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A Numbered Link has a slug built from three parts you decide: a prefix, a zero-padded number, and a suffix. Claim the pattern CRA + 4 digits + TL and you get qrtub.com/CRA0042TL. It exists so the address on a tag can be the same identifier as the number stamped on the tag — one number for your crew to remember instead of two. Numbered patterns are included in the Professional plan (one pattern) and Scale (up to five). The Starter plan covers Random and Custom Links.

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The pattern is what you actually reserve

A pattern is the combination of prefix, digit count and suffix. CRA + 4 digits + TL reserves the whole space from CRA0000TL to CRA9999TL for your team — not just the numbers you have used so far. Three things follow from that:
  • A pattern is claimed exclusively across all of QRtub. If another team already holds that exact combination, you cannot claim it, and QRtub tells you so instead of quietly giving you something else.
  • Matching ignores case, storage does not. The affixes are stored exactly as you typed them, so the address can print as CRA0042TL, while cra0042tl still resolves. You cannot own both CRA and cra versions of the same pattern — they are the same pattern.
  • The reserved space is protected from Custom Links too. A custom slug that would land inside a pattern you own — cra0042tl, or any other number in that range — is rejected even though no Link has been minted at that number yet.
Set the digit count deliberately. It can be 1 to 10 digits, it is part of the pattern’s identity (3 digits and 4 digits are two different patterns), and it sets the ceiling: a 3-digit pattern stops at 999, and QRtub refuses to mint a number that does not fit rather than producing an over-length slug. You can claim a pattern up front, or just start creating Links with it — the first Link claims the pattern automatically if it is free.

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Prefix and suffix are not validated the way custom slugs are

QRtub stores whatever you type as the prefix and suffix. There is no charset check and no reserved-word check on them, unlike a custom slug. Keep them to letters, digits and hyphens: anything that needs escaping in a URL — a space, a slash, ?, &, # — is a problem you will only discover when someone in the field tries to scan or type the address.

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The three ways to mint a number

Once a pattern exists, choose a Generation Mode in the create form: Auto takes the next number in the sequence and moves the counter forward. This is the everyday mode — create ten Links and you get the next ten numbers. Auto never goes back to fill a hole left by a deleted Link. Specific mints one exact number, which is how you fill those holes. 0 is a valid number (it mints CRA0000TL). If the number already exists, QRtub rejects the request and tells you which address is in the way rather than creating a duplicate. Range mints a block: enter a From and To number and QRtub creates everything between them. This is the mode for a print run.

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Range mode checks for conflicts before it commits

Before you confirm a range, QRtub checks the requested numbers against what already exists and shows you the answer: how many of the numbers you asked for are available, how many already exist, and which specific numbers those are (the first ten, plus a count of the rest). If the pattern is owned by another team, you find out here rather than after the fact. Confirm, and the numbers that already exist are skipped — you get Links for the available numbers only, and nothing existing is overwritten. So requesting 1–500 when 12 numbers are already used creates 488 Links. One range request is capped at 1,000 numbers. Larger runs are several requests: the app warns you before you submit, and the server refuses the request with “Range too large. Maximum 1000 numbers per request.”

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Deleting a pattern

A pattern can only be deleted once no Links exist against it. If any do, QRtub refuses with a message telling you to deal with those Links first. Read that literally: unassigning the Links from their Items is not enough. The check counts Links belonging to the pattern regardless of whether they are attached to anything, so the Links themselves have to be deleted before the pattern will release. If any of them are in a print batch that has moved past Draft, they cannot be deleted at all until that batch is archived — which is deliberate, since those codes are physically out in the world.