---
title: "Shlink Web Extension"
subtitle: "1-click link shortening"
path: "shlink"
date: 2020-01-01
lang: "js"
tags: []
---

[Shlink] is a self-hosted service that provides the ability to shorten arbitrary
URLs. It's a great service piece of software that provides an easy way to create
short links for your service, platform, or own needs. I currently have an
instance running on `link.eddie.sh` for a few months now, and I can happily say
that it has minimal maintenance needs.

It's primary method of interaction was either through a web app or through an
JSON API. Both are valid uses, especially the API as I believe the original
purpose was oriented for services, but naturally it's not the easiest to work
with when you're just browsing the web and you want to share a link in a pretty
form.

The web extension is something I developed over a weekend in a few hours. Once
you set it up (providing a domain and API key), using it is a simple as going to
a website you'd like to generate a link for and clicking the button. This makes
it very easy to share a link in a pretty, shortened form.

There's nothing to mention about the implementation of the extension itself,
perhaps other than it's written in an as-asynchronous manner and the main
function is just a simple Promise chain.

As for adoption, it has a thumb of approval from [@acelaya], the author of
Shlink, so hopefully we'll see use of this in the future.

If you're interested in the extension itself, here are the links to the
webstore, while you can find the repo [here][repo]:

<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/shlink/mgdacpmionfhhogkokjbdeehfnnliajj" target="_blank">
  <img src="https://imgur.com/3C4iKO0.png" width="64" height="64" />
</a>
<a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/shlink/" target="_blank">
  <img src="https://imgur.com/ihXsdDO.png" width="64" height="64" />
</a>

[Shlink]: https://shlink.io
[@acelaya]: https://github.com/acelaya
[repo]: https://github.com/edward-shen/shlink