Deferred deeplink not having expected content

[jacobocl]

Hello everyone!

I'm implementing the deferred deeplinks in my application but I'm having some issues.
The idea is to have a custom link to have a count on the users that download the app through an invite link. Each user of my app have a promo code, which should be part of the invite link, so that, when the invited person clicks on it, after installing the app, it is redirected to the registration screen, having the promo code input filled with the promo code of the user who invited it.

I was able to create a Custom Link and, adding the deep_link parameter, I got it's content in the setOnDeferredDeeplinkResponseListener, but it doesn't have the expected format.

Let's say that my Custom Link is: https://myapp.go.link/7TvB4, then, when user1 wants to share an invitation link with user2, the link is built in the app appending the desired deeplink in the deep_link query parameter: https://myapp.go.link/7TvB4?deep_link=myapp-dev%3A%2F%2Fregistration%3Fpromo%3DThisIsAPromoCode
According to the documentation, I would expect that, after user2 clicks on the link and installs the app, setOnDeferredDeeplinkResponseListener would provide something like: myapp-dev://registration?promo=ThisIsAPromoCode as deeplink (and maybe some other Adjust query parameters such as adj_t and adjust_no_sdkclick). However, instead of that, what I get as deeplink is: myapp-dev://?adj_t=4xt8m5un&deep_link=myapp-dev%3A%2F%registration%3Fpromo%3DThisIsAPromoCode&adjust_no_sdkclick=1

Why do I get the a deeplink with the deep_link parameter instead of the deeplink being the content of the deep_link parameter?

Also, I have tested using deeplink query parameter instead of deep_link (without the underscore), but I got the same result.

I was only able to make it work properly using adj_deep_link query parameter: https://myapp.go.link/7TvB4?adj_deep_link=myapp-dev%3A%2F%2Fregistration%3Fpromo%3DThisIsAPromoCode; in that case, in setOnDeferredDeeplinkResponseListener I get myapp-dev://registration?promo=ThisIsAPromoCode&adjust_no_sdkclick=1 as deeplink, which is what I expected, but I'm not sure if that is right, as I might be interferring with some internal Adjust parameter.

Is it adj_deep_link the right query param to set the deeplink?

On the other hand, I know that I can create a link of type Deep Link in the Adjust console, but that does not fit my use case, as I need the promo parameter to be dynamic (it depends on the user who shares the link).
I tried creating an Adjust Deep Link to the Registration screen (setting the User Destination as /registration) and then, when building the link to share, addding the promo parameter (e.g.: https://myapp.go.link/8gFzx?promo=ThisIsAPromoCode), but that didn't work. Although in that case the deeplink that I get in setOnDeferredDeeplinkResponseListeneris right:myapp-dev://registration?adjust_no_sdkclick=1, the promo=ThisIsAPromoCode` query param is lost.
If this worked, it would be fantastic, as the URL would be much shorter...

Version of Adjust SDK: 5.4.4

[karthik-kannan-adjust]

Hi @jacobocl, Thanks for the detailed context! I'm part of the product engineering team that works on Adjust deep linking products, and I can try to answer your question.

Approach 1

IF you're only trying to make this work on Android and are okay with a long link
When you use a branded domain (myapp.go.link), Adjust always expects our parameters to have the prefix adj. So the parameter you used, adj_deep_link, would indeed work for your use case. So https://myapp.go.link/7TvB4?adj_deep_link=myapp-dev%3A%2F%2Fregistration%3Fpromo%3DThisIsAPromoCode is correct

Approach 2

IF you want the link to remain short (likely since it is a user referral case and these links could get shared on social/messaging platforms) but you're okay with having the promo parameter exposed in the link
THEN your approach below is correct

• Creating the custom short link with /registration as the path to generate the short link https://myapp.go.link/8gFzx
• Appending the query parameter (?promo=ThisIsAPromoCode)
• To get the link as https://myapp.go.link/8gFzx?promo=ThisIsAPromoCode
• Dynamically replacing ThisIsAPromoCode with unique values when the referring user generates the link
• Here you should technically get back myapp-dev://registration?adj_t=abc123&promo=ThisIsAPromoCode

If that doesn't work, that seems like a bug; in which case, please reach out to the Adjust Support team. One workaround I can think of is, instead of using the custom parameter promo, you could also try using the Adjust label parameter adj_label=ThisIsAPromoCode, and have your app retrieve and check the adj_label parameter for the promo code.

Approach 3

IF you want a really short link (https://myapp.go.link/{Short_link_suffix} without the promo parameter exposed as a query parameter and all data dynamically packaged inside the short link
THEN the most ideal solution would be to integrate our Deep link Generator API (https://dev.adjust.com/en/api/deep-link-generator-api/), where you can pass the /registration?promo=UniquePromoValue dynamically at the time of short link generation (when the user hits the refer friend button, for example). Each user gets a unique short link, and the Suffix of the short link can also be customized to pass the promo code if needed. For example, https://myapp.go.link/ThisIsAPromoCode

[jacobocl]

Hello @karthik-kannan-adjust
Thanks for your quick response!

I'm trying to make it work for Android, but a colleague is also working on the iOS implementation, so Approach 2 would be a perfect compromise.
I have been trying it, but it doesn't work, not even with the adj_label. Once redirected to the app all the extra query parameters added when generating the link, are trimmed, so the deeplink I get is just myapp-dev://registration?adjust_reftag=abc123.
I will contact support team, hoping they can find a solution :)

Meanwhile I will have a look on the Approach 3, but I'm not sure if we are on the Core or the Enterprise plan, which are needed to have access to the Deep link Generator API :(