One-Time Links
One-time secret sharing for sensitive info.
A one-time secret link can only be opened once. After the recipient views it, the contents are destroyed and the URL is permanently dead. Use it whenever the value should never be re-read, screenshot-shared, or recovered.
No credit card required · Free forever plan
Secret Links are not marketing links.
Secret contents are handled separately from short-link analytics. LinkPilot may show basic delivery/audit events, but secret contents are never used for campaign analytics, profiling, or retargeting.
Secret Links vs Smart Links
Two different jobs, kept intentionally separate. Use the right tool for the right share.
| Secret Links | Smart Links | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Sending sensitive info you want to control after sending | Branded short links for campaigns and content |
| Expiration | Required — minutes to 30 days, or on first view | Optional — set an expiry if you want one |
| One-time viewing | Yes — burn after read enforced atomically | No — designed to be clicked many times |
| Passphrase protection | Optional, hashed client-side before transport | Not applicable |
| Analytics | None on contents — only basic delivery/audit events | Full click analytics: referrers, geo, device, UTM |
| Audit events | Created, viewed, burned, revoked — per secret | Aggregated click stream and link lifecycle |
| Best for | Passwords, API keys, credentials, confidential notes | Marketing, social, email, QR codes, partner links |
Common use cases
- Sending a temporary admin password
- Delivering an API key during onboarding
- Sharing a confidential file location
- Passing recovery codes that should not be reused
What you get
Single-view enforcement
The first successful view burns the secret atomically — no race conditions.
Optional passphrase
Add a passphrase to defend against accidental URL leaks.
Expiry window
Combine one-time access with an expiry deadline as a safety net.
Revoke anytime
Kill an unread secret immediately from your dashboard.
Why teams choose LinkPilot
One platform for every kind of link
Most tools cover either marketing links or secret sharing. LinkPilot covers both — with the controls, audit trail, and team workflows engineering and marketing teams actually need.
| Capability | Secret Links | Smart Links | Controlled Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time Secret Links | |||
| Expiring links | |||
| Passphrase protection | Partial | ||
| Branded short links | |||
| Link analytics | |||
| Audit events | |||
| Team workflows | |||
| API access | |||
| Revocation | |||
| Custom expiration |
How is this actually secured?
No vague "military-grade encryption" claims — here is the real model. Traffic is TLS-encrypted in transit and stored data is encrypted at rest on managed infrastructure. Passphrases are SHA-256 hashed in your browser before transport, so the raw passphrase never reaches our database or logs.
Burn-after-read is enforced atomically with row-level locking, so two concurrent viewers can never both read a secret. Burned, expired, or revoked payloads are irreversibly redacted. Viewer IPs are SHA-256 hashed with a salt that rotates every 24 hours — raw IPs are never stored — and link unfurlers (Slack, email scanners) receive metadata only: a view is recorded solely on an explicit reveal.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if the link is opened by the wrong person?
That viewer burns the secret. The intended recipient will see a burned status and you will see it in the audit timeline — your cue to rotate the value.
Can I tell whether anyone has viewed it yet?
Yes. Each secret has a live event timeline showing creation, views, burns, and revocations with timestamps.
Is one-time the same as burn-after-read?
Yes, they describe the same behavior. Some teams call it one-time access, others call it burn-after-read.