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Redirect Trace automatically detects long URLs in your clipboard and provides a dedicated workflow to trace them without overwhelming the search bar.

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How clipboard detection works

When you open the extension, it checks your clipboard for URLs. If it finds a URL longer than 500 characters, it displays a special action to trace it:
trace-redirects.tsx
useEffect(() => {
  const checkClipboard = async () => {
    const clipboardText = await Clipboard.readText();
    
    if (clipboardText) {
      const isUrl = clipboardText.startsWith("http://") || 
                    clipboardText.startsWith("https://");
      const isLong = clipboardText.length > 500;
      
      if (isUrl && isLong) {
        setClipboardUrl(clipboardText);
        showToast({
          style: Toast.Style.Success,
          title: "Long URL detected in clipboard",
          message: `${Math.round(clipboardText.length / 100) / 10}k characters`,
        });
      }
    }
  };
  
  const timer = setTimeout(checkClipboard, 100);
  return () => clearTimeout(timer);
}, []);
The extension checks the clipboard 100ms after opening to ensure it’s fully loaded before accessing clipboard data.

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Why 500 characters?

URLs longer than 500 characters often contain:
  • Extensive tracking parameters - Multiple marketing tokens and analytics IDs
  • Encoded data - Base64 or URL-encoded content in parameters
  • Redirect chains - URLs that encode the destination URL as a parameter
  • Email tracking - Newsletter platforms that add long unique identifiers
These URLs are:
  • Difficult to paste in search bars without truncation
  • Hard to read or analyze visually
  • Likely to benefit from tracking removal
The 500-character threshold is chosen to catch URLs that are genuinely problematic while avoiding false positives on normal long URLs.

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URL detection criteria

The clipboard content must meet both criteria to trigger detection:
  1. Start with a protocol - Must begin with http:// or https://
  2. Exceed length threshold - Must be longer than 500 characters
trace-redirects.tsx
const isUrl = clipboardText.startsWith("http://") || 
              clipboardText.startsWith("https://");
const isLong = clipboardText.length > 500;

if (isUrl && isLong) {
  // Trigger long URL workflow
}
This ensures the extension only activates for actual URLs, not other long text content.

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Using clipboard URLs

When a long URL is detected, you see a dedicated list item: Title - “Paste Long URL From Clipboard” Subtitle - Preview of the first 100 characters Accessory - Character count formatted as “X.Xk chars” Actions available:
  • Trace This URL - Start analyzing the redirect chain
  • Copy Full URL - Copy the complete URL to clipboard
  • Clear Clipboard Detection - Dismiss the detected URL
The extension automatically displays the character count in kilocharacters (e.g., “1.5k chars”) to give you a sense of the URL’s length.

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Processing long URLs

When you trace a long URL, the extension shows progress feedback:
trace-redirects.tsx
if (validatedUrl.length > 500) {
  showToast({
    style: Toast.Style.Animated,
    title: "Processing Long URL",
    message: `${Math.round(validatedUrl.length / 100) / 10}k characters - analyzing...`,
  });
}
This reassures you that the extension is working, even if processing takes a moment due to the URL’s complexity.

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Manual clipboard check

If automatic detection doesn’t work or you copy a URL after opening the extension, you can manually trigger clipboard detection:
  1. Copy a URL to your clipboard
  2. Open Redirect Trace
  3. Press Cmd+V to check clipboard
  4. The extension analyzes clipboard content
trace-redirects.tsx
const checkClipboardManually = async () => {
  const clipboardText = await Clipboard.readText();
  
  if (!clipboardText) {
    showToast({
      style: Toast.Style.Failure,
      title: "No clipboard content",
      message: "Copy a URL to clipboard first",
    });
    return;
  }
  
  // Validate and process URL
};
For URLs under 500 characters - The extension pastes them directly into the search bar. For URLs over 500 characters - The extension activates the long URL workflow. For non-URLs - The extension shows an error message.

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Character count display

The extension shows URL length in different formats: In search results:
trace-redirects.tsx
text: step.url.length > 100
  ? `${Math.round(step.url.length / 100) / 10}k`
  : `${step.url.length}`
In toast messages:
trace-redirects.tsx
message: `${Math.round(clipboardText.length / 100) / 10}k characters`
In accessories:
trace-redirects.tsx
text: redirectChain.finalUrl.length > 100
  ? `${Math.round(redirectChain.finalUrl.length / 100) / 10}k chars`
  : `${redirectChain.finalUrl.length} chars`
This helps you quickly understand whether a URL is unusually long.

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Workflow comparison

For URLs under 500 characters:
  1. Open Redirect Trace
  2. Paste URL in search bar
  3. Results appear automatically after 500ms debounce
  4. View redirect chain
For URLs over 500 characters:
  1. Copy URL to clipboard
  2. Open Redirect Trace
  3. See “Long URL detected” notification
  4. Select “Paste Long URL From Clipboard” item
  5. Press Enter or click “Trace This URL”
  6. View redirect chain
The clipboard workflow prevents performance issues that could occur from pasting extremely long URLs into the search bar’s debounced input.

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Clipboard privacy

The extension:
  • Only reads clipboard when you open it - No background clipboard monitoring
  • Only checks for URLs - Ignores non-URL content
  • Doesn’t store clipboard data - Content is only held in component state while the extension is open
  • Handles access failures gracefully - Falls back to manual workflow if clipboard access is denied
trace-redirects.tsx
try {
  const clipboardText = await Clipboard.readText();
  // Process clipboard content
} catch {
  // Clipboard access failed, ignore silently
}
You can always use the manual search bar workflow if you prefer not to use clipboard integration.

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