Bulk Shorten URLs with API: Automate Link Creation at Scale

Manual link creation does not scale. When your application needs to create thousands of short links programmatically, an API-based approach is the only viable solution. Bulk shorten URLs with API integration and you eliminate manual work entirely.

API Overview and Authentication

Most URL shorteners provide a REST API that accepts HTTP requests and returns JSON responses. Authentication typically uses an API key that you generate from your account dashboard.

RELURLs API uses API key authentication sent via HTTP header. Each request includes the key, and the server validates it against your account. API keys can be rotated if compromised.

Batch Request Format

To bulk shorten URLs with API, send a POST request with an array of URLs. The request body contains the list of URLs and optional parameters like custom aliases, tags, and expiration dates.

Example API request body includes a urls array where each object contains a long_url field and optional alias and title fields. The response mirrors the request structure with short_url added to each object.

Rate Limits and Throttling

API rate limits prevent abuse and ensure fair resource allocation. Free plans typically allow 50-100 requests per hour. Paid plans increase limits significantly.

When you bulk shorten URLs with API, implement retry logic for rate-limited requests. Wait for the rate limit window to reset before retrying. RELURLs API returns rate limit headers indicating remaining requests and reset time.

Error Handling in Bulk API Calls

Batch API calls can return partial success. Some URLs may succeed while others fail due to validation errors, duplicate aliases, or network issues.

Process the API response carefully. Check each item for success or error status. Log errors for investigation and re-submit failed items after fixing the issues.

Integration Examples by Use Case

• E-commerce product feeds: When new products are added to your store, trigger an API call to create short links for each product page.
• User-generated content: When users submit content on your platform, automatically create short links for sharing.
• Email marketing automation: Integrate short link creation into your email platform so each campaign gets unique tracked links.
• CI/CD pipelines: Generate short links for deployment URLs, release notes, and documentation as part of your build process.
• Content management systems: Create short links for each new blog post or article during the publishing workflow.

Webhook Integration for Asynchronous Processing

For very large batches, synchronous API calls may time out. Use webhook-based asynchronous processing. Submit the batch, receive a batch ID, and get notified via webhook when processing completes.

RELURLs bulk API supports both synchronous and asynchronous modes. Synchronous mode returns results immediately for small batches. Asynchronous mode returns a batch ID and processes larger batches in the background.