80 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
80 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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{"publish":true,"title":"urlref","created":"2026-01-19T18:15:38.889-07:00","modified":"2026-01-19T18:40:10.504-07:00","tags":["web","note_taking"],"cssclasses":""}
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---
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As an avid user of pen and paper for note taking I have had endless trouble figuring out how to store url's without having to write them out in full. I seem to have found a solution to this issue with [urlref](https://benjaminhollon.com/musings/urlref/) from the fantastic [Benjamin Hollon](https://polymaths.social/@amin). I did have a little bit of fun setting up for myself though so I am documenting here in case it is helpful to anyone, including future me.
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## Installation
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### Install Nim
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**Arch Linux:**
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```bash
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sudo pacman -S nim nimble
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```
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**Other distributions:**
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See https://nim-lang.org/install.html
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### Build
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```bash
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cd urlref
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nimble build
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```
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### Install system-wide (optional)
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```bash
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nimble install
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```
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This installs the binary to `~/.nimble/bin/`. Ensure it's in your PATH:
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```bash
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export PATH="$HOME/.nimble/bin:$PATH"
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```
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## Usage
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### Create a short reference
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```bash
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urlref create "https://example.com/some/long/url"
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# Output: ABC
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```
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### Start the redirect server
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```bash
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urlref
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```
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The server runs on port 9873. Visiting `http://localhost:9873/ABC` redirects to the original URL.
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## Examples
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### systemd service
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```bash
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[Unit]
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Description=URL Reference Redirect Server
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After=network.target
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[Service]
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ExecStart=%h/.nimble/bin/urlref
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Restart=on-failure
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RestartSec=5
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[Install]
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WantedBy=default.target
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```
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### qutebrowser Integration
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This [[10-19 LIFE/13 TECH SETUP/13.11 APPS/qutebrowser]] integration works for me, you are on your own for other browsers!
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#### Userscript
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Should live at `~/.local/share/qutebrowser/userscripts`
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```bash
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#!/bin/bash
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# Qutebrowser userscript to shorten the current URL using urlref
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shortcode=$(~/.nimble/bin/urlref create "$QUTE_URL")
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if [ -n "$shortcode" ]; then
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echo "message-info 'Shortcode: $shortcode'" >> "$QUTE_FIFO"
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echo "yank inline $shortcode" >> "$QUTE_FIFO"
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else
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echo "message-error 'Failed to create shortcode'" >> "$QUTE_FIFO"
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fi
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```
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Bind it to a key
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```python
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config.bind('ar', 'spawn --userscript urlref-shorten')
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```
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Add a custom search engine
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```python
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c.url.searchengines['r'] = 'http://localhost:9873/{}'
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```
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