A python library to shorten urls using various url shortening serices.

Following table lists details for each of the supported services:

Domain Shorten/Expand URLs QR code Statistics

goo.gl YES YES NO

bit.ly YES NO NO

j.mp YES NO NO

bitly.com YES NO NO

tinyurl.com YES NO NO

v.gd YES NO NO

is.gd YES NO NO

git.io YES NO NO

To install pyShortUrl:

python setup.py install

pyShortUrl provides simple APIs that your python applications can use. Following are some examples that show how you can use pyShortUrl with goo.gl.

Shorten a URL using goo.gl:

from pyshorturl import Googl, GooglError
long_url = 'http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/'
service = Googl(api_key=<your_api_key>)
try:
 short_url = service.shorten_url(long_url)
 print short_url
except GooglError, e:
 print 'Error: %s' %e

Expand a goo.gl short url back to the original long url:

from pyshorturl import Googl, GooglError
short_url = 'http://goo.gl/RwsEG'
service = Googl(api_key=<your_api_key>)
try:
 long_url = service.expand_url(short_url)
 print long_url
except GooglError, e:
 print 'Error: %s' %e

Get QR code for a goo.gl short url:

from pyshorturl import Googl, GooglError
short_url = 'http://goo.gl/RwsEG'
qr_img_path = '/path/to/qr_code.png'
service = Googl()
try:
 service.write_qr_image(short_url, qr_img_path)
except GooglError, e:
 print 'Error: %s' %e

You can use bit.ly exactly like you'd use goo.gl. Just initialize the service object in the snippets above using Bitly instead of Googl.

from pyshorturl import Bitly, BitlyError
service = Bitly(<your_bit.ly_login>, <your_bit.ly_api_key>)

Note that it is mandatory to associate every call to bit.ly with a valid account and an API Key. Hence, to use URL shortening with bit.ly you will need to provide an account name and API key.

To shorten a url using j.mp or bitly.com, specify the domain as an argument to the shorten function call as shown below:

from pyshorturl import Bitly, BitlyError
long_url = 'http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/'
service = Bitly(<your_bit.ly_login>, <your_bit.ly_api_key>)
try:
 short_url = service.shorten_url(long_url, domain='j.mp')
 print short_url
except BitlyError, e:
 print '%s' %e

from pyshorturl import TinyUrlcom
service = TinyUrlcom()

You dont need any account name or api key to use TinyUrl.

pyShortUrl ships with a command-line utility called pyshorturl-cli.py that allows you to use all the features of the library from the command line.

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py -h
Options:
 -h, --help show this help message and exit
 -r SERVICE, --service=SERVICE
 One of the shortening services
 goo.gl,bit.ly,tinyurl.com,v.gd,is.gd. Defaults to
 goo.gl
 -d DOMAIN, --domain=DOMAIN
 Domain bit.ly, j.mp or bitly.com to use while
 shortening with bit.ly. Defaults to bit.ly
 -u LOGIN, --login=LOGIN
 The user account to use with the url shortening
 service.
 -l LONG_URL, --long-url=LONG_URL
 Shorten the specified URL.
 -k SVC_API_KEY, --api-key=SVC_API_KEY
 Use API Key while communicating with the url
 shortening service.
 -s SHORT_URL, --short-url=SHORT_URL
 Expand the specified Short URL.
 -q QR_IMG_PATH, --qr-code-file=QR_IMG_PATH
 Used with -s. Writes the QR code for the corresponding
 short url.

Some examples of using the pyshorturl-cli.py utility:

Shorten a long url using goo.gl:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service goo.gl --long-url http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/2011/geolocation-with-google-maps-javascript-api/ --api-key <your-api-key>
http://goo.gl/NMdyG

Obtain the original long url for a goo.gl short url:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --short-url http://goo.gl/NMdyG --api-key <your_goo.gl_api_key>
http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/2011/geolocation-with-google-maps-javascript-api/

Get the QR code for a goo.gl short url:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --short-url http://goo.gl/NMdyG --qr-code-file qr_code.png
Wrote the qr code for http://goo.gl/NMdyG to qr_code.png

Shorten a long url using bit.ly:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service bit.ly --login <your_bit.ly_account> --api-key <your_bit.ly_api_key> -l http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/
http://bit.ly/xJHGkJ

Shorten a long url using j.mp:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service bit.ly --login <your_bit.ly_account> --api-key <your_bit.ly_api_key> --domain j.mp -l http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/
http://j.mp/xJHGkJ

Obtain the original long url for a bit.ly short url:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service bit.ly --login <your_bit.ly_account> --api-key <your_bit.ly_api_key> -s http://bit.ly/xJHGkJ
http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/

Get the QR code for a bit.ly short url:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service bit.ly --login <your_bit.ly_account> --api-key <your_bit.ly_api_key> --short-url http://bit.ly/xJHGkJ --qr-code-file qr_code.png
Wrote the qr code for http://bit.ly/xJHGkJ to qr_code.png

Shorten a long url using tinyurl.com:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service tinyurl.com --long-url http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/
http://tinyurl.com/8yuvzl5

Obtain the original long url for a tinyurl.com short url:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service tinyurl.com --short-url http://tinyurl.com/8yuvzl5
http://www.parthbhatt.com/blog/

Shorten a long url using git.io:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service git.io --long-url https://github.com/parthrbhatt/pyShortUrl
https://git.io/sUX2IQ

Retrieve the original long url with git.io:

$ python pyshorturl-cli.py --service git.io --short-url https://git.io/sUX2IQ
https://github.com/parthrbhatt/pyShortUrl