NerdShorten is a high-performance URL unshortening and profiling tool built for security researchers, OSINT analysts, and power users. It safely resolves shortened URLs and bypasses ad-gateways without ever opening a web browser, protecting you from malicious scripts, tracking pixels, and IP grabbers.
This tool is designed to provide full transparency into where a link actually leads, what infrastructure it runs on, and whether it hides behind known monetization walls.
- Standard Resolution: Follows HTTP 3xx redirects gracefully to trace the exact path of any shortlink.
- Recursive Mode: Automatically unravels nested shortlinks (up to 10 hops) to find the final destination.
- Ad-Gateway Bypass: Natively bypasses popular monetization walls (e.g., Linkvertise, LootLabs, Workink) using a built-in API gateway.
- URL Generation: Instantly generate shortened links using the TinyURL API right from your terminal.
- Deep Profiling: Extracts the HTTP Status Code, Server infrastructure, and HTML
<title>of the final destination for advanced analytics. - Local History Log: Silently records all of your shortening and unshortening actions in a local JSON log, which can be viewed directly within the tool.
- Premium Custom UI: Features a meticulously designed, color-coded terminal user interface.
| # | Mode | Mechanism | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unshorten URL | Standard HTTP tracing or Ad-Gateway API bypassing | Finding where a single link leads quickly and safely |
| 2 | Recursive Unshorten | Iterative multi-hop tracing | Breaking down Russian-doll style nested short links |
| 3 | Shorten URL | Calls the TinyURL API | Instantly creating short links without opening a browser |
| 4 | View History | Parses ~/.nerdshorten_history.json |
Reviewing past operations and targets |
The tool routes URLs dynamically based on the detected hostname:
- Standard Engine: Intercepts
3xxredirects or extracts<meta http-equiv="refresh">tags from standard shorteners (bit.ly, t.co, etc.). - Bypass Engine: Detects over 100 known ad-gateway domains and routes them through the
Bypass.VIPAPI to extract the destination without triggering ad views or waiting for timers.
When the final destination is reached, NerdShorten automatically performs a lightweight profile:
- Initiates a 5-second timeout
GETrequest. - Spoofs the User-Agent as
NerdShorten/1.0. - Scans the first 16KB of the response body via regular expressions to extract the
<title>tag.
- Customized HTTP clients with 15-second strict timeouts for all standard resolutions.
- 5-second aggressive timeout specifically for Deep Profiling to maintain high UI responsiveness.
- Error suppression and custom formatting (no panics, no raw Go stack traces).
- Go 1.19+ (compiled binary)
- Works natively on Windows, Linux, and macOS
- Outbound internet access
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/nerdblud/NerdShorten.git
cd NerdShorten
# Build from source
go build -o nerdshorten
# Run the interactive tool
./nerdshortenYou can also bypass the menu and directly unshorten a link:
# Standard Unshorten
./nerdshorten unshorten https://bit.ly/example
# Recursive Unshorten
./nerdshorten unshorten -r https://bit.ly/example
# Shorten URL
./nerdshorten shorten https://github.comAll operations are permanently logged to ~/.nerdshorten_history.json on your local machine.
The View History screen parses this file and displays your last 10 actions (timestamps, target URL, and final outcome) in a dynamically truncated, clean format.
# Standard build (Windows)
go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o nerdshorten.exe
# Cross-compile for Linux
GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o nerdshorten-linux
# Cross-compile for macOS (Apple Silicon)
GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o nerdshorten-macThis tool is provided for authorized security assessment, OSINT gathering, and educational purposes only. It is designed to evaluate links safely. Use responsibly and ethically.