For AI agents: the complete documentation index is available at https://docs.clickmax.io/en/llms.txt, the full documentation bundle is available at https://docs.clickmax.io/en/llms-full.txt, and this page is available as Markdown at https://docs.clickmax.io/en/faq/messaging/track-link-clicks-in-automations.md.
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      • How do I know who clicked the link I sent in an automation?

      A plain link can't tell you who clicked it — the click arrives unidentified, because it comes from the in-app browser in WhatsApp or Instagram. A trackable link solves this: it goes through a Clickmax address before reaching the destination, and along the way it recognises which contact clicked.

      It works on WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, SMS and email.

      In email, the contact goes from the email to the Clickmax link and straight on to the destination, with no other tracker in between. Clicks from bots, such as corporate email security scanners, don't count as a contact click.

      You don't have to do anything: when the message is sent, every https:// link you pasted in the text, in a link button or as the checkout link is swapped for a Clickmax short link — for example, https://link.clickmax.io/AbCd1234. The contact lands on the same destination, and the click is recorded under their name.

      • Every contact gets the same short address; only the identification at the end of the link changes per person.
      • If your workspace has a single connected domain, the link uses that domain. In email, it uses the sender's domain when that domain is connected. Otherwise it uses link.clickmax.io.
      • Sending the same message again reuses the same short link.

      Left as they are: unsubscribe links, mailto: and tel:, links with a contact variable (such as {{custom.link}}), http:// links without the padlock, links from other shorteners (bit.ly and the like), links that are already yours, links where you chose Use original link in the email editor, and the message's images or files. In an email, an https:// address typed loose in the middle of the text is converted too: it arrives as a link, and the contact still sees the address you wrote. In the email editor, pasting an address on its own into the text turns it into a Clickmax link right away.

      When you paste an https:// link into the text of an automation message (SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram or menu) or of an SMS or WhatsApp broadcast, it is immediately replaced by a tag showing the short link — for example, link.clickmax.io/AbCd1234. Hover over the tag (or tap it, on a phone) to open the link details. The same happens when you insert the link through the link icon → Custom URL and, in the broadcast email editor, through Insert link → Custom URL — there the link text stays the address you typed.

      In a WhatsApp broadcast this also applies to the media caption and to the address of the Link button (CTA) of a free-form message; in a template approved by Meta, the button stays as it is. In SMS and WhatsApp broadcasts, the phone preview already shows the short link the contact will receive.

      The tag also shows up when you write a Quick Reply in the support chat, the text reply, the email and the menu question of a support chat automation, an SMS or email template, and the SMS and email messages of webinar automations and of booking notifications. In a Quick Reply, the phone preview already shows the short link the contact will receive. On the card of an SMS template under My templates, the text shows the short link.

      In the support chat meeting notice and in the reply to an Instagram comment, the link stays as text, just as you wrote it. The email template in the Scheduling category does not accept short links: with a short link in the content, the editor warns you and only lets you save after you replace the short link with the full address.

      • In SMS, the character counter counts each link by the size it will have when it reaches the contact's phone. This also applies to links that are still plain text: sending swaps them just the same.
      • A link in an SMS no longer lowers the message limit to 70 characters: it arrives as a plain address, with no accents. A contact variable, such as {{name}}, still lowers it, because the data may contain accents.
      • In an SMS broadcast, in an SMS template and in the SMS of webinars and booking notifications, if the text goes over the limit, the counter turns red and you can't save or send until you shorten the message. This way no link is cut in half when it is sent.
      • If the swap doesn't happen (for example, an http:// link or an address from another shortener), the link stays as text and follows the sending rules above.
      • In the WhatsApp link button (CTA) and in the Instagram Link button, the address becomes a short link when you leave the field, and the field shows the tag instead. A button saved earlier with the full address is only swapped if you edit the address; untouched, it stays as it is and is shortened when sent.
      • In the email editor of broadcasts and of the automation email step, the address of a button, a linked image, the social icons and the menu also becomes a short link when you leave the field, and the field shows the tag instead. When the button or link text is the address itself, you choose whether it shows the original URL or the short link. The Visit link button opens the original destination without counting a click.
      • In the email editor, a text link uses the same field, and a notice below it explains that the Clickmax link is what lets you see who clicked and trigger automations. To send a specific link without tracking, click Use original link in the notice: the link goes out with the original address and no click is counted. Changing the address afterwards turns tracking back on.

      The link details show the Original link (where the contact lands) and the Link your contact receives, with a button to copy it. On a computer they open as a card next to the tag; on a phone or a narrow window, as a drawer at the bottom of the screen. To keep the card open while you type, click the tag instead of just hovering it.

      To change the destination:

      1. Click the link tag.
      2. Edit the Original link and click Save.

      The tag now shows a new short link. A short link never changes its destination: messages already sent with the old link keep taking contacts to the old address. If the new address can't become a short link (for example, http:// or one with a contact variable), the details warn you, and saving inserts it as plain text.

