Laravel URL Shortener

A Laravel URL Shortener package that provides URL redirects with optionally protected URL password, URL expiration, open limits before expiration, ability to set feature activation dates, click tracking, custom vanity identifiers, event dispatching, and soft delete/restore out of the box for your Laravel applications.

Requirements

• PHP 8.1+
• Laravel 10.x, 11.x, or 12.x

Installation

install the package via composer:

composer require yorcreative/laravel-urlshortener

Publish the packages assets.

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="YorCreative\UrlShortener\UrlShortenerServiceProvider"

Run migrations.

php artisan migrate

Upgrade Guides

Upgrading to v3.x from v2.x

Upgrading to v2.x from v1.x

Usage

Building Short Urls

/**
 * Basic
 */
$url = UrlService::shorten('https://something-extremely-long.com/even/longer?ref=with&some=thingelselonger')
        ->build();
// http(s)://host/prefix/identifier

/**
 * Advanced
 */
$url = UrlService::shorten('https://something-extremely-long.com/even/longer?ref=with&some=thingelselonger')
        ->withActivation(Carbon::now()->addHour()->timestamp)
        ->withExpiration(Carbon::now()->addDay()->timestamp)
        ->withOpenLimit(2)
        ->withOwnership(Model::find(1))
        ->withPassword('password')
        ->withTracing([
            'utm_id' => 't123',
            'utm_campaign' => 'campaign_name',
            'utm_source' => 'linkedin',
            'utm_medium' => 'social',
        ])
        ->build();
// http(s)://host/prefix/identifier

/**
 * Custom (Vanity) Identifier
 */
$url = UrlService::shorten('https://example.com/my-product-launch')
        ->withIdentifier('launch2025')
        ->build();
// http(s)://host/prefix/launch2025

Finding Existing Short Urls

/**
 * Find a Short URL by its identifier
 */
$shortUrl = UrlService::findByIdentifier('identifier');
// returns instance of ShortUrl Model.


/**
 * Find a Short URL by its hashed signature
 */
$shortUrl = UrlService::findByHash(md5('long_url'));
// returns instance of ShortUrl Model.


/**
 * Find a Short URL by its plain text long url string
 */
$shortUrl = UrlService::findByPlainText('long_url');
// returns instance of ShortUrl Model.

/**
 * Find or Create - returns existing ShortUrl if found, or UrlBuilder for new creation
 * This is useful when you want to avoid exceptions for duplicate URLs
 */
$result = UrlService::findOrCreate('long_url');
// returns ShortUrl if exists, or UrlBuilder if new

// Usage example:
$result = UrlService::findOrCreate('https://example.com/my-long-url');
if ($result instanceof ShortUrl) {
    // URL already exists, use existing short URL
    $shortUrl = $result;
} else {
    // New URL, continue building with options
    $shortUrl = $result->withExpiration(Carbon::now()->addWeek()->timestamp)->build();
}

/**
 * Find shortUrls by UTM combinations.
 *
 * Note* This method only accepts the following array fields:
 *  - utm_id
 *  - utm_campaign
 *  - utm_source
 *  - utm_medium
 *  - utm_content
 *  - utm_term
 */
$shortUrlCollection = UrlService::findByUtmCombination([
    'utm_campaign' => 'alpha',
    'utm_source' => 'bravo',
    'utm_medium' => 'testing'
])
// returns an instance of Eloquent Collection of ShortUrl Models.

Deleting & Restoring Short Urls

/**
 * Soft delete a Short URL by identifier
 */
UrlService::delete('identifier');

// With multi-domain support
UrlService::delete('identifier', 'short.io');

/**
 * Restore a soft-deleted Short URL
 */
UrlService::restore('identifier');

// With multi-domain support
UrlService::restore('identifier', 'short.io');

