I'm not a coder or a script kid.
What's the easiest way to convert a URL from the clipboard to a shortened version using a free service like bitly or tinyurl?
Thanks!
Thanks! This is exactly what I needed!
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If my clipboard has 10 web addresses, how can I achieve this?
Hi @alexcr!
I know Droplr but, apparently, they don't have an API that allows you to use their services from a command line.
Bit.ly has an API. So it's possible. Although a little more complex to implement than with TinyURL.
First, you need a Bit.ly account. Log in to your account and go to:
https://app.bitly.com/settings/api/
Enter your Bit.ly password and generate a token. Once you have your token, repeat the steps for my TinyURL solution and replace the shell script by:
Accesstoken=your_bitly_token
api=https://api-ssl.bitly.com/v4/shorten
curl -s -H Authorization:\ $Accesstoken -H Content-Type: -d '{"long_url": "'"$KMVAR_URL"\"} $api
If everything works correctly, you should receive a response similar to this one from Bit.ly:
As you can see, the response is formatted in JSON. We'll save this value in a variable called JSON (for example). The part we're interested in is "link". So we're going to use the %JSONValue% token to retrieve the short url generated by Bit.ly and send it to the clipboard:
And… voilà!
Bit.ly Link.kmmacros (23.6 KB)
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Thanks so much, @carycrusiau. I really appreciate it. Droplr, which is the primary service I use, actually does have an API...
https://droplr.github.io/docs/
Based on what you see here, would the steps be the same as those you shared for Bitly?
Hi @alexcr, I've read the Droplr API documentation and, frankly, I don't understand it at all. Sorry I can't help.
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Hi @anamorph,
On your Tinyurl shell script, how do I add a reqeust for an alias?
As with Bit.ly, implementation is a little more complex because, in order to create an alias, you need to have a TinyURL account and obtain an access token.
Log in to your TinyURL account and go to:
https://tinyurl.com/app/settings/api
Enter a Token name (Keyboard Maestro for example), click Allow Create TinyURL. Copy your token.
Add a variable somewhere for the alias and change the shell script by:
curl -X 'POST' \
'https://api.tinyurl.com/create?api_token=your_tinyurl_tokken' \
-H 'accept: application/json' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d "{
\"url\": \"$KMVAR_URL\",
\"domain\": \"tinyurl.com\",
\"alias\": \"$KMVAR_Alias\"
}"
If everything works correctly, you should receive a response similar to this one from TinyURL:
As with Bit.ly, the response is formatted in JSON. We'll save this value in a variable called JSON (for example). The part we're interested in is "tiny_url". So we're going to use the %JSONValue% token to retrieve the short alias generated by TinyURL and send it to the clipboard:
And… voilà!
But… we have to deal with some errors:
- If the alias already exists, the response is:
{"data":[],"code":5,"errors":["Alias is not available."]}
- If the alias is too long, the response is:
{"data":[],"code":5,"errors":["The Alias must not be greater than 30 characters."]}
- If the alias contains invalid characters, the response is:
{"data":[],"code":5,"errors":["The Alias format is invalid."]}
So, I added an If/Then condition to check some potential errors and display the error message in a notification.
Here is the macro:
TinyURL Alias.kmmacros (19.4 KB)
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Thanks very much!
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Hey, @carycrusiau! I reached out to Droplr support, share your TinyURL script with them, and asked them if they could offer guidance on a similar script for Droplr. They shared the following, using https://www.nytimes.com as an example of the link being shortened...
Just tested this script and it works fine:
curl -XPOST -H 'Authorization: Bearer <your_token_here>' -H "Content-type: text/plain" -d 'https://www.nytimes.com' 'https://api.droplr.com/links'
You will receive a response in which the shortlink is the new link you need
Would this be something I can just plug into your TinyURL macro, replacing the TinyURL script you used?
Hi @alexcr,
It's a good step forward. It sounds interesting but they don't explain how you can get a token. I've searched my Droplr account, I've searched their API, I've searched Google… I can't find anything. Their documentation says:
All API operations must be properly authenticated. In order for you to access the API you must have a public/private key combination to access Droplr's API server.
Okay! But... how?!?!?
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I had to laugh at this, because I'm also running into the same issue.
Their customer support told me I can get a token on the website at "dev tools -> application -> cookies -> jwtToken", but I'm not finding a "dev tools" section anywhere on the website dashboard or in my settings.
I'm waiting to hear back from them with further clarification, and will let you know what I find out!
I couldn't find anything on my side either 
Nothing new from Droplr?
Nothing yet, unfortunately. I'm planning to ping them again tonight if I still haven't heard from them.
I finally heard back from Droplr, @carycrusiau! Here's how you get your token, assuming you're using Chrome...
-
Sign into your account on the Droplr website.
-
Right click on any blank space on the website, and select "Inspect" from the Chrome contextual menu. This brings up Chrome's developer tools.
-
In Chrome's developer tools, select the "Application" tab. (You might need to click on the ">>" button to find it.)
-
In this tab, on the menu on the left, in the "Storage" section, expand the "Cookies" menu item. You should see "https://d.pr" in there. Click on that.
-
Towards the bottom of developer tools, under "Cookie Value," you should now see your token.
Let me know if this works for you!