Lighthouse reports

Lighthouse is the heavyweight side of Insights. Use it when you need a real audit report for performance, SEO, accessibility, or best-practices analysis.

Run Lighthouse only

Disable technology detection and keep only Lighthouse enabled:

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://vercel.com' URL with 'insights' & 'meta' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://vercel.com&insights.lighthouse

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://vercel.com" \
  -d "insights.technologies=false" \
  -d "insights.lighthouse=true" \
  -d "meta=false"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: true
  },
  meta: false
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies": "false",
    "insights.lighthouse": "true",
    "meta": "false"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://vercel.com",
  insights.technologies: "false",
  insights.lighthouse: "true",
  meta: "false"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies" => "false",
    "insights.lighthouse" => "true",
    "meta" => "false"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://vercel.com")
    q.Set("insights.technologies", "false")
    q.Set("insights.lighthouse", "true")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: true
  },
  meta: false
})

This focuses the request on audit generation instead of running the full Insights bundle.

By default, the report is serialized as JSON under data.insights.lighthouse.

Choose an output format

JSON is the default output because it works well for automation and the

Lighthouse viewer

. When you need a different format, pass output:

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://vercel.com' URL with 'insights' & 'meta' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://vercel.com&insights.lighthouse.output=html

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://vercel.com" \
  -d "insights.technologies=false" \
  -d "insights.lighthouse.output=html" \
  -d "meta=false"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: {
      output: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies": "false",
    "insights.lighthouse.output": "html",
    "meta": "false"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://vercel.com",
  insights.technologies: "false",
  insights.lighthouse.output: "html",
  meta: "false"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies" => "false",
    "insights.lighthouse.output" => "html",
    "meta" => "false"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://vercel.com")
    q.Set("insights.technologies", "false")
    q.Set("insights.lighthouse.output", "html")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: {
      output: "html"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Use HTML when you want a human-readable report artifact instead of raw JSON.

Supported output formats:

json (default)
html
csv

Tune the report

Presets bundle a useful set of Lighthouse settings:

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://vercel.com' URL with 'insights' & 'meta' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://vercel.com&insights.lighthouse.preset=desktop

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://vercel.com" \
  -d "insights.technologies=false" \
  -d "insights.lighthouse.preset=desktop" \
  -d "meta=false"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: {
      preset: "desktop"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies": "false",
    "insights.lighthouse.preset": "desktop",
    "meta": "false"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://vercel.com",
  insights.technologies: "false",
  insights.lighthouse.preset: "desktop",
  meta: "false"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies" => "false",
    "insights.lighthouse.preset" => "desktop",
    "meta" => "false"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://vercel.com")
    q.Set("insights.technologies", "false")
    q.Set("insights.lighthouse.preset", "desktop")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: {
      preset: "desktop"
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Use a preset when you want a known Lighthouse configuration without spelling out all the settings manually.

Any Lighthouse configuration setting is supported. A common pattern is to limit the report to one category:

The following examples show how to use the Microlink API with CLI, cURL, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, PHP & Golang, targeting 'https://vercel.com' URL with 'insights' & 'meta' API parameters:

CLI Microlink API example

microlink https://vercel.com&insights.lighthouse.onlyCategories=performance

cURL Microlink API example

curl -G "https://api.microlink.io" \
  -d "url=https://vercel.com" \
  -d "insights.technologies=false" \
  -d "insights.lighthouse.onlyCategories=performance" \
  -d "meta=false"

JavaScript Microlink API example

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: {
      onlyCategories: [
        "performance"
      ]
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Python Microlink API example

import requests

url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

querystring = {
    "url": "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies": "false",
    "insights.lighthouse.onlyCategories": "performance",
    "meta": "false"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=querystring)

print(response.json())

Ruby Microlink API example

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

base_url = "https://api.microlink.io/"

params = {
  url: "https://vercel.com",
  insights.technologies: "false",
  insights.lighthouse.onlyCategories: "performance",
  meta: "false"
}

uri = URI(base_url)
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form(params)

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)
response = http.request(request)

puts response.body

PHP Microlink API example

<?php

$baseUrl = "https://api.microlink.io/";

$params = [
    "url" => "https://vercel.com",
    "insights.technologies" => "false",
    "insights.lighthouse.onlyCategories" => "performance",
    "meta" => "false"
];

$query = http_build_query($params);
$url = $baseUrl . '?' . $query;

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => $url,
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
    CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
    CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
    CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
    CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET"
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
    echo "cURL Error #: " . $err;
} else {
    echo $response;
}

Golang Microlink API example

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "net/url"
    "io"
)

func main() {
    baseURL := "https://api.microlink.io"

    u, err := url.Parse(baseURL)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    q := u.Query()
    q.Set("url", "https://vercel.com")
    q.Set("insights.technologies", "false")
    q.Set("insights.lighthouse.onlyCategories", "performance")
    q.Set("meta", "false")
    u.RawQuery = q.Encode()

    req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", u.String(), nil)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    client := &http.Client{}
    resp, err := client.Do(req)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    defer resp.Body.Close()

    body, err := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    fmt.Println(string(body))
}

import mql from '@microlink/mql'

const { data } = await mql('https://vercel.com', {
  insights: {
    technologies: false,
    lighthouse: {
      onlyCategories: [
        "performance"
      ]
    }
  },
  meta: false
})

Use custom config when you want a focused report instead of the full audit surface.

Keep it lighter

Lighthouse reports can be large. If you only need the Insights result, pair the report with meta: false and filter: 'insights'.

That keeps the response JSON but strips unrelated top-level fields. If the page is dynamic, try prerender: true or add waitForSelector. If the request is slow, add cache controls such as ttl and staleTtl or continue with troubleshooting.

Next step

Learn how to cache expensive Lighthouse runs and skip unnecessary work in caching and performance.