Getting Click Information

$clicks = ClickService::get()->toArray();

dd($clicks);
[
    'results' => [
        [
            'id' => ...,
            'created_at' => ...,
            'short_url' => [
                'id' => ...,
                'identifier' => ...,
                'hashed' => ...,
                'plain_text' => ...,
                'limit' => ...,
                'tracing' => [
                    'id' => ...,
                    'utm_id' => ...,
                    'utm_source' => ...,
                    'utm_medium' => ...,
                    'utm_campaign' => ...,
                    'utm_content' => ...,
                    'utm_term' => ...,
                ]
                'created_at' => ...,
                'updated_at' => ...
            ],
            'location' => [
                'id' => ...,
                'ip' => ...,
                'countryName' => ...,
                'countryCode' => ...,
                'regionCode' => ...,
                'regionName' => ...,
                'cityName' => ...,
                'zipCode' => ...,
                'isoCode' => ...,
                'postalCode' => ...,
                'latitude' => ...,
                'longitude' => ...,
                'metroCode' => ...,
                'areaCode' => ...,
                'timezone' => ...,
                'created_at' => ...,
                'updated_at' => ...
            ],
            'outcome' => [
                'id' => ...,
                'name' => ...,
                'alias' => ...,
            ],
        ]
    ],
    'total' => 1
];

Getting Click Information and Filtering on Ownership

$clicks = ClickService::get([
    'ownership' =>  [
        Model::find(1),
        Model::find(2)
    ]
]);

Filter on Outcome

$clicks = ClickService::get([
    'outcome' => [
        1, // successful_routed
        2, // successful_protected
        3, // failure_password
        4, // failure_expiration
        5  // failure_limit
    ]
]);

Filter on the Click's YorShortUrl Status

$clicks = ClickService::get([
    'status' => [
        'active',
        'expired',
        'expiring' // within 30 minutes of expiring
    ]
]);

Filtered on YorShortUrl Identifier(s)

$clicks = ClickService::get([
    'identifier' => [
         'xyz',
         'yxz'
    ]
]);

Filtered Clicks by UTM parameter(s). These Can be filtered together or individually.

$clicks = ClickService::get([
    'utm_id' => [
         'xyz',
         'yxz'
    ],
    'utm_source' => [
         'linkedin',
         'facebook'
    ],
    'utm_medium' => [
         'social'
    ],
    'utm_campaign' => [
         'sponsored',
         'affiliate'
    ],
    'utm_content' => [
         'xyz',
         'yxz'
    ],
    'utm_term' => [
         'marketing+software',
         'short+url'
    ],
]);

Iterate Through Results With Batches

$clicks = ClickService::get([
    'limit' => 500
    'offset' => 1500
]);

$clicks->get('results');
$clicks->get('total');

Putting it all Together

/**
 * Get the successfully routed clicks for all active short urls that are owned by Model IDs 1,2,3 and 4.
 * Set the offset of results by 1500 clicks and limit by the results by 500.
 */
$clicks = ClickService::get([
    'ownership' => Model::whereIn('id', [1,2,3,4])->get()->toArray(),
    'outcome' => [
        3 // successful_routed
    ],
    'status' => [
        'active'
    ],
    'utm_campaign' => [
        'awareness'
    ],
    'utm_source' => [
        'github'
    ],
    'limit' => 500
    'offset' => 1500
]);

UTM Support

When creating a Short URL, the following UTM parameters are available to attach to the Short URL for advanced tracking of your Short Urls.

• utm_id
• utm_campaign
• utm_source
• utm_medium
• utm_content
• utm_term

UTM information is hidden in the Short URL identifier and clicks are filterable by UTM parameters.

Events

The package dispatches events that you can listen to in your application:

Event	Dispatched When	Payload
ShortUrlCreated	A new short URL is built	ShortUrl $shortUrl, string $builtUrl
ShortUrlClicked	A short URL is clicked	string $identifier, int $outcomeId, string $requestIp, ?string $domain
ShortUrlExpired	An expired short URL is accessed	ShortUrl $shortUrl, string $identifier, ?string $domain

// EventServiceProvider or listener registration
use YorCreative\UrlShortener\Events\ShortUrlCreated;
use YorCreative\UrlShortener\Events\ShortUrlClicked;
use YorCreative\UrlShortener\Events\ShortUrlExpired;

// Example listener
Event::listen(ShortUrlCreated::class, function (ShortUrlCreated $event) {
    Log::info('Short URL created', [
        'identifier' => $event->shortUrl->identifier,
        'url' => $event->builtUrl,
    ]);
});

Multi-Domain Support

v3 introduces multi-domain support, allowing you to host short URLs on multiple domains with per-domain configuration.

