pyShortUrl

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

Install

To install pyShortUrl:

python setup.py install

Using pyShortUrl

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

Using pyShortUrl for URL shortening 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

Using pyShortUrl for URL shortening with bit.ly, j.mp and bitly.com

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

Using pyShortUrl for URL shortening with tinyurl.com

from pyshorturl import TinyUrlcom

service = TinyUrlcom()

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

Using the pyshorturl-cli.py utility

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