Open Graph Checker & Social Preview

Check a public page's share card and find metadata that needs fixing. Public URLs are sent to Microlink for lookup; submit URLs without private tokens.

Turn a preview issue into a fix

Missing or unexpected title

Read the initial HTML for og:title, og:description, and competing tags. A normalized fallback can hide missing OG tags.

Add page-specific metadata

Image missing from the card

Open the exact og:image URL without cookies. Check for real image bytes, a successful response, and the correct Content-Type rather than an HTML fallback.

Check page and image responses

Image is cropped or text is unreadable

Compare the real dimensions with the declared ones. Review the subject and headline at thumbnail size; platforms can crop differently.

Compare share-card examples

Checker works, platform fetch fails

Inspect crawler requests in CDN/origin logs for authentication, bot challenges, rate limits, or redirect loops. A successful Microlink lookup does not verify every crawler.

Inspect crawler access

Old title or image after a fix

Confirm the deployed source and image first. Check your CDN cache, then request a new platform inspection; this checker does not clear platform caches.

Refresh the affected platform

Copy a complete metadata baseline

Put these tags in the initial HTML head, replace every example URL and text value, and publish a real 1200 × 630 image at the image URL. Use website instead of article for a general landing page. In a framework, use its existing metadata API to avoid duplicate tags; the guide includes a Next.js example.

Open Graph and Twitter card tags

<!-- Replace example.com URLs and text with your public page and image. -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/articles/image-guide" />
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/articles/image-guide" />
<meta property="og:title" content="A practical guide to image formats" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Compare image formats and choose a useful export for your next project." />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/image-guide-share.png" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<meta property="og:image:alt" content="Image format guide with sample photos and transparent logos" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="A practical guide to image formats" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Compare image formats and choose a useful export for your next project." />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://example.com/images/image-guide-share.png" />
<meta name="twitter:image:alt" content="Image format guide with sample photos and transparent logos" />

Recheck the public page after deploying, inspect its raw source, then refresh the affected platform’s cache. For a share image, start with the Open Graph image resizer.

About this checker

What does this Open Graph checker validate?

It checks the normalized metadata Microlink returns for a public page: title, description, resolved URL, and available image dimensions, type, and size. These values can include fallbacks; a returned title does not prove that an og:title tag exists.

Can this tool inspect every raw og:* and twitter:* tag?

No. It scores only normalized metadata, so it cannot prove that raw tags exist, are unique, or match what a specific platform crawler sees. Compare the result with the initial page source and the affected platform’s debugger.

Are URLs checked locally or sent to a service?

The public URL you submit is sent to Microlink to fetch its metadata. Do not submit private, token-bearing, or signed URLs. Unlike the local image tools, this checker needs a network lookup and cannot inspect localhost or pages behind a login.

Why does a URL still look wrong after I fix the tags?

The lookup service and social platforms can cache metadata separately. Verify the current HTML and image response, then request a fresh inspection in the affected platform’s debugger. Existing posts or messages may keep their original preview.

How to use the results

Check the score and flagged issues for missing titles, descriptions, insecure URLs or unsuitable images.
Review the card for readable text, a useful description and an image that works at small sizes.
Copy the diagnostic summary into your bug report or coding-agent prompt, including the checker’s limitations.
Follow the fix links, update your metadata, run this checker again and request a re-scrape in the platform debugger to refresh its cache.

Social preview questions

What is the difference between an Open Graph checker and an Open Graph preview tool?

A preview tool shows the card. A checker goes further by grading whether the key metadata is present, secure, and likely to render well. This page does both, but only for the normalized data returned by the lookup service.

Does this tool work for LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack, and X?

It is useful for all of them because they rely on similar share metadata. The preview is a practical approximation, not a promise of pixel-perfect rendering on every platform.

What title and description lengths should I aim for?

A practical starting point is about 30 to 70 characters for the title and about 70 to 160 characters for the description. Different platforms may still truncate based on layout and device width.

What image size is safest for OG previews?

A dedicated 1200 by 630 image is the common safe choice because it matches the large-card format many platforms prefer. Keep key text away from the edges in case of crops.

Why might the checker miss an issue that a real crawler finds?

Some issues happen lower in the stack: blocked bots, redirect chains, robots rules, cache staleness, unsupported content types, or tags that the lookup service normalizes away. Use this as a fast first pass, then confirm with crawler-specific tools if needed.

When to use a platform debugger or page source

This checker: Fast metadata sanity check, normalized preview, score, and remediation hints for public URLs.
Platform debuggers: Best for forcing a re-scrape and validating what Facebook or LinkedIn specifically cached.
View source / crawler tests: Best when you need to inspect raw og:* and twitter:* tags, canonical tags, robots directives, or server responses.