io.github.lonniev/tollbooth-shortlinks

Official4 tools

by lonniev · Python

Ephemeral, human-friendly short URLs for Tollbooth MCP services

This MCP server provides ephemeral, human-friendly short URLs for the Tollbooth ecosystem. Described as “Don’t Pester Your Customer™ (DPYC™),” it targets shortlinking use with the Model Context Protocol. The repository is versioned 0.1.0 and released under Apache 2.0 for Python 3.10+.

🛠️ Key Features

Ephemeral short URLs
Human-friendly short URL format
Tollbooth ecosystem focus

🚀 Use Cases

Generating short URLs tied to Tollbooth MCP services
Sharing concise links for ephemeral endpoints

⚡ Developer Benefits

Uses Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Python 3.10+ compatible
Repository under Apache 2.0

⚠️ Limitations

Limited details available about the specific tools (toolCount: 4) and functional behavior

Topics: dpyc, fastmcp, mcp, model-context-protocol, tollbooth, url-shortener

Topics

dpycfastmcpmcpmodel-context-protocoltollboothurl-shortener

Captured live from the server via tools/list.

create_shortlink

Create an ephemeral short URL that expires after 24 hours.

Parameters2

url	string	required	The target URL to redirect to.
slug	any	optional	Optional custom slug. If omitted, a memorable phrase is generated (e.g. ``brave-otter-finds-gold``).

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "url": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The target URL to redirect to."
    },
    "slug": {
      "anyOf": [
        {
          "type": "string"
        },
        {
          "type": "null"
        }
      ],
      "default": null,
      "description": "Optional custom slug. If omitted, a memorable phrase is generated\n  (e.g. ``brave-otter-finds-gold``)."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "url"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

resolve_shortlink

Look up where a slug points without redirecting.

Parameters1

slug

string

required

The shortlink slug to resolve.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "slug": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The shortlink slug to resolve."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "slug"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

delete_shortlink

Delete a shortlink before it expires.

Parameters1

slug

string

required

The shortlink slug to delete.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "slug": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "The shortlink slug to delete."
    }
  },
  "required": [
    "slug"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": false
}

shortlink_status

Health check — shows the number of active shortlinks and TTL.

Parameters

No parameters.

Raw schema

{
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {},
  "additionalProperties": false
}

README.md5 KBView on GitHub

Tollbooth Shortlinks

Don't Pester Your Customer™ (DPYC™) — Ephemeral, human-friendly short URLs for the Tollbooth ecosystem.

The metaphors in this project are drawn with admiration from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer (1961). Milo, Tock, the Tollbooth, Dictionopolis, and Digitopolis are creations of Mr. Juster's extraordinary imagination. We just built the payment infrastructure.

Why This Exists

OAuth Authorization URLs are long, ugly, and hostile to copy-paste:

code

https://api.schwab.com/v1/oauth/authorize?client_id=abc123&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2F
fastmcp.cloud%2Foauth%2Fcallback%3Fserver_id%3D...&scope=...&response_type=code&state=...

Traditional link shorteners have become opinionated. They inject interstitial pages, track clicks, require accounts, gate features behind paywalls, or silently expire links on their own schedule. When an MCP server needs to hand a patron a one-time URL for an OAuth dance, none of that belongs in the path.

Tollbooth Shortlinks is a community utility with no monetization. It turns any URL into a memorable four-word phrase like brave-otter-finds-gold, stores the mapping in Neon Postgres, and expires it after 24 hours. A companion Val Town HTTP handler does the 302 redirect with zero interstitial.

How It Works

code

MCP Server                    Shortlinks MCP              Val Town
    |                              |                         |
    |-- create_shortlink(url) ---->|                         |
    |<-- brave-otter-finds-gold ---|                         |
    |                              |                         |
    |  (patron clicks short URL)   |                         |
    |                              |    GET /brave-otter-..  |
    |                              |<------------------------|
    |                              |    Neon lookup           |
    |                              |-- 302 redirect -------->|
    |                              |                         |
    |        (24h later)           |                         |
    |                              |  link expires silently   |

Tools

Tool	Description
`create_shortlink`	Store a URL, get back a memorable slug (or supply your own)
`resolve_shortlink`	Look up where a slug points without redirecting
`delete_shortlink`	Remove a shortlink before it expires
`shortlink_status`	Health check showing active link count and TTL

All tools are free -- no credits, no npub, no Tollbooth ledger required.

Install

bash

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run Locally

bash

export NEON_SHORTLINKS_URL="postgres://user:pass@ep-xyz.us-east-2.aws.neon.tech/shortlinks"
python -c "from server import mcp; mcp.run()"

Deploy to Horizon

The .fastmcp.yaml at the repo root is ready for fastmcp deploy.

DPYC Identity

Tollbooth Shortlinks is registered as an Advocate in the DPYC Social Contract. Peer MCP servers discover its URL via registry lookup:

python

from tollbooth import resolve_service_by_name

shortlinks_url = resolve_service_by_name("tollbooth-shortlinks")
redirect_base  = resolve_service_by_name("tollbooth-shortlinks-redirect")

The Tollbooth DPYC™ ecosystem:

Repo	Role
tollbooth-dpyc	The wheel -- operator-side credit ledger, BTCPay client, tool gating, constraint engine
tollbooth-authority	The institution -- fee collection, Schnorr signing, purchase certification
dpyc-oracle	The oracle -- Social Contract governance, membership, ban elections
dpyc-community	The registry -- governance data, operator catalog, community rules
tollbooth-sample	Reference operator -- weather API with full Tollbooth wiring
cypher-mcp	Monetized graph answers -- named Cypher over Neo4j/AuraDB
schwab-mcp	Charles Schwab brokerage MCP -- trading, quotes, portfolio access
excalibur-mcp	eXcalibur -- formatted posting to X (Twitter)
thebrain-mcp	Personal Brain MCP -- thought graphs, knowledge management
taxsort-mcp	Tax sorting and classification MCP
optionality-mcp	Options analytics MCP
tollbooth-shortlinks (this repo)	Community utility -- ephemeral short URLs for OAuth flows
tollbooth-oauth2-collector	OAuth2 callback collector -- browser-based token exchange
tollbooth-pricing-studio	iOS app -- operator dashboard and pricing model editor

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Install

Tools (4)

create_shortlinkresolve_shortlinkdelete_shortlinkshortlink_status

Remote endpoint

Streamable HTTP

Hosted server - connect over the network, no local install.

url

https://tollbooth-shortlinks.fastmcp.app/mcp

Add to VS Code Add to Cursor

claude_desktop_config.json

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tollbooth-shortlinks": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://tollbooth-shortlinks.fastmcp.app/mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Desktop config is stdio-only; this bridges via mcp-remote. Native remote: Settings > Connectors.

🛠️ Key Features

🚀 Use Cases

⚡ Developer Benefits

⚠️ Limitations

Topics

create_shortlink

resolve_shortlink

delete_shortlink

shortlink_status

Tollbooth Shortlinks

Why This Exists

How It Works

Tools

Install

Run Locally

Deploy to Horizon

DPYC Identity

Related Repos

License

Install

Remote endpoint

Related servers