporary links? They leave this list. Their clicks, installs and revenue stay in your stats, and you can restore them from Deleted.”)	Hides every link whose expires_at has passed, restorable from Deleted	No: clicks and attributed installs stay in the analytics
Daily delete	Hides links expired more than 24 hours ago, restorable	No

The Delete expired button calls DELETE /api/admin/temp-links/expired; the v1 API has no bulk route.