Enabling Multi-Domain

Set the environment variable or update your config:

URL_SHORTENER_MULTI_DOMAIN=true

Configuration

// config/urlshortener.php
'domains' => [
    'enabled' => env('URL_SHORTENER_MULTI_DOMAIN', false),
    'default' => env('URL_SHORTENER_DEFAULT_DOMAIN', env('APP_URL')),
    'resolution_strategy' => 'host', // 'host', 'subdomain', or 'path'

    'hosts' => [
        'short.io' => [
            'prefix' => 's',
            'identifier_length' => 4,
            'redirect_code' => 301,
        ],
        'link.company.com' => [
            'prefix' => null, // No prefix
            'identifier_length' => 8,
        ],
    ],

    'aliases' => [
        'www.short.io' => 'short.io',
    ],
],

Building Short URLs for Specific Domains

// Specify domain explicitly
$url = UrlService::shorten('https://example.com/long-url')
    ->forDomain('short.io')
    ->build();
// Returns: https://short.io/s/abc123

// Use current request's domain
$url = UrlService::shorten('https://example.com/long-url')
    ->forCurrentDomain()
    ->build();

// Custom prefix override
$url = UrlService::shorten('https://example.com/long-url')
    ->forDomain('short.io')
    ->withPrefix('custom')
    ->build();

// Custom identifier length
$url = UrlService::shorten('https://example.com/long-url')
    ->forDomain('short.io')
    ->withIdentifierLength(8)
    ->build();

Domain-Aware Lookups

// Find by identifier on specific domain
$shortUrl = UrlService::findByIdentifier('abc123', 'short.io');

// Find all URLs for a domain
$shortUrls = UrlService::findByDomain('short.io');

// Find or create with domain
$result = UrlService::findOrCreate('https://example.com', 'short.io');

Same Identifier on Different Domains

With multi-domain enabled, the same identifier can exist on different domains pointing to different URLs:

// Both can coexist
UrlService::shorten('https://site-a.com')->forDomain('short.io')->build();
// https://short.io/s/abc123 -> https://site-a.com

UrlService::shorten('https://site-b.com')->forDomain('link.co')->build();
// https://link.co/abc123 -> https://site-b.com

Security Features

URL Validation

v3 includes built-in URL validation to prevent open redirect and SSRF attacks. This is disabled by default for backwards compatibility, but recommended for new installations.

# Enable in .env (recommended)
URL_SHORTENER_VALIDATE_URLS=true

// config/urlshortener.php
'url_validation' => [
    'enabled' => env('URL_SHORTENER_VALIDATE_URLS', false),
    'allowed_schemes' => ['http', 'https'],
    'block_private_ips' => env('URL_SHORTENER_BLOCK_PRIVATE_IPS', true),
    'blocked_hosts' => [
        // 'internal.company.com',
    ],
    'block_metadata_endpoints' => env('URL_SHORTENER_BLOCK_METADATA', true),
],

Protected against:

• javascript: protocol (XSS)
• data: protocol (XSS)
• file: protocol (local file access)
• Private IP ranges (SSRF)
• Cloud metadata endpoints (SSRF)
• Localhost redirects

Rate Limiting for Password-Protected URLs

Brute-force protection is automatically enabled for password-protected short URLs:

// config/urlshortener.php
'protection' => [
    'rate_limit' => [
        'max_attempts' => env('URL_SHORTENER_PASSWORD_MAX_ATTEMPTS', 5),
        'decay_minutes' => env('URL_SHORTENER_PASSWORD_DECAY_MINUTES', 1),
    ],
],

After exceeding the maximum attempts, users receive a 429 Too Many Requests response with a Retry-After header.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
URL_SHORTENER_MULTI_DOMAIN	false	Enable multi-domain support
URL_SHORTENER_DEFAULT_DOMAIN	APP_URL	Default domain for short URLs
URL_SHORTENER_RESOLUTION_STRATEGY	host	How to resolve domain from request
URL_SHORTENER_VALIDATE_DOMAIN	true	Validate requests against configured domains
URL_SHORTENER_DOMAINS_DATABASE	false	Store domain config in database
URL_SHORTENER_VALIDATE_URLS	false	Enable URL validation (recommended)
URL_SHORTENER_BLOCK_PRIVATE_IPS	true	Block private/internal IPs
URL_SHORTENER_BLOCK_METADATA	true	Block cloud metadata endpoints
URL_SHORTENER_PASSWORD_MAX_ATTEMPTS	5	Max password attempts before rate limit
URL_SHORTENER_PASSWORD_DECAY_MINUTES	1	Minutes until rate limit resets

Testing

composer test

Credits

• Yorda
• All Contributors