Redirect

Ends the request with an HTTP redirect to the supplied address. Covers that it is a real 302 with the value passed straight into the Location header, and nothing like the similarly named RedirectTo.

Engagement

Runtime verified Differs from official docs Test scripts included

Syntax

Redirect(url)  →  void

1 argument — exactly

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
url	string | number	Yes	Target URL

Example

%%[
  VAR @id
  SET @id = QueryParameter("id")
  IF Empty(@id) THEN
    Redirect("https://example.com/pick-a-product")
  ENDIF
]%%
<p>Product %%=v(@id)=%%</p>

When the guard fires the visitor’s browser receives an HTTP 302 pointing at the fallback address and the paragraph is never sent. When it does not fire the page renders as usual.

The address is handed on untouched, query string and all:

%%[ Redirect("https://example.com/offer?a=1&b=2") ]%%

The Location header of the response carries exactly https://example.com/offer?a=1&b=2.

Return value

void — nothing is returned. The whole response is replaced by a short server-generated redirect body; there is no value to assign or print.

Behaviour

A genuine HTTP 302. The response line is 302 Found and the Location header holds the supplied address character for character, ampersand included. No rewriting, no tracking wrapper.

Everything written before the call is discarded. The response body is only the short generated redirect notice — nothing written before the call appears in it.

Nothing after the call runs. Nothing written after the call is delivered either.

The value is not validated as a URL. A bare number is accepted and lands in Location as a relative path. An empty argument is the one input that is not usable: it aborts the request with HTTP 422 instead of redirecting.

How this differs from RedirectTo

Despite the similar name, they have nothing in common:

	Redirect	RedirectTo
Status	302	200
Location header	the supplied address	none
Body	short generated redirect notice	the page, rendered normally
Output written before it	discarded	delivered
Code after it	not reached	runs
Returns	nothing	the supplied address

So they are trivially distinguishable from outside. If you want a visitor moved to another address, this is the function; RedirectTo only marks a URL for click tracking inside a send.

Show test script

%%[
  VAR @b, @s
  SET @b = RequestParameter("b")

  /* known-good control: renders on every request, so a run of HTTP 422s
     can be told apart from a broken deploy */
  OutputLine(Concat("CTRL=[", Uppercase("ok"), "]"))
  OutputLine(Concat("GATE=[", @b, "]"))

  /* neither marker is delivered: the body is replaced by the short
     server-generated object-moved payload */
  IF @b == "rd" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("--- rd start ---"))
    OutputLine(Concat("RD_BEFORE=[written-before]"))
    Redirect("https://example.com/probe-target?a=1&b=2")
    OutputLine(Concat("RD_AFTER=[written-after]"))
    OutputLine(Concat("--- rd done ---"))
  ENDIF

  /* the very same target through RedirectTo, so the two can be compared
     in one deploy: this one answers 200 with no Location header */
  IF @b == "rt" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("--- rt start ---"))
    OutputLine(Concat("RT_BEFORE=[written-before]"))
    SET @s = RedirectTo("https://example.com/probe-target?a=1&b=2")
    OutputLine(Concat("RT_RET=[", @s, "] LEN=[", Length(@s), "]"))
    OutputLine(Concat("RT_AFTER=[written-after]"))
    OutputLine(Concat("--- rt done ---"))
  ENDIF

  /* a bare number is accepted and becomes the Location as a relative path */
  IF @b == "rdnum" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("RDNUM_START=[x]"))
    Redirect(42)
    OutputLine(Concat("RDNUM_DONE=[x]"))
  ENDIF

  /* an empty target is not usable: it aborts instead of redirecting */
  IF @b == "rdempty" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("RDEMPTY_START=[x]"))
    Redirect("")
    OutputLine(Concat("RDEMPTY_DONE=[x]"))
  ENDIF

  /* argument counts the signature does not allow: each aborts its own
     branch while every branch above still answers 302 */
  IF @b == "rd0" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("RD0_START=[x]"))
    Redirect()
    OutputLine(Concat("RD0_DONE=[x]"))
  ENDIF
  IF @b == "rd2" THEN
    OutputLine(Concat("RD2_START=[x]"))
    Redirect("https://example.com/probe-a", "https://example.com/probe-b")
    OutputLine(Concat("RD2_DONE=[x]"))
  ENDIF
]%%

Fetch with redirect following disabled

Email/send context: rejected in sendable content

Landing pages are the only context. Used in sendable email content, an isolated %%[ Redirect("https://sfmc.guide/robots.txt") ]%% is rejected with HTTP 400, errorcode 10005: “Redirect Function is not valid in content. This function is only allowed in content with an HTTP context.” A sendable email has no HTTP response to redirect, so Redirect cannot be used there — use it only on CloudPages / landing pages. (By contrast, RedirectTo is not rejected in email content: it renders as a no-op, since it emits no redirect at all.)

Availability

Platform	Available
Marketing Cloud Engagement	Yes
Marketing Cloud Next	No

See also

• RedirectTo — the confusingly similar name that emits no redirect at all
• RaiseError — the other page-terminating Utility function, which ends the request with a failure instead
• Official reference
• ampscript.guide