CleanURI URL Shortener MCP server

The URL Shortener MCP Tool is a convenient solution for shortening URLs through the CleanURI API. It's designed as a FastMCP server tool, making it easily integratable with agent or tool-based systems.

Installation Options

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• httpx
• fastmcp

Installing via Smithery

For automatic installation with Claude Desktop via Smithery:

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

Manual Installation

Install the required dependencies using uv:

uv add httpx 'mcp[cli]'

Docker Installation

Build the Docker image:

docker build -t url-shortener .

Running the Server

Standard Method

To run the server directly:

uv run main.py

Configuration with Claude Desktop

Using uv

Add the following configuration to your Claude Desktop settings:

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

Using Docker

For Docker-based configuration, use:

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

Features

• URL shortening via the CleanURI API
• Integration with FastMCP for tool-based systems
• Error handling and response validation
• Designed for stdio transport integration

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

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

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

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

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

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

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect