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urltools

Two tiny functions that remove a whole class of "open Python just to…" moments:

$ urlencode 'stump rocks & other things'
stump%20rocks%20%26%20other%20things

$ urldecode 'https%3A%2F%2Foutline.stump.rocks%2Fdoc%2Fabc'
https://outline.stump.rocks/doc/abc

Pro tips​

  • Pairs naturally with the shlink plugin: shlink "$(urlencode-safe-url)" when shortening URLs that contain query strings or spaces.
  • urldecode is the fast way to read the real target out of tracking links and SSO redirect URLs before deciding whether to click.
  • Both read from arguments, so command substitution works: curl "https://api.example.com/?q=$(urlencode "$QUERY")".
  • For JSON-specific escaping there's already jsontools (urlencode_json) — use urltools for plain strings, jsontools when the value lives inside JSON.