• Short Link API
  • RESTful HTTP API
  • Javascript API
  • Android and iOS API
• Data API
  • Creation data
  • Usage data
  • Storage use data

The Short Link API allows you to create Short Links from your applications. You can use the API in the form of a RESTful API over HTTP or using an Android or iOS app with the libraries.

RESTful HTTP API

• URL: /_ah/api/shortlink/v1/create
• HTTP Method: POST
• Input: (as a JSON message)
  • target_link: the URL to which the Short Link redirects
  • short_link (optional): if specified, the user requests a custom Short Link. If not present, a random Short Link will be assigned
• Example input:

{
  "state": "----X----",
  "target_link": "http://foo.com"
}
            

• Output: a JSON object containing the following fields
  • created_date (optional): a Unix timestamp indicating the time (in UTC) that the Short Link was created. Present if creation was a success
  • short_link (optional): the Short Link code, to be prefixed with the domain (e.g. lnkr.co.za). Present if creation was a success
  • status: the status of the creation operation; non-zero indicates failure
  • target_link (optional): the URL to which the Short Link redirects. Present if creation was a success
  • msg (optional, repeatable): Any error messages that might be appropriate. Present if creation failed
• Example output:

{
  "created_date": "1383588183093", 
  "short_link": "XScfof", 
  "status": "0", 
  "target_link": "http://lnkr.co.za"
}
            

Javascript API

To use the Javascript API you'll first need to include the Google API client. The value of the onload parameter is a callback function you'll need to create.

<script src="https://apis.google.com/js/client.js?onload=init"></script>
        

The callback function will load the Short Link API.

var ROOT = 'https://1-dot-api.lnkr.co.za';
gapi.client.load('shortlink', 'v1', function() {
  // The API is loaded, you can now use it 
}, ROOT);
        

To create a Short Link, use the create method.

gapi.client.shortlink.create(req).execute(function(resp) {
  // req is the input
  // resp is the output
});
        

• Input: (as a JSON message)
  • target_link: the URL to which the Short Link redirects
  • short_link (optional): if specified, the user requests a custom Short Link. If not present, a random Short Link will be assigned
• Example input:

{
  target_link: "http://lnkr.co.za",
  short_link: "customLink"
}
           

• Output: a JSON object containing the following fields
  • created_date (optional): a Unix timestamp indicating the time (in UTC) that the Short Link was created. Present if creation was a success
  • short_link (optional): the Short Link code, to be prefixed with the domain (e.g. lnkr.co.za). Present if creation was a success
  • status: the status of the creation operation; non-zero indicates failure
  • target_link (optional): the URL to which the Short Link redirects. Present if creation was a success
  • msg (optional, repeatable): Any error messages that might be appropriate. Present if creation failed
• Example output:

{
  "created_date": "1383588183093", 
  "short_link": "XScfof", 
  "status": "0", 
  "target_link": "http://lnkr.co.za"
}
            

Android and iOS API

• For Android clients, consult this guide
• For iOS clients, consult this guide

You can get the data behind the stats page as JSON.

Short Link creation statistics

• URL: /data/creation
• Description: Shows the number of Short Links created per country per day
• Output:
  • An array with key "data", elements [country, count, day] with header row at position 0
  • Country is the 2-letter ISO code, ZZ means unknown
  • Day is the Unix timestamp (in UTC) for 00:00 on a given day
• Example output

{"data": [
    ["country", "count", "day"],
    ["ZA", 6, 1383004800000000],
    ["ZA", 29, 1383264000000000],
    ["ZA", 10, 1383523200000]
  ]
}
            

Short Link use statistics

• URL: /data/use
• Description: Shows the number of Short Links used per country per day
• Output:
  • An array with key "data", elements [country, count(cached), count(notcached)] with header row at position 0
  • The cached vs. not-cached count refers to the use of memcache when using a short link. The short link will be cached on first use
  • Country is the 2-letter ISO code, ZZ means unknown
  • Day is the Unix timestamp (in UTC) for 00:00 on a given day
• Example output

{"data": [
    ["country", "count-notcached", "count-cached"],
    ["ZA", 2, 2]
  ]
}
            

Short Link data statistics

• URL: /data/linkspace
• Description: Shows stats about the usage (storage and combinations) of the available Short Links
• Output:
  • An array with key "data", elements [used, total, data_bytes] with header row at position 0
  • "used" is the number of Short Links currently created
  • "total" is the number of Short Links available in total
  • "data_bytes" is the total storage used for Short Links objects
• Example output

{"data": [
    ["used", "total", "data_bytes"],
    [7, 62523502209, 1903]
  ]
}