How to Skip Domains and URLs

Goal: exclude specific domains or URL patterns from a check without removing the link from your markdown.

This applies to check_broken_urls and check_urls_locale, which both support --skip-domains and --skip-urls-containing.

Skip a domain entirely

Use -sd/--skip-domains when a domain is known to be unreliable to check automatically (e.g. it blocks bots) but you still want to keep the link:

markdown-checker . -f check_broken_urls --skip-domains=example.com,test.com

Matching is a substring match against the URL’s hostname, so --skip-domains=example.com also matches www.example.com.

Skip URLs containing a substring

Use -suc/--skip-urls-containing to skip based on the full URL instead of just the hostname - useful for excluding specific paths on a domain you otherwise want checked:

markdown-checker . -f check_broken_urls --skip-urls-containing=/embed/,/preview/

List syntax

Every list option (--skip-domains, --skip-urls-containing, --extensions, --skip-files, --tracking-domains) takes a single comma-separated value:

• Correct: --skip-domains=example.com,test.com

• Correct (quoting is optional): --skip-domains="example.com,test.com"

• Wrong: --skip-domains=[example.com,test.com] (no square brackets)

• Wrong: --skip-domains=example.com, test.com (no spaces after commas)

• Wrong: --skip-domains example.com test.com (use = and commas, not repeated flags)

Verify it worked

Re-run the check and confirm the skipped domain/URL no longer appears in the output or in comment.md. If it’s still reported, double check for stray spaces or brackets in the value.