Create a Short URL and Get Its Statistics with YOURLS

Overview

This workflow lets you quickly shorten a long URL using YOURLS (a self-hosted URL shortener) and then automatically retrieve statistics (clicks, referrers, etc.) for the shortened link. It’s perfect for marketers, content creators, or anyone who wants to track link performance without relying on third-party services. The workflow is triggered manually, making it ideal for on-demand use.

Nodes and Authentication

• On clicking 'execute' (Manual Trigger) — No auth. Starts the workflow when the user clicks the "Execute" button in the n8n editor.
• Yourls (YOURLS node) — API Key auth (signature-based). Takes a long URL and an optional title, creates a short URL via the YOURLS API.
• Yourls1 (YOURLS node) — API Key auth. Uses the short URL generated by the previous step to fetch click statistics.

What Each Node Does

• Yourls node:
  • url: The long URL you want to shorten (hardcoded in this example to a Medium article).
  • additionalFields.title: An optional human-readable title for the short link.
  • The node requires YOURLS credentials (API endpoint and signature).
• Yourls1 node:
  • shortUrl: Expression referencing the output of the Yourls node ($node["Yourls"].json["shorturl"]) to obtain the shortened URL.
  • operation: Set to "stats" to retrieve statistics for that short URL.
  • Also requires the same YOURLS credentials.

Setup Instructions

1. YOURLS Instance: You need a self-hosted YOURLS installation with the API enabled. (If you don’t have one, see YOURLS.org to set it up.)
2. Credentials in n8n:
   • Go to Credentials → New and select YOURLS API.
   • Enter your YOURLS installation URL (e.g., https://yourdomain.com/yourls-api.php) and your Signature (the API token from the YOURLS admin panel under Tools).
   • Save the credential and assign it to both YOURLS nodes.
3. Customize the Long URL: If you want to shorten a different URL, edit the url field in the Yourls node.

Use Cases and Variations

• Social Media Sharing: Shorten links for Twitter, LinkedIn, or other platforms that have character limits.
• Campaign Tracking: Use different short URLs for each campaign and automatically pull their stats to compare performance.
• Email Newsletters: Shorten links in emails and later retrieve click data to measure engagement.
• Batch Processing: Replace the manual trigger with a Schedule Trigger or Webhook and feed multiple URLs from a Google Sheet or database to create short URLs and log their stats.
• Alerting: Add an Email or Slack node after Yourls1 to send the statistics to your team automatically.

{
  "id": "167",
  "name": "Create a short URL and get the statistics of the URL",
  "nodes": [
    {
      "name": "On clicking 'execute'",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.manualTrigger",
      "position": [
        370,
        300
      ],
      "parameters": {},
      "typeVersion": 1
    },
    {
      "name": "Yourls",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.yourls",
      "position": [
        570,
        300
      ],
      "parameters": {
        "url": "https://medium.com/n8n-io/sending-sms-the-low-code-way-with-airtable-twilio-programmable-sms-and-n8n-90dbde74223e?source=---------4-----------------------",
        "additionalFields": {
          "title": "Sending SMS the Low-Code Way with Airtable, Twilio Programmable SMS, and n8n"
        }
      },
      "credentials": {
        "yourlsApi": "Yourls"
      },
      "typeVersion": 1
    },
    {
      "name": "Yourls1",
      "type": "n8n-nodes-base.yourls",
      "position": [
        770,
        300
      ],
      "parameters": {
        "shortUrl": "={{$node[\"Yourls\"].json[\"shorturl\"]}}",
        "operation": "stats"
      },
      "credentials": {
        "yourlsApi": "Yourls"
      },
      "typeVersion": 1
    }
  ],
  "active": false,
// ... truncated (copy to see full JSON)