How to verify your website on Mastodon with rel=me
Get the Mastodon checkmark next to your website: link it to your profile with rel=me, add its address to a profile field, and fix links that don’t verify.
To verify your website on Mastodon, add a link to your Mastodon profile on the page and mark it rel="me". Then put the page’s address, starting with https://, in one of your profile’s custom fields and save. Mastodon opens the page, finds the link back and shows a checkmark next to that field.
This guide covers the link, the profile field and failed checks. The example follows Ana Ruiz, a made-up illustrator with the account @ana@illustration.example and the website https://anaruiz.example.
What the checkmark shows
The check runs both ways: your profile field points to a page, and the page links back to your profile with rel="me". A checkmark shows that you control both. It isn’t identity verification: no one at your server confirms your name. On someone else’s profile, it only tells you which pages the account’s owner controls.
Add a link to your Mastodon profile on your website
Your profile URL is your profile’s address on your own server, such as https://illustration.example/@ana. Add it as a visible link, for example in the footer:
<a rel="me" href="https://illustration.example/@ana">Mastodon</a>Or add an invisible one inside the page’s <head>:
<link rel="me" href="https://illustration.example/@ana">If your site builder has a field for custom code in the <head>, paste the second version there. Preferences > Public profile > Verification shows the first version with your address filled in, ready to copy.
Mastodon’s profile guide lists what the page needs:
- The
hrefmatches your profile URL exactly. - The page’s address starts with
https://. - The link is in the HTML itself, not added by JavaScript.
- The link isn’t inside an iframe.
- The response is no larger than 1 MB.
rel="me noopener" counts too: Mastodon’s link check looks for me among the values. Mastodon checks only the exact page in your field, so Ana adds the link to her home page, the address she’ll enter.
Use a link-in-bio page if you can’t edit the HTML
If your site builder can’t add rel="me", use a page that already links your accounts with it, and put that page’s address in the field. See the link-in-bio guide to build one, or the guide to publishing without a website if you have no site yet.
To check a page, view its source and search for your profile URL. In Chrome, Edge or Firefox on a computer, type view-source: before the page’s address. The link’s rel should include me. If the link shows on screen but not in the source, JavaScript added it, and Mastodon won’t see it.
Studio’s public page, reunified.com/@ plus your handle, shows each account you connect as a rel="me" link. A Mastodon account appears as its profile URL on its own server, so the page’s address can go in a profile field.
Add the address to your Mastodon profile and save
- Sign in on your own server, open your profile and choose Edit profile.
- Under Custom fields, choose Add field. You can have up to four.
- Enter a short Label, such as “Website”, and the full
https://address as the Value. - Choose Save.
Older versions of Mastodon keep these fields under Preferences > Public profile > Edit profile.
Saving starts the check, which may take a while. Reload your profile to see the result. Other servers run their own check when they receive your updated profile.
Ana labels her first field “Website”, enters https://anaruiz.example and saves. It gets a checkmark. Her second field, “Shop”, points to https://shop.anaruiz.example, which still links her old account on another server, so that field stays without one.
Fix a link that won’t verify
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
The value starts with http:// |
Use the https:// address |
| The page links an old account, or your profile seen through another server | Link your profile URL on your current server |
| The link shows on screen but not in the source | Put a plain link in the HTML, outside any iframe |
| The domain has capital letters | Type it in lowercase |
| The page needs a sign-in or blocks automated visitors | Use a page anyone can open without a sign-in or a bot check |
| The response is over 1 MB | Link a lighter page in the field |
An address like https://mastodon.social/@ana@illustration.example opens your profile but won’t match.
After a fix, delete the field and add it again, saving each time, as Mastodon’s guide advises. Ana changes the shop page’s rel="me" link to https://illustration.example/@ana, then deletes and re-adds the Shop field.
Keep the checkmark after changes
Moving to another server changes your profile URL. Update the rel="me" link on each verified page, then fill in the fields on the new account and save. The guide to moving your Mastodon account covers the rest.
Your own server keeps a checkmark until you change the address in that field, even after the link is gone. Other servers drop it the next time they check. After a redesign or a new website address:
- Search the page source for your profile URL.
- If the address changed, update the field, save and look for the checkmark.
Studio schedules posts to Mastodon, Bluesky, Misskey, Telegram and X (Twitter). It isn’t available yet, but you can join the waitlist.
