> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.qrtub.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Link Generation for New Items

> The Collection setting that decides whether a Link is minted automatically when an Item is created — random, built from the Item ID, or none at all

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.

## The three modes

### Create a random link

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.

### Create an ID-based link

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](/collections/item-id-mask) for how to set it
up and what it then requires of every Item ID you type.

### Don't create a link

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.

## 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](/links/deleting-and-releasing-links).

## 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.

## Related

* [Building an Item ID Mask](/collections/item-id-mask)
* [Item ID](/items/item-id)
* [Random Links](/links/random-links)
* [Deleting, Unassigning, and Releasing Links](/links/deleting-and-releasing-links)