      For a checkout link, the details show the Checkout link, which is the offer's address. When the message is sent, it also becomes a short link.

      When you want to choose the address (for example, yourdomain.com/promo) or be able to change the destination later, create the link yourself. Under Marketing → Redirects, create a short link on your own domain pointing at the destination you want. The step by step is in Redirects and short links.

      You can change the destination later without losing history: the path stays the same, so previous clicks keep counting.

      Use it in the automation

      1. Open the message node in the automation.
      2. In the editor, click the link icon and choose the Redirect tab.
      3. Pick the link you created. It shows up as a Trackable link chip — hover it (or tap it, on a phone) to see the address and copy it.

      To use it in a link button (CTA), fill in the button label and use the same picker next to the address field.

      The message node itself can wait for the click and take a different path for each link — no Router and no Wait step needed. It works on WhatsApp, SMS, email, Telegram and Instagram.

      1. Open the message node and write the message with its links.
      2. Turn on Continue by the clicked link.
      3. In Wait for the click for, pick the deadline (up to 7 days) and the unit.
      4. Check the One output per link list and save.
      5. On the card, connect each link in the Clicked the link section to the next step of that path, and the No click footer to the path of who does not click.

      How the node decides:

      • The first click decides: the contact moves on right away through the output of the link they clicked. Later clicks do not change the path.
      • If the deadline passes with no click on any link, the contact continues through No click. Contacts who did not receive the message also continue through No click, without waiting for the deadline.
      • The same link repeated in the message becomes a single output. A node supports up to 20 different links.
      • Clicks from robots, such as corporate email security scanners, do not count.
      • The Tracked link clicked trigger of other automations still fires on the same click.

      Links that do not become an output (the form lists them before you save): http:// links, links with a contact variable, and fixed links in an already approved WhatsApp template — in a template, only the tracked link button becomes an output.

      With Continue by the clicked link on, the node does not offer Wait / Capture user reply or the No interaction output — the wait deadline becomes the No click one. To turn it off, uncheck the option and save: the No click connection goes back to being the node's next step.

      Branch on who clicked

      1. Add a Router node after the message.
      2. Choose General filters → Clicked the link.
      3. Pick the condition: clicked, didn't click, or clicked at least a number of times. You can target one specific link or any trackable link — and "any link" includes pasted links, which are now trackable too.

      The condition reads clicks already recorded at the moment the contact reaches it — it does not wait for the click to happen. So place a Wait step before it, long enough for the contact to open the message.

      Start an automation when the contact clicks

      1. Create an automation and add the Tracked link clicked trigger (any channel) or the version for the channel you use: WhatsApp link clicked, SMS link clicked, Instagram link clicked or Telegram link clicked. For email, use Email link clicked.
      2. Under Which short link should trigger this automation?, pick the short link. The list shows the link the contact receives and, below it, its destination, and the search looks up either one. Once picked, the Used in: line shows where that link is already configured (automations, broadcasts, templates and funnels).
      3. Optionally limit it to one specific send:
        • Broadcast: select the broadcast.
        • Message node of an automation: select the WhatsApp, SMS, email, Telegram or Instagram node of another automation. The list shows the automation, the channel and the start of the text (the subject, for email), and the search looks up the automation name or the text. The open automation's own nodes are not listed, because reacting to its own send would restart the flow.

      You must pick the short link, the origin send, or both. With neither, the trigger would react to a click on any message in the account, so it cannot be saved. Until you pick one of them, the trigger lives only in the editor: the rest of the automation keeps saving as usual, but the trigger itself does not. If you leave or reload the page first, add the trigger again.

      When you pick only the short link, the automation starts on a click on that link in any send except the ones it made itself: a click on a message sent by the automation itself is ignored, so it does not restart on its own. This applies only to the start trigger: as an exit condition, a click on a message from the automation itself also counts and takes the contact out of the flow. To react to the send of one specific automation, pick that automation's node as the origin.

      Triggers created earlier with a link from the old shortener keep working; the selector for that link only shows up on them.

      Unlike the Router condition, the trigger reacts as soon as the click happens.

      With a node of an automation as origin, you build a trail: one automation sends the link, and another starts when the contact clicks. In the editor, both appear linked by a dashed card. If the chosen node is deleted or its automation is archived, the trigger warns you and asks for another origin.

      See the numbers

      In the message node panel, the number of contacts who clicked and its percentage over sends appear alongside the other step metrics. That number adds up clicks on trackable links and on the message buttons.

      If it didn't work

      • The Redirect tab is empty: you need your own domain set up and verified. See Domain redirects.
      • The message arrived without the link: the link was deleted or deactivated after you built the automation. The chip in the editor warns you when that happens — pick the link again.
      • The condition sends everyone down the "didn't click" branch: it is most likely being evaluated before the contact opens the message. Increase the time on the Wait step before it.
      • Click counts look off: links opened by the app's automatic preview are not counted as a person's click, and opening the same link several times in the same visit counts once.