⌁ labsco summary — our analysis, not the vendor's

What it is — A small FastMCP server that shortens URLs via the CleanURI API, for anyone wanting one-call link shortening from an AI client.

What you get —

Single shorten tool — pass any URL and get a shortened CleanURI link back
Proper error handling and response validation
Runs over stdio for agent/tool integration
Install via Smithery, uv, or Docker

Requirements — nothing — no API key; it uses the public CleanURI API. Needs Python 3.10+, httpx, and fastmcp.

Cost snapshot — Open source (Apache-2.0), free; CleanURI's public API requires no key.

Setup effort — Smithery one-liner, uv run main.py, or a Docker build.

Our take — Fine for quick link shortening from a chat; caveat: it's a thin wrapper around a single third-party API with one feature — no analytics, custom domains, or link management, and it depends on CleanURI staying free and available.

Source: the project README — summarized 2026-07-08.

⌁ readme from github — mirrored (latest on GitHub ↗)

URL Shortener MCP Tool

This project provides a simple URL shortening tool using the CleanURI API and is designed to run as a FastMCP server tool.

✨ Features

Shortens any given URL using the CleanURI API.
Exposes the functionality as a tool via FastMCP.
Includes proper error handling and response validation.
Designed to run via stdio transport for integration with agent or tool-based systems.

Copy & paste — that's it

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "url-shortener": {
      "command": "/Users/{userName}/.local/bin/uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "{path_to_repo}/cleanuri-url-shortener-mcp",
        "run",
        "main.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

🚀 Usage

1. Requirements

Python 3.10+
httpx
fastmcp

2. Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install URL Shortener Tool for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @Talismanic/cleanuri-url-shortener-mcp --client claude

Manual Installation

uv add httpx 'mcp[cli]'

Docker Installation:

docker build -t url-shortener .

3. Running

uv run main.py

For docker based use, we dont need to do anything here.

4. Adding in Claude Desktop

With the uv

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "url-shortener": {
      "command": "/Users/{userName}/.local/bin/uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "{path_to_repo}/cleanuri-url-shortener-mcp",
        "run",
        "main.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

With Docker

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "url-shortener": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "-i",
        "--rm",
        "--init",
        "-e",
        "DOCKER_CONTAINER=true",
        "url-shortener"
      ]
    }
  }
}

No common issues documented yet. If you hit a problem, the repository's GitHub Issues page is the best place to look.

Licensed under Apache-2.0— you can use, modify, and redistribute it under that license's terms.

View the full license file on GitHub →