URL Parser, Encoder And Query String Editor

A web address looks like one long string and is really six or seven separate fields stacked end to end: a scheme, sometimes a username and password, a host, a port, a path, a query string and a fragment. This URL parser pulls them apart and labels each one, so you can see what a link actually contains instead of squinting at it.

Who It Is For

Anyone holding a link that is not behaving. A marketer checking that a tracking link still carries the right parameters. Someone who was emailed an address and wants to know which domain it really points at. A support person trying to reproduce a bug from a customer's copied address. You do not need to know what percent-encoding is: the decoded reading sits next to the raw one on every row.

What It Shows That A Quick Look Does Not

Three things break naive tools, and all three are handled here. Repeated keys are kept apart rather than collapsed into one, because ?tag=sale&tag=new is how a filter with two boxes ticked is usually sent. A plus sign is read as a space in the query string and as a literal plus in the path, which is the difference between café latte and a folder called winter+jacket. And a fragment that carries its own query string - the shape single-page apps produce - is parsed rather than treated as one long anchor. The query string parser also keeps an empty value and a key with no equals sign apart, because they are two different things and some servers act on the difference.

The Host, In Full

The host is split into subdomain, domain and public suffix, so it is obvious which part somebody actually registered. International domains are shown twice: the letters people read, and the xn-- form the browser resolves. A host label that mixes two writing systems is flagged, because a name spelled with one Cyrillic letter reads exactly like the real thing and is not the same site.

How It Works, And Its Limits

Everything runs in your browser, on the same URL parser the address bar uses. Nothing you paste is uploaded and there is no network call on this page until you press Publish. The domain split uses a shortlist of common public suffixes rather than the whole list, so a rare country second-level domain may be read as an ordinary subdomain. It can tell you what is in a link; it cannot tell you whether the link is safe. If you are building tracking links rather than reading them, the UTM Builder is the tool for that, and when a parameter turns out to be Base64, the Base64 Encoder will read it.

Publish The Breakdown

Publish A Share Page turns the result into a single page - the parts table, the parameters with their decoded values, and the notes - on a live OxyPages address with HTTPS, in seconds and without an account. The link lasts 30 minutes unless you claim it, and claiming is free; from there you can pick your own address and, on a paid plan, put it on a custom domain. It is easier to hand a colleague than a screenshot of a link that will not fit on the screen. See how it works.