Shortenit CLI

A command-line interface tool for the Shortenit URL shortener service. Create shortened URLs, expand them back to original URLs, and generate QR codes - all from your terminal.

Features

• Shorten URLs - Create shortened links with optional custom aliases
• Expand URLs - Retrieve original URLs from shortened links
• Edit URLs - Update title, alias, expiration, or status of shortened links
• Delete URLs - Delete shortened links
• List URLs - List shortened links
• Expiration Control - Set custom expiration periods for your links
• QR Code Generation - Generate QR codes in terminal or save as PNG files
• Configuration Management - Easy setup and configuration management
• Beautiful CLI - Colored output and loading indicators for better UX

Installation

From NPM

npm install -g shortenit-cli

From Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/shortenit/shortenit-cli
cd shortenit-cli

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build the project
npm run build

# Link globally (optional)
npm link

Configuration

On first run, the CLI will prompt you to configure your backend URL and API Key:

shortenit

Or manually configure:

shortenit config

Configuration Commands

• shortenit config - Setup or update configuration
• shortenit config --show - Display current configuration
• shortenit config --reset - Reset configuration

The configuration is stored locally using conf and persists between sessions.

Usage

Shorten a URL

Basic usage:

shortenit short https://example.com/very/long/url

With custom alias:

shortenit short https://example.com --custom-alias my-link

With expiration (in days):

shortenit short https://example.com --expiration-days 7

Generate QR code in terminal:

shortenit short https://example.com --print-qr

Save QR code to Downloads folder:

shortenit short https://example.com --save-qr

Combine multiple options:

shortenit short https://example.com \
  --custom-alias my-link \
  --expiration-days 30 \
  --print-qr \
  --save-qr

Expand a URL

Retrieve the original URL from a shortened link:

shortenit expand abc123

Or with full URL:

shortenit expand https://short.link/abc123

Delete a URL

Basic usage:

shortenit delete abc123

Or with full URL:

shortenit delete https://short.link/abc123

Delete without confirmation:

shortenit delete https://short.link/abc123 --force

Edit a URL

Update the title:

shortenit edit abc123 --title "New Title"

Change the custom alias:

shortenit edit abc123 --custom-alias newcode

Update expiration:

shortenit edit abc123 --expiration-days 30

Remove expiration:

shortenit edit abc123 --clear-expiration

Deactivate a link:

shortenit edit abc123 --inactive

Reactivate a link:

shortenit edit abc123 --active

Combine multiple updates:

shortenit edit abc123 --title "Updated Title" --expiration-days 60 --active

List recent links

Display the most 10 recent shortened links:

shortenit list

List all links

Display all the shortened links:

shortenit list-all

Help

View all available commands:

shortenit --help

View help for a specific command:

shortenit short --help
shortenit expand --help

Commands Reference

short <url>

Create a shortened link.

Options:

• -c, --custom-alias <string> - Custom alias for the short URL
• -e, --expiration-days <number> - Number of days until expiration
• -p, --print-qr - Print QR code to terminal
• -s, --save-qr - Save QR code to Downloads folder

expand <url>

Get the original URL from a shortened link.

delete <url>

Delete a shortened link.

Options:

• -f, --force - Force deletion without confirmation

edit <url>

Edit a shortened link.

Options:

• -t, --title <string> - Update the title
• -c, --custom-alias <string> - Update the custom alias
• -e, --expiration-days <number> - Update expiration days
• --clear-expiration - Remove expiration date
• --active - Set link as active
• --inactive - Set link as inactive

list

List 10 recent shortened links.

list-all

List all shortened links.

config

Manage configuration settings.

Options:

• --reset - Reset configuration
• --show - Show current configuration

Development

Project Structure

shortenit-cli/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts                 # Main entry point
│   ├── commands/
│   │   ├── ShortCommand.ts      # URL shortening command
│   │   ├── ExpandCommand.ts     # URL expansion command
│   │   ├── EditCommand.ts       # URL editing command
│   │   ├── DeleteCommand.ts     # URL deletion command
│   │   └── ListCommand.ts       # URL listing command
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── ConfigManager.ts     # Configuration management
│   └── services/
│       ├── ApiService.ts        # API communication
│       └── QRCodeService.ts     # QR code generation
├── package.json
├── tsconfig.json
└── README.md

Scripts

• npm run build - Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
• npm run dev - Run in development mode with ts-node
• npm start - Run the compiled JavaScript

Dependencies

Runtime:

• commander - CLI framework
• axios - HTTP client for API calls
• chalk - Terminal string styling
• inquirer - Interactive command-line prompts
• ora - Terminal spinners
• qrcode - QR code generation
• qrcode-terminal - QR code display in terminal
• conf - Configuration management
• table - Table formatting for displaying URL lists

Development:

• typescript - TypeScript compiler
• @types/node - Node.js type definitions
• @types/qrcode - QRCode type definitions
• @types/qrcode-terminal - QRCode Terminal type definitions

License

MIT

Contributors

Made with ❤️ for the Shortenit project