Custom URL Scheme

The Userpilot MAUI SDK supports a custom URL scheme that lets you preview experiences on a real device before publishing them, and that carries push notification taps back into your app. Setting it up is two steps on each platform: register the scheme with the OS, then forward incoming URLs from your platform entry point to the Userpilot SDK. The SDK performs all the validation. If the URL belongs to Userpilot it’s handled and the call returns true; otherwise it returns false and your app should handle the link as usual.

Register the custom URL scheme

The default scheme is userpilot- followed by your lowercased Userpilot token, which you can obtain from your Environments Page. For example, if your token is NX-12345678, the scheme is userpilot-nx-12345678.

Android

Add an intent filter for the scheme to the activity that hosts your MAUI app, alongside the existing MAIN and LAUNCHER filter. Use LaunchMode.SingleTop so links reach the running instance instead of creating a new one.

[Activity(
    Theme = "@style/Maui.SplashTheme",
    MainLauncher = true,
    LaunchMode = LaunchMode.SingleTop,
    ConfigurationChanges = ConfigChanges.ScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Orientation | ConfigChanges.UiMode | ConfigChanges.ScreenLayout | ConfigChanges.SmallestScreenSize | ConfigChanges.Density)]
[IntentFilter(
    new[] { Intent.ActionView },
    Categories = new[] { Intent.CategoryDefault, Intent.CategoryBrowsable },
    DataScheme = "userpilot-APP_TOKEN",
    DataHost = "sdk")]
public class MainActivity : MauiAppCompatActivity
{
}

Keep DataHost = "sdk" in the intent filter. It generates android:host="sdk" in the Android manifest, matching the host Userpilot validates for preview and push-notification URLs.

iOS

Add the scheme to Platforms/iOS/Info.plist:

<key>CFBundleURLTypes</key>
<array>
    <dict>
        <key>CFBundleTypeRole</key>
        <string>Editor</string>
        <key>CFBundleURLName</key>
        <string>$(PRODUCT_BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER)</string>
        <key>CFBundleURLSchemes</key>
        <array>
            <string>userpilot-APP_TOKEN</string>
        </array>
    </dict>
</array>

Handle the custom URL scheme

UserpilotSdk.DidHandleUrl is the single entry point on both platforms. It accepts either a string or, on iOS, an NSUrl. URLs that arrive before UserpilotSdk.Setup are cached and replayed once setup completes, so a cold launch from a link still works without you sequencing the calls.

Android

Forward the incoming URL from both OnCreate, which covers a cold launch, and OnNewIntent, which covers a link arriving while the app runs. Handling only one of the two silently drops links in the other case.

protected override void OnCreate(Bundle? savedInstanceState)
{
    base.OnCreate(savedInstanceState);

    HandleUserpilotUrl(Intent?.DataString);
}

protected override void OnNewIntent(Intent? intent)
{
    base.OnNewIntent(intent);

    HandleUserpilotUrl(intent?.DataString);
}

private bool HandleUserpilotUrl(string? url)
{
    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(url))
    {
        return false;
    }

    if (UserpilotSdk.DidHandleUrl(url))
    {
        return true;
    }

    // Not a Userpilot link, so handle it in your app.
    return false;
}

iOS

Override OpenUrl in your AppDelegate:

public override bool OpenUrl(UIApplication app, NSUrl url, NSDictionary options)
{
    if (UserpilotSdk.DidHandleUrl(url))
    {
        return true;
    }

    // Not a Userpilot link, so handle it in your app.
    return base.OpenUrl(app, url, options);
}

Supported links

The SDK only claims a URL when the scheme is one of the accepted values and the host is sdk. Every other URL is passed back to your app.

Link	Purpose
`userpilot-{token}://sdk/experience_preview/{experience_id}`	Previews a draft Flow or Survey. This is the link behind the Builder’s QR code. Available on Android and iOS.
`userpilot-{token}://sdk/notification`	Routes a push notification tap to the SDK. Android only; on iOS notification taps are handled natively by the SDK.

See Push Notifications for the delivery setup on each platform.

Preview an experience with a QR code

Userpilot can render a draft experience on your device before you publish it, so you can check layout, copy, and behavior on a real screen. Preview is supported for Flows and Surveys. The preview is delivered over the custom URL scheme. It works once your app is installed on the device and the scheme is registered and handled as described above.

Open the experience

Open a Flow or Survey in the Experience Builder and enter Edit Mode.

Start the preview

Select Preview in the top-right corner of the builder. A popup with a QR code appears.

Scan the QR code

Scan the code with your device camera. Your app opens and the experience appears.

Points to keep in mind:

You don’t need to apply or save your changes before previewing them.
The experience doesn’t need to be live.
A preview bypasses the experience’s targeting and frequency settings, so it appears even when the current user wouldn’t normally qualify for it.
Once you close the experience, the app resumes normal behavior.

Test push notifications

You can send a test push to a specific user from the Userpilot dashboard and verify delivery and tap handling on a real device without sending anything to your wider audience. The notification doesn’t need to be live, so you can test it while it’s still a draft.

Test pushes work in both the staging and production environments.
Test pushes are not counted as real sends, and they’re excluded from analytics.
Test pushes bypass the notification’s targeting and frequency settings.

For the dashboard steps, see Mobile push notifications. Because a notification tap arrives as a deep link on Android, a test push also exercises your DidHandleUrl handling there. If the notification appears but tapping it does nothing, the scheme registration is the first thing to check.

Test a deep link from the command line

With the app installed, open a link directly to confirm your scheme is registered and your handler runs, without going through the Builder. The sample app has a Deep Link screen that shows the registered scheme and a log of received links.

# Android
adb shell am start -a android.intent.action.VIEW \
  -d "userpilot-maui-sample://sdk/experience_preview/12345"

# iOS Simulator
xcrun simctl openurl booted "userpilot-nx-12345678://sdk/experience_preview/12345"

Replace the scheme with the value you registered and 12345 with a real experience ID.

Troubleshooting

Nothing happens when I scan the QR code

Confirm the registered scheme matches your token exactly, lowercased. Verify the registration with the commands above: if adb reports no matching activity, the intent filter is the problem.

The app opens but the experience doesn't appear

The OS routed the link, so registration is correct and the problem is in the handling step. On Android, check that you forward the URL from both OnCreate and OnNewIntent, since a cold launch only passes through OnCreate. Also confirm the SDK is set up with the same token that generated the QR code.

A link opens a second copy of my activity

Set LaunchMode = LaunchMode.SingleTop on the activity. Without it, Android may create a new instance for the incoming link rather than delivering it to the running one through OnNewIntent.

Preview works in production but not in staging

Each environment has its own token, and the scheme follows the token. Confirm the staging build registers the scheme for the token it initializes the SDK with.

For any questions or concerns please reach out to support@userpilot.com

Installation

Security

Data sync

Advanced

Register the custom URL scheme

Android

iOS

Handle the custom URL scheme

Android

iOS

Supported links

Preview an experience with a QR code

Test push notifications

Test a deep link from the command line

Troubleshooting

​Register the custom URL scheme

​Android

​iOS

​Handle the custom URL scheme

​Android

​iOS

​Supported links

​Preview an experience with a QR code

​Test push notifications

​Test a deep link from the command line

​Troubleshooting

Register the custom URL scheme

Android

iOS

Handle the custom URL scheme

Android

iOS

Supported links

Preview an experience with a QR code

Test push notifications

Test a deep link from the command line

Troubleshooting