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Every Collection has one rule for what happens the moment you add an Item: mint a Link and attach it automatically, build the Link’s address from the Item’s own Item ID, or create no Link at all. Set it in Settings → Link generation, under When a new item is created. Items and Links are separate records. This setting is only about convenience at creation time — it never restricts what you can attach to an Item later.

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The three modes

A fresh Link like qrtub.com/r/x5fgd is minted and attached to the Item automatically. You do not choose the address, and there is nothing to configure. This is the default for Collections created through the current flow, and the right choice when you are adding Items first and printing codes afterward. The Link’s address is built from the Item’s own Item ID, wrapped in a prefix and suffix you define — so an Item ID of CRA0042TL becomes qrtub.com/cra0042tl. If that address already exists but is unattached (a pre-printed code, for instance), the existing Link is adopted rather than a duplicate minted. This mode has its own editor, including an option to fix the digit count so the whole team shares one numbered format. See Building an Item ID Mask for how to set it up and what it then requires of every Item ID you type. Items start with no Link. Attach one later from the Item, or scan a pre-printed code in the field and match it up then. This is the sensible setting while you are still building out a Collection, and it is the default for Collections created before this setting existed — so an older Collection that mints nothing is behaving correctly, not broken.

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What the setting does not do

It is not retroactive. Changing the mode affects Items created from that point on. Items that already exist keep whatever Link they have, or keep having none. It does not govern deletion. Deletion behavior is fixed and not configurable: deleting an Item (or a whole Collection) releases its Link back to your unassigned pool instead of destroying it, so printed codes keep working and can be reused. See Deleting, Unassigning, and Releasing Links.

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When minting fails

Random mode has nothing to fail on. ID-based mode does — an Item with a blank Item ID, an Item ID that does not match the Collection’s required format, or an address already attached to a different Item all stop the Link from being created. The Item is still created. QRtub saves the Item and reports the reason the Link could not be built; it does not roll the Item back. Fix the Item ID or attach a Link by hand, then carry on. It is worth reading that message rather than dismissing it, because an Item with no Link looks completely normal in the grid.