Checking a Device From the Browser, With No Install

Not every device can run the monitoring agent — a phone, a smart TV, a guest's laptop. For those, you can generate a one-time check link from your dashboard instead. Whoever opens it runs a quick filtering check right there in their browser, no install required.

Generating a check link

Creating a check link counts the device against your plan's device limit immediately — the device is added to your dashboard as soon as the link is generated, before anyone has even opened it. If you're already at your device limit, generating a new link fails, telling you to remove a device or upgrade your plan.

The link itself is single-use and expires after 15 minutes. There's also a limit of 10 check links generated per account in any 15-minute window, so this isn't a way to mass-check an unlimited number of devices in one sitting.

What happens when the link is opened

No login is required on the other end — the link itself is the credential. Opening it runs a check against a small sample of domains across a few categories, the same category counts and sampling approach the agent scanner uses elsewhere. Each domain gets up to 5 seconds to respond; a domain that fails to load or simply times out both count the same way a blocked domain does. Once every domain in the sample has a result, they're submitted back automatically — there's nothing to click or confirm.

The link can only be used once. If something fails partway through submitting results, the link isn't burned — it goes back to being usable, rather than leaving you with a dead link and no data. If the link is invalid, expired, or already used, opening it tells you so and nothing runs.

How a browser-checked device looks on your dashboard

A device added this way shows up differently from an agent-installed one in a few specific places:

• Status badge — always shows "Browser Check," and never shows "Offline" the way an agent device would if it went quiet. See reading your device list for what every other badge means.
• OS column — instead of an operating system, you'll see the browser and OS the check was run from, formatted like "Chrome · Windows" or "Safari · iOS" — detected from the browser that submitted the results, not something you configure.
• Last-seen cell — replaced with "One-time browser snapshot" and either "Last checked: [time]" or "Not yet checked." There's no ongoing heartbeat to report, since nothing stays running on the device.
• Action button — "Get Check Link" instead of "Scan Now," since there's no agent to flag for a scan. If every device on your account happens to be browser-checked and you try "Scan All Devices," you'll see a message pointing you at "Get Check Link" for each device individually instead.

Re-checking a device

Requesting a new check link for an existing browser-checked device immediately invalidates any link still waiting to be used for that device — only the newest link works. Re-checking needs a different permission than adding the device in the first place, so on a team account, someone who can trigger scans but can't manage devices may still be able to re-check one that already exists.

Browser checks exist for devices that can't run the agent — a phone, a TV, a guest's laptop. For anything you want ongoing monitoring on, see installing the monitoring agent instead.