URL Shortening

shorten <url>                         Create a short URL
inspect <url>                         Probe a URL before sharing it
manage <private-management-url>       View status or remove a link
manual                Display this help page
contact               Show the contact address

URL shortening creates a smaller address that redirects to the original URL.

Quick start

1. Paste a long URL.
2. Optionally select an expiration period or one-time redirect.
3. Select Shorten or press Enter.
4. Save the private management URL.

Only http:// and https:// URLs are accepted. If no protocol is entered, https:// is added automatically.

Anonymous file upload

Use curl PUT upload to receive a public download URL and a private Management URL. The Management URL is shown only in the response; save it before closing the terminal.

curl -T filename https://toss.is

Upload complete
Download URL: https://toss.is/file*abc123
Private management link: https://toss.is/file*abc123*private-token

curl sends the local filename as the PUT path, and toss.is stores a safe version of that name. Add -H 'X-Upload-Filename: filename' to set an explicit safe download name. Anonymous uploads are limited to 256 MiB, expire after seven days by default, and are downloaded as attachments rather than displayed in the browser. Do not upload sensitive, malicious, or unlawful files.

Link Inspector

Link Inspector sends an HTTP HEAD request, follows up to five redirects, and reports the final URL, HTTP status, content type, response time, selected response headers, and HTML Open Graph preview metadata. If no Open Graph image exists, a site icon is used as the image fallback. Inspection results are not stored.

Webpage screenshot preview

For HTML destinations, toss.is creates a 1920×1080 browser screenshot in the background. The image is visible only through the private Management URL, and a failed or blocked destination does not affect the Short URL itself.

Short URLs and redirects

A short URL is a compact address that returns an HTTP 302 redirect to its destination. Use it when a long technical URL is difficult to share, and keep the destination URL stable when the link is used in documentation, terminal output, or chat.

Safe sharing

Share the Short URL freely. Keep the private Management URL secret: anyone with it can view link status, device access records, lifecycle settings, and remove the link. Use an expiration or one-time redirect when a destination should have a limited lifetime.

Link format

Short URL      https://toss.is/example*abc123
Management URL https://toss.is/example*abc123*private-token

Examples only. The first URL is safe to share. The management URL is private: keep it secret because anyone with it can view status and remove the link.

The private status page is separated into Overview, Activity, and Tools. Activity loads device records only when opened and starts with 10 entries; it can be expanded to the latest 100. Tools contains a manual Link health check, lifecycle controls for expiration and one-time redirects, and the removal action. These controls keep both URLs unchanged. Health check results are not stored.

Example

$ shorten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortening

✓ https://toss.is/wikipedia*abc123

$ manage https://toss.is/wikipedia*abc123*private-token

✓ link status and removal controls

toss.is is an ad-free URL shortener for fast technical sharing. It stays focused on short links and private link management. Questions and feature requests are welcome through the contact page.

$ shorten now →