Check an Onion Link — A Printable Address & Source Checklist

Use the questions below in order. You can tick the boxes while reading or print the page. The checklist does not send or save your answers, and it is not a security certification.

Identify the publisher. Do I know whose service this is supposed to be, and can I find that publisher’s own public source?Read the full hostname. Have I compared every character before the onion suffix, not just the recognizable beginning?Check the URL’s shape. Is it a direct onion hostname rather than an onion-looking string inside an unrelated domain, a shortened URL, or a gateway?Check what the source claims. Does it actually publish the address, or merely repeat someone else’s list?Separate history from identity. If the site claims to be a mirror or continuation, is there a dated record connecting it to the earlier site?Understand the app. Am I using the appropriate current Tor-capable browser from its publisher?Keep the limits visible. Have I avoided treating an address match, a loading page, or a search ranking as proof of safety?

A useful way to record uncertainty

Instead of writing “verified,” write what you checked: “The hostname matches the address on the publisher’s download page, reviewed on this date.” If you did not check live availability or historical ownership, say so. A narrower statement can be more useful because another reader can repeat the check.

Turn a check into a repeatable note

A useful note names the source, the date you read it, and the exact observation. For a hypothetical library catalog, you might record: “The library’s public announcement lists the same hostname as this record; source read on the stated review date. Availability was not tested.” Another reader can repeat that check without guessing what “verified” was meant to cover.

Keep three observations separate: the publisher stated an address, your copy matches that address, and a page responded when visited. The first concerns a source, the second a text comparison, and the third a moment in time. Even all three together would not establish an unrelated claim about the service’s historical ownership.

If the hostname differs

Stop and return to the source you intended to use. A difference may be a mistake, a different service, or a claimed replacement. The comparison alone cannot determine which. Find a dated explanation from the publisher before deciding that a change is legitimate.

For the Hidden Wiki reference

The homepage comparison tool reports exact hostname equality and the first differing character. It checks text locally, not ownership or live status. Read the address record alongside the result.

For the technical behavior of onion services, use the Tor Browser manual. The evidence-recording questions above are this publication’s editorial checklist.