4.4 KiB
yourls-ui
Small Qt tray utility for shortening URLs using the YOURLS API.
The application sits in the system tray and allows quickly shortening the URL currently stored in the clipboard.
It was designed as a lightweight helper for everyday use with a self-hosted YOURLS instance.
Features (v0.1)
- System tray application
- Simple configuration window
- Uses YOURLS API with signature authentication
- Reads URL from clipboard
- Generates a short URL
- Copies the short URL back to clipboard
- Shows popup with clickable link
- Error reporting with API response
How it works
- Application starts
- If configuration exists → it goes directly to the system tray
- If configuration is missing → settings window opens
From the tray menu you can run:
Cut URL
The application will:
- Read the current clipboard
- Check if the content is a valid URL
- Call the YOURLS API
- Receive a shortened link
- Copy the shortened link back to clipboard
- Show a popup window with the result
If YOURLS returns HTTP 400 with error:url and an existing short link for
the same source URL, the application uses that link as a successful result.
On Wayland, Cut URL opens a small window when the application is inactive.
Activate it to allow clipboard access; the URL is read automatically once
the clipboard becomes available. You can also click Read clipboard, or cancel.
The result window copies the short URL after gaining focus and displays whether
the copy succeeded. Clicking OK retries and verifies the copy before closing.
Configuration
The settings window contains:
API URL
API signature
Example:
API URL:
https://example.com/yourls-api.php
Signature:
ABC123
⚠️ Important:
The signature field must contain only the signature value, not:
signature=ABC123
Correct:
ABC123
Tray menu
Right click the tray icon to access the menu:
Cut URL
Help
About
Exit
Double clicking the tray icon opens the settings window.
Building
Requirements:
Qt 6
Qt Widgets
Qt Network
qmake from Qt 6 (qmake6 on this system)
C++17 compiler
Build:
mkdir -p build-qt6
cd build-qt6
qmake6 ../yourls-ui.pro
make
The Qt 6 qmake executable may be named qmake on other systems; check its
version with qmake -v before building.
Or open yourls-ui.pro in Qt Creator, select a Qt 6 kit and use a new
build directory separate from any existing Qt 5 build.
Debugging clipboard URLs
Build and run a debug executable from a terminal:
mkdir -p build/Desktop-Debug
cd build/Desktop-Debug
qmake6 ../../yourls-ui.pro CONFIG+=debug CONFIG-=release
make
./yourls-ui 2>clipboard-debug.log
Exit any already running instance before starting this executable. Choose
Cut URL and inspect clipboard-debug.log. Debug builds log the executable
path, Qt platform, clipboard MIME formats, raw text and its UTF-8 hex bytes,
parsed URL, request stage, HTTP status and API status. The API signature and
full request query are not logged. Clipboard diagnostics may contain private
URLs; review the log before sharing it. These diagnostics are compiled out of
release builds using QT_NO_DEBUG.
Project structure
main.cpp
Application entry point
mainwindow.h / mainwindow.cpp
Main application window
Tray integration
UI logic
mainwindow.ui
Qt Designer UI for settings window
yourlsclient.h / yourlsclient.cpp
YOURLS API client
Handles HTTP requests and responses
The YOURLS API communication is encapsulated in YourlsClient.
API call
The application performs a request similar to:
GET /yourls-api.php
?action=shorturl
&format=json
&signature=<signature>
&url=<url>
Example:
https://example.com/yourls-api.php?action=shorturl&format=json&signature=ABC123&url=https://example.com
Future ideas
Possible improvements for future versions:
Hotkey support
Global hotkey to trigger URL shortening.
Clipboard watcher
Automatically detect URLs copied to clipboard.
Tray notifications
Use system notifications instead of popup dialog.
Recent history
Store last shortened URLs.
Custom alias
Allow specifying custom short URL alias.
Open YOURLS admin
Add tray menu entry for opening YOURLS admin panel.
Packaging
Provide:
AppImage
.deb package
Version
v0.1
Initial working release.
Author
deeaitch
License
GPL