Zip1

About this Protocol

Zip1 serves as a bridge between AI assistants and web link management, acting primarily as a smart URL shortener. It allows users to turn long, messy web addresses into clean, manageable links just by asking an AI assistant in plain English. Beyond simple shortening, it can also create custom names for links or add password protection to shared resources, making it an easy way to organize and secure content during a conversation. Under the hood, this MCP tool provides a suite of specialized functions: creating short URLs, retrieving detailed statistics, validating links, and generating short-code suggestions. By integrating these tools, a Large Language Model can check if a link is valid before processing it or automatically generate a random short code for a new resource. The server also tracks engagement, allowing the AI to fetch real-time analytics such as total click counts, unique visitors, and geographic data for any link created through the platform. For developers and power users, the Zip1 MCP server is particularly valuable because it operates over an HTTP transport layer using the JSON-RPC 2.0 protocol. This architecture enables seamless communication with tools like Claude Code, which can connect to the remote endpoint directly via a simple CLI command. It simplifies the workflow for content creators and marketers by allowing an AI to handle the entire lifecycle of a link—from generation and password hashing to performance monitoring—using a single natural language interface instead of manual API syntax.

How to Use

1. Installation

The Zip1 MCP server is an HTTP-based server. Installation methods vary depending on the client you are using:

For Claude Code:
You can add the server directly using the CLI:

claude mcp add --transport http zip1 http://zip1.io/mcp

For Claude Desktop:
Claude Desktop requires a proxy to bridge HTTP servers to stdio. First, install the MCP client CLI tool:

npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/client-cli

2. Configuration

To configure Zip1 for Claude Desktop, edit your configuration file:
* macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
* Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following JSON to the mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zip1": {
      "command": "mcp-client",
      "args": ["http://zip1.io/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

3. Available Tools

Tool	Description
`create_short_url`	Create shortened URLs with optional custom aliases, passwords, and max clicks.
`get_url_stats`	Retrieve detailed analytics including clicks, countries, and timestamps.
`validate_url`	Check if a URL is valid and can be shortened.
`generate_short_code`	Generate a random short code suggestion.

4. Example Prompts

You can use the following natural language commands with your AI assistant:

"Shorten https://github.com/anthropics/claude-mcp for me"
"Create a short URL for https://docs.myapp.com with alias 'docs' and password 'team2024'"
"Show me the stats for short code 'docs'"
"Can I shorten ftp://myserver.com/file.zip?"

Use Cases

Use Case 1: Social Media Post Optimization

Problem: When drafting social media content, long URLs consume valuable character counts and look cluttered, often leading to lower engagement. Manually visiting a URL shortener website breaks the creative flow.
Solution: This MCP allows content creators to shorten links directly within their AI writing assistant. While the AI drafts a tweet or LinkedIn post, it can simultaneously generate a clean, shortened alias without the user ever leaving the chat interface.
Example: "Write a tweet announcing our new product launch based on this webpage: https://company.com/products/launch-2024/new-widget-version-2. Shorten the URL with the alias 'new-widget' so it fits the character limit."

Use Case 2: Instant Campaign Performance Audits

Problem: Marketing managers often need to check the success of a specific link (e.g., from an email blast or an ad) but don't want to navigate through complex analytics dashboards for a quick status check.
Solution: Users can use natural language to query the get_url_stats tool via Claude. This provides immediate feedback on total clicks, unique visitors, and geographic data, allowing for rapid decision-making during active campaigns.
Example: "How is our 'summer-sale' link performing? Give me a breakdown of the total clicks and the top three countries where people are clicking from."

Use Case 3: Secure Sharing of Staging or Internal Links

Problem: Sharing internal staging environments or sensitive document links in team chats can be risky if the link is intercepted or accidentally shared externally.
Solution: The Zip1 MCP supports creating password-protected links. A developer or project manager can instruct the AI to shorten a sensitive URL and apply a password layer immediately, ensuring only authorized personnel with the password can access the destination.
Example: "Shorten this staging URL: https://dev-server-882.internal.app/preview. Use the alias 'client-preview' and protect it with the password 'ProjectAlpha2024'."

Use Case 4: Streamlined Developer Documentation

Problem: Technical writers and developers often include deep links to specific GitHub lines or external API references in README files. These URLs can be extremely long and make the raw Markdown file difficult to read and maintain.
Solution: Using Claude Code with the Zip1 MCP, a developer can automate the cleanup of a documentation file. The AI can identify long URLs and replace them with short, manageable links using the create_short_url tool.
Example: "Scan my README.md file. Find all URLs longer than 50 characters and shorten them using the Zip1 MCP. Use descriptive aliases like 'api-ref' or 'setup-guide' for each."

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Added Dec 27, 2025