Short.io

Use Short.io via direct curl calls to create and manage short links on your branded domain.

Official docs: https://developers.short.io/docs

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Create short links from long URLs
• Customize link slugs (paths) for branded URLs
• Track link clicks and analytics
• Manage multiple links (list, update, delete)
• Set link expiration using TTL (time-to-live)

Prerequisites

1. Sign up at Short.io
2. Add and configure your custom domain (or use the default short.io domain)
3. Go to Integrations & API and create a Secret API Key
4. Get your domain ID from Domain Settings (visible in browser URL bar)

export SHORTIO_TOKEN="your-secret-api-key"
export SHORTIO_DOMAIN="your-domain.com"
export SHORTIO_DOMAIN_ID="123456" # Optional, needed for list/stats operations

Pricing

• Free tier: 1,000 links, 50,000 tracked clicks/month
• API key is passed in the Authorization header

How to Use

All examples below assume you have SHORTIO_TOKEN and SHORTIO_DOMAIN set.

Base URL: https://api.short.io

1. Create a Short Link

Create a new short link with auto-generated slug:

Write to /tmp/shortio_request.json:

{
  "domain": "<your-domain-name>",
  "originalURL": "https://example.com/very/long/url/here"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.short.io/links" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "Accept: application/json" -d @/tmp/shortio_request.json | jq '{shortURL, originalURL, path, idString}'

2. Create with Custom Slug

Create a short link with a custom path/slug:

Write to /tmp/shortio_request.json:

{
  "domain": "<your-domain-name>",
  "originalURL": "https://example.com/product/12345",
  "path": "my-custom-slug"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.short.io/links" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "Accept: application/json" -d @/tmp/shortio_request.json | jq '{shortURL, originalURL, path, idString}'

3. Create with TTL (Expiration)

Create a link that expires after a specified time (in ISO 8601 format):

Write to /tmp/shortio_request.json:

{
  "domain": "<your-domain-name>",
  "originalURL": "https://example.com/temporary-offer",
  "ttl": "2026-12-31T23:59:59Z"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.short.io/links" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "Accept: application/json" -d @/tmp/shortio_request.json | jq '{shortURL, originalURL, ttl}'

4. Get Link Info by Path

Get details of a short link using domain and path:

curl -s -X GET "https://api.short.io/links/expand?domain=$(printenv SHORTIO_DOMAIN)&path=my-custom-slug" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Accept: application/json" | jq '{originalURL, shortURL, path, idString, createdAt, cloaking}'

5. Get Link Info by ID

Get details of a short link using its ID:

LINK_ID="lnk_abc123xyz"

curl -s -X GET "https://api.short.io/links/${LINK_ID}" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Accept: application/json" | jq '{originalURL, shortURL, path, idString, createdAt}'

6. List All Links

Get a list of links for a domain (max 150 per request):

curl -s -X GET "https://api.short.io/api/links?domain_id=$(printenv SHORTIO_DOMAIN_ID)&limit=20" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Accept: application/json" | jq '{count, links: [.links[] | {shortURL, originalURL, path, idString}]}'

7. Update a Link

Update an existing link's path, original URL, or other properties:

LINK_ID="lnk_abc123xyz"

Write to /tmp/shortio_request.json:

{
  "path": "new-custom-slug",
  "originalURL": "https://example.com/new-destination"
}

Then run:

curl -s -X POST "https://api.short.io/links/${LINK_ID}" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Content-Type: application/json" --header "Accept: application/json" -d @/tmp/shortio_request.json | jq '{shortURL, originalURL, path, idString}'

8. Delete a Link

Delete a short link by ID:

LINK_ID="lnk_abc123xyz"

curl -s -X DELETE "https://api.short.io/links/${LINK_ID}" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Accept: application/json" | jq '{success, idString}'

9. List Domains

Get all domains associated with your account:

curl -s -X GET "https://api.short.io/api/domains" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Accept: application/json" | jq '.[] | {id, hostname, state, linkType}'

10. Get Link Click Statistics

Get click counts for specific links:

curl -s -X GET "https://api.short.io/domains/$(printenv SHORTIO_DOMAIN_ID)/link_clicks?link_ids=${LINK_ID}" --header "Authorization: $(printenv SHORTIO_TOKEN)" --header "Accept: application/json" | jq '{linkId: .linkId, clicks}'

Create Link Parameters

Response Fields

Guidelines

1. Save the idString: Always store the idString from the response - you'll need it to update or delete links
2. Use TTL for temporary links: Set expiration for promotional or time-sensitive links
3. Limit parameter: When listing links, max limit is 150 per request; use pagination for more
4. Custom domains: Configure DNS properly before using custom domains
5. Avoid duplicates: Set allowDuplicates: false to prevent creating multiple short links for the same URL
6. Check rate limits: API has rate limiting; implement retries with backoff for high-volume usage