Stoatmod / External-link policy guide

How to block external links on Stoat

Use the link filter when your policy prohibits external addresses, not as a claim that Stoatmod knows whether every destination is malicious.

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The details, in one place.

Use Stoatmod's external-link policy to remove recognised URLs and configure appropriate channel exceptions.

  • Reviewed 31 August 2026
  • 3 sections
  • Guides

Choose where the rule belongs

  • New-member or verification spaces.
  • Announcement channels with restricted posting.
  • Support channels where promotion disrupts help.
  • Temporary incident-response channels.

Enable and verify

  1. 01

    Check the state

    The filter is disabled by default.

    ~link-protection status
  2. 02

    Enable it

    Recognised external links will be removed when permissions allow.

    ~link-protection enable
  3. 03

    Test common forms

    Use harmless HTTP, www, bare-domain and IP examples in a controlled channel.

  4. 04

    Check exceptions

    Use channel exclusions or the dashboard GIF option where appropriate.

Set expectations

The filter is syntactic and broad. It does not score destination reputation and does not add a warning for routine removal. If the policy should allow a curated set of domains, document those exceptions and test them after every configuration change.

Continue the task

Related Stoatmod resources

External-link protectionOpen resource →Logging, channels and exclusionsOpen resource →Spam and mass-mention protection guideOpen resource →

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