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Common inputs and validation

What every tool input accepts, the global country and date filters, and the exact message you get when a value is rejected.

Last updated 2026-08-06

Summary#

Nearly every tool in Metric Vault takes a single value in a single field. This page lists the input shapes, the global filters that travel with every run, the exact placeholder each tool shows, and every validation message you can be shown, so you can tell a typo apart from a real failure.

Overview#

There are seven input shapes across the product.

ShapeExample valueUsed by
Domainnike.comMost analysis tools
Page URLhttps://nike.com/mens-runningThe page-level technical tools
Keywordrunning shoesKeyword and SERP tools
Topic or product descriptionemail marketingContent and ad-planning tools
Two domains, separated by vsyourdomain.com vs competitor.comGap Finder, Competitor Battle, Audience Overlap
Business name and cityJoe's Pizza, New YorkGBP Audit
Pasted textYour draft articlePre-Publish Trust Checks, Live Writing Editor, GEO Content Scorer, Image Support, Localization

You never need to type https://. If you leave the scheme off a domain, it is added for you before the tool runs. Typing it does no harm.

Pressing Enter in an input field runs the tool, exactly like clicking the run button.

Global filters#

Five settings are attached to every analysis run. Together with the tool and your query they define a unique run, which is what the already-ran prompt and the data cache both match on. Change one and you get a genuinely new run. See Result caching and freshness.

FilterWhere it livesValuesDefault
CountryTopbar, next to the credit counter47 countriesUnited States
Date rangeTopbar, appears only on time-series tools6M, 12M, 24M, 5Y, Custom6M
Minimum volumeFilter pills above the input on Keyword ExplorerAny, 100+, 1K+, 10K+, 100K+Any
IntentFilter pills above the input on Keyword ExplorerAll intents, Informational, Commercial, Transactional, NavigationalAll intents
DeviceNot adjustableDesktopDesktop

The Range control appears on time-series screens only: Traffic Analytics, Market Map, Domain Overview, Top Pages, Audience Overlap, Rank Tracker, Backlink Profile, Organic Research, Brand Performance, Advertising Research, AdClarity, Shopping Ads, Social, Competitor Battle, Site Audit, Keyword Overview, AI Competitor Research, Visibility Overview, Prompt Tracking and Rank Alerts. Elsewhere it is hidden, because those tools do not return a time series.

The Minimum volume and Intent pills are stored in your browser and are remembered between visits.

Note

Note: Analyses currently run against desktop results. There is no device toggle in the interface.

Input placeholders, by tool#

The placeholder text is the fastest guide to what a field expects.

Site Health#

ToolPlaceholder
Site Audite.g. nike.com
On-Page SEO Checkere.g. https://nike.com/mens-running
PageSpeed & Vitalse.g. https://nike.com
robots.txt Auditore.g. nike.com
Schema Toole.g. https://nike.com/product
Security Headerse.g. nike.com
Sitemap Validatore.g. nike.com
Advanced Technical Checksexample.com
GBP Audite.g. Joe's Pizza, New York
Duplicate Content Audite.g. nike.com
Responsivenessexample.com
Redirect Chain (inside Advanced Technical Checks)e.g. https://nike.com/old-page
Mixed Content (inside Advanced Technical Checks)e.g. https://nike.com
Hreflang (inside Advanced Technical Checks)e.g. https://nike.com
Tech Stack (inside Advanced Technical Checks)e.g. nike.com

Keyword & Content Research#

ToolPlaceholder
Keyword Explorere.g. running shoes
Keyword Overviewe.g. running shoes
Gap Finderyourdomain.com and competitor.com, plus optional second competitor.com and third competitor.com
Topic Mape.g. email marketing
Content Decay Detectore.g. nike.com
Internal Linking Enginee.g. nike.com
ToolPlaceholder
Domain Overviewe.g. nike.com
Backlink Profilee.g. nike.com
Competitor Battlee.g. nike.com and Competitor (e.g., adidas.com)
Organic Researche.g. nike.com
Traffic Analyticse.g. nike.com
Top Pagese.g. nike.com
SERP Featurese.g. best running shoes
Link Prospectore.g. email marketing
Market Mape.g. project management software
Audience Overlape.g. nike.com
Competitor Monitore.g. nike.com

AI Visibility#

ToolPlaceholder
Visibility Overviewe.g. nike.com
Competitor Researche.g. crm software or salesforce.com
Prompt & Question Researche.g. nike.com
Questionse.g. nike.com
Brand Performancee.g. nike.com
Brand Perceptione.g. nike.com
Narrative Driverse.g. nike.com
Prompt Trackinge.g. nike.com
Google AI Overview Trackerbrand or domain (e.g. nike.com)
AI Citation Trackerbrand or domain (e.g. nike.com)
Forum & Reddit Visibilitybrand or domain (e.g. nike.com)

Write & Optimize#

ToolPlaceholder
Content Brief & Templatee.g. email marketing
Content Templatee.g. how to start a podcast
AI Article Generatore.g. email marketing
Content Optimizer`e.g. your-url.com \target keyword`
Meta GeneratorDescribe the page (e.g., homepage for a CRM for small businesses)
Content Repurposere.g. your article URL or a topic
Live Writing EditorStart writing… your score updates live as you type.
GEO Content ScorerPaste your article or section (Markdown or HTML is fine)…
Image SupportPaste your article HTML (the <img> …

Content Optimizer accepts three forms: a URL on its own, a keyword on its own, or a URL and keyword separated by a pipe. The pipe form is the most useful, because it scores your live page against a specific target keyword.

