> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.abtestly.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Redirect tests

> Split-URL tests where a variant sends the visitor to a different page. When to use them, and how the exposure event works.

Most variants change the page in place. A **redirect variant** does
something different: instead of applying JS or CSS, it fires the
exposure event and then navigates the browser to a different URL.

## When to use one

* **You already have two real URLs to test.** Landing page A vs
  landing page B. Do not rebuild B on top of A with JavaScript when
  it exists already.
* **The variant is heavy enough that in-place would flicker.** A full
  page redesign is a redirect test; a headline tweak is not.

## How to set one up

In the variation editor, for the variant you want to be a redirect,
set the **Redirect URL** field. Leave JS and CSS empty (or fill them
in, they will not run because the browser navigates before they
apply).

The Original variant is not a redirect; it stays on the current URL.
Only treated variants can be redirects.

## What happens at runtime

1. The visitor loads the current URL.
2. The snippet decides which variant they are in.
3. If they get the redirect variant:
   * The exposure event is queued.
   * The browser is instructed to navigate to the redirect URL.
   * `sendBeacon` sends the exposure before the navigation happens, so
     the event lands even though the page is unloading.
4. On the new URL, no re-bucketing happens for the same experiment.
   they are still in the same variant on any page a matching URL
   applies to.

## Ambient goals

Goals defined on either URL still count. A **Page visit** goal for
`/thanks` fires when the visitor reaches `/thanks`, regardless of
which variant sent them there.

For cross-URL revenue tracking, `orderId` deduplication ensures the
purchase is credited to the visitor's variant even though it fires
on a different URL from where the exposure was captured.

## Watch for

* **Redirect loops.** If the redirect URL is inside the Location
  rules of the experiment, the runtime detects the loop and drops
  the second bucketing. Nothing to do; just do not target a page
  that redirects back onto itself.
* **`sendBeacon` failing.** In rare browsers (some corporate policies
  disable it), the exposure event might not land before navigation.
  ABTestly falls back to a synchronous `fetch(keepalive: true)`.
* **SRM on redirect variants.** If the redirect target is slower to
  load than the Original, some visitors bounce before the redirect
  completes and their exposure is dropped. This is the classic
  redirect-test SRM cause. See [SRM](/results/srm).

## What if I need a soft redirect (client-side route change)?

For an SPA, use JavaScript in the variant:

```js theme={null}
window.history.pushState({}, '', '/alternate-page');
// then trigger your app's router
```

`onCleanup` should push back to the original URL if the visitor
navigates to a page the experiment does not target.

For a hard redirect on an SPA, the Redirect URL field still works.
`window.location.assign(url)` is what the runtime does under the
hood, and it always causes a full navigation.