Branch Migration

This guide is for teams currently using Branch for links, deep linking, install attribution, or analytics who are moving to WarpLink. It covers Branch-specific concept mapping, exporting your existing links and data, and swapping the Branch SDK for the WarpLink SDK on each platform. For the provider-agnostic playbook (inventory, domain planning, cutover, and decommissioning), see Migration Overview.

Concept Mapping

1. Export Your Links

Branch's LinkHub (Dashboard → Manager) lets you search, filter, and bulk export both Quick Links and Ad Links, meaning dashboard-created and SDK/API-generated links are both reachable there. If you need to script an export instead, the Read endpoint returns one link's configuration at a time:

GET /v1/url?url=<url>&branch_key=<branch key>

There is no single Branch endpoint that exports all historical links and all historical click analytics together. Link configuration and click/event data are separate export surfaces:

• Dashboard Exports: an ad hoc CSV of whatever report you are currently viewing.
• Daily Exports API (POST https://api2.branch.io/v3/export): gzipped CSV, up to 200,000 rows per file, capped at 7 days per request (1 day recommended), and only accessible via the API for 6 months after the data posts.
• Custom Exports API: covers install, commerce, content, user-lifecycle, custom, and fraud events as CSV or JSON, up to 2,000,000 records per request with a 180-day lookback and a 60-day query window per request. Rate limited to 10 requests/minute and 25/hour, so a full-account export has to be paced across multiple calls.

2. Recreate Your Links

Recreate your Branch links in WarpLink via the dashboard or the REST API.

Parameter Mapping

Carry any other Branch link data over as destination_url query parameters.

Create via API

curl -X POST https://api.warplink.app/v1/links \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer wl_live_YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "destination_url": "https://yourapp.com/product/123",
    "ios_url": "myapp://product/123",
    "ios_fallback_url": "https://apps.apple.com/app/id123456789",
    "android_url": "myapp://product/123",
    "android_fallback_url": "https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.example.myapp",
    "og_title": "Check out this product",
    "expires_at": "2027-12-31T00:00:00Z"
  }'

3. Swap the SDK

// Package.swift
dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/WarpLinkApp/warplink-ios-sdk", from: "1.2.0")
]

4. Update SDK Initialization

Branch.getInstance().initSession(launchOptions: launchOptions)

import WarpLink

WarpLink.configure(
    apiKey: "wl_live_yoursdkkeyhere000000000000000000",
    options: WarpLinkOptions(onLink: { result in
        if case .success(let link) = result, let link {
            navigate(to: link) // taps AND deferred installs (check link.isDeferred)
        }
    })
)

5. Update Domain Configuration

- applinks:yourapp.app.link
+ applinks:yourapp.aplnk.to

Moving your links to a custom domain instead? Use that host here, and declare it to the SDK as well: linkDomains at configure(), or the WarpLinkDomains plist key / app.warplink.DOMAINS manifest entry. That is what makes a custom-domain link resolve on the first launch. See Use it in your app.

Branch's default app.link and bnc.lt domains cannot move with you; only your own custom domain can be repointed. If your custom domain was set up as a Branch CNAME subdomain, your registrar was never handed off, so the CNAME can be repointed to WarpLink once your links exist there. If it was set up as a root-domain NS delegation, Branch's nameservers are authoritative for that domain, so regaining control means moving the NS records back to your registrar (or another DNS provider) before pointing it at WarpLink, a normal DNS change but one Branch does not document as an offboarding step. Branch hosts the AASA file and TLS certificate for both setups; once you repoint to WarpLink, WarpLink issues and renews the certificate for your verified custom domain automatically.

6. Migrate Deep Link Handling

func application(_ app: UIApplication, open url: URL, options: [UIApplication.OpenURLOptionsKey: Any] = [:]) -> Bool {
    WarpLink.open(url) // was Branch's handler
    return true
}

func application(
    _ application: UIApplication,
    continue userActivity: NSUserActivity,
    restorationHandler: @escaping ([UIUserActivityRestoring]?) -> Void
) -> Bool {
    WarpLink.continue(userActivity) // was Branch's handler
    return true
}

7. Migrate Deferred Deep Links

options: WarpLinkOptions(onLink: { result in
    guard case .success(let deepLink) = result, let deepLink else { return }
    if deepLink.isDeferred {
        print("Match confidence: \(deepLink.matchConfidence ?? 0)")
    }
    navigate(to: deepLink)
})

To run the check manually instead, set the deferred opt-out flag and call checkDeferredDeepLink() yourself (see the deferred deep link guides for iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter).

8. Attribution and Reporting

WarpLink attributes an install to the link that drove it with a multi-tier match cascade (referrer, device ID, and probabilistic matching), returning a match type and confidence score you can use to decide how to route the user. See Install Attribution for the full match cascade and confidence scoring, and the platform attribution guides for iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter.

Branch does not publish guidance for running its SDK alongside another provider during a migration off Branch (its published migration guides only cover switching onto Branch from another vendor). A few gotchas to test for during a dual-SDK window:

• iOS AASA caching. iOS caches the apple-app-site-association file, and a fresh fetch is typically triggered by an app reinstall, so a device that already resolved a Branch link may not immediately pick up your new WarpLink Associated Domains entry.
• Android App Links verification. Every manifest-referenced domain must host its own .well-known/assetlinks.json, and the sha256_cert_fingerprints value must exactly match your release signing key (uppercase), including Play App Signing's value if you use it. An http/https or www mismatch also breaks verification. Force a re-check with adb shell pm verify-app-links --re-verify.

Testing Checklist

After migration, verify on each platform:

• SDK initializes: enable debug logging and check console output
• Deep links open the app: tap a WarpLink URL on a physical device
• Deep link data resolves: destination and custom parameters are correct
• Deferred deep links work: click link, install, verify match. An uninstall is enough to retest on either platform, because the completion marker goes with the app. That second install is reported as a reinstall and still counts as an install
• AASA/assetlinks verified: curl https://yourapp.aplnk.to/.well-known/apple-app-site-association
• Error handling: test invalid URLs, expired links, no connectivity
• All Branch code removed: no remaining imports or dependencies
• Clean build: no compilation errors

Next Steps

• Migration Overview: the provider-agnostic playbook for domains, cutover, and decommissioning.
• Quickstart: create your first link and get an SDK key.
• iOS SDK, Android SDK, React Native SDK, and Flutter SDK: full setup and API reference.
• Branch.io alternative for indie developers and Branch pricing compared: how WarpLink compares to Branch.