Promote#

ToolPlaceholder
Social Analytics (Social Tracker)e.g. nike.com
Social Analysise.g. nike.com
Social Composere.g. productivity tips for founders
Social Contente.g. sustainable skincare
Brand Monitore.g. nike.com
Media Monitoringe.g. nike.com
Influencer Analysise.g. fitness or a brand
PPC Researche.g. running shoes
Advertising Intelligencee.g. nike.com
AdClaritye.g. nike.com
Ads Launch Assistante.g. project management software
Shopping Ads (PLA)e.g. walmart.com

Get Started and Track & Report#

ScreenPlaceholder
Growth Actionsyourdomain.com
Analyst AIAsk anything about your SEO, content, or competitors…
Auto-Executecontent topic (e.g. email marketing)
Bulk AnalysisA list of domains, one per line
Rank Trackere.g. nike.com
Rank Alertse.g. nike.com and e.g., yourbrand.com
Scheduled Reportse.g. nike.com and you@company.com — leave blank for in-app only

Workflow launchers#

WorkflowFields
Competitor Intelligencecompetitor domain (e.g. adidas.com), Your domain (for gap analysis, optional)
Keyword Strategyseed keyword or domain (e.g. running shoes)
Content EngineContent topic (e.g., best running shoes for marathons)
Brand Healthbrand domain (e.g. nike.com)
Technical SEOdomain or URL (e.g. nike.com)
Advertising Intelligencedomain or URL (e.g. nike.com)

Tools that need two values#

Three tools compare two things, and both halves are required.

ToolHow to enter itIf a half is missing
Gap FinderTwo fields, joined for you as you vs competitor. Up to three competitors.The run returns an honest empty result rather than an error.
Competitor BattleTwo fields, joined as A vs B.The comparison cannot be built and returns empty.
Audience OverlapOne field, split on vs or a comma, plus optional extra fields. Up to three competitors.You get the recommendation Enter at least two domains to compare, e.g. "asana.com vs monday.com".

Validation and error messages#

From the tool screen#

MessageMeaning
Enter a value first.The input field was empty when you pressed Run.
Please sign in to run this tool.You are signed out.
Monthly limit reached — upgrade to continue.Your premium allowance is spent.
Something went wrong.The run failed without a specific message. Try again.

From a workflow launcher#

MessageWhich workflow
Enter a competitor domain first.Competitor Intelligence, Advertising Intelligence
Enter a seed keyword first.Keyword Strategy
Enter a content topic first.Content Engine
Enter a brand name first.Brand Health
Enter a URL first.Technical SEO
Please fill in the required field.Fallback wording

From the server, about your value#

MessageMeaning
Missing urlThe request arrived without a target. Re-enter the value.
Invalid URLThe value could not be read as a web address at all.
Only http(s) URLs are allowedThe address used a scheme other than http or https.
That host is not allowedThe address points at a private, local or internal host. Public addresses only.
Enter a competitor domain to compare against.The free SEO comparison tool was given only one domain.

From the text tools#

MessageMeaning
Paste at least a couple of sentences to check.Plagiarism and Fact Check need at least 25 words.
Too many strings (max 100 per request)The translation tool was given more than 100 separate strings.
Payload too large (max 20000 chars per request)The translation request exceeded 20,000 characters.

From the responsiveness analyzer#

MessageMeaning
Enter a valid website address, for example example.comThe address could not be parsed.
That site took too long to respond…The target did not answer in time.
That site returned HTTP <n>…The target answered with an error status.
That page returned almost no HTML…The page was empty or entirely rendered by scripts.
Could not read the AI response. Please run the analysis again.The analysis came back unusable. Re-run.
Tip

Tip: A message that names your value is a validation problem you can fix. A message about limits, plans or availability is an account or service problem. Error message reference lists every error string in the product.

How to run a tool The run flow every Metric Vault tool shares, from typing an input to reading, saving and exporting the result. End userbeginner Tool catalog and credit cost Every tool in Metric Vault in one table: where it lives, what it costs in credits, how long its data is cached, and which plans can run it. End userBilling managerSupport agentintermediate Tool limits and performance Every cap that applies when you run a tool: rate limits, crawl and row limits, timeouts, retention, and how long each kind of tool takes. End userSupport agentintermediate A tool returned no data Why a run can finish successfully and still show nothing, how to tell an honest empty result from a mistake, and what to change. End userSupport agentintermediate All tools The hub for every Metric Vault tool, grouped exactly as the dashboard groups them, with the shared articles that explain how all tools behave. End userbeginner Reading a result How every Metric Vault result is laid out: the source badge, the summary-first category tabs, KPI tiles, empty states, and the full report view. End userbeginner

See also

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