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QCK Docs

Quick Start

Base URL

Section titled “Base URL”

All API requests go to:

https://qck.sh/public-api/v1

Every response uses a standard envelope:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": { ... },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "0190a8b2-...",
    "timestamp": "2026-04-08T12:00:00Z"
  }
}

On errors:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "ERROR_CODE",
    "message": "What went wrong"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "0190a8b2-...",
    "timestamp": "2026-04-08T12:00:00Z",
    "status": 400
  }
}

Authentication and rate-limit middleware errors use a flat shape ("error": "CODE" at the top level). See Errors.

1. Get an API key

Section titled “1. Get an API key”
  1. Sign up at qck.sh/app/signup (free, no card required)
  2. Go to API in the dashboard
  3. Click Create API Key and copy it. It’s shown only once

Keys start with qck_ and go in the X-API-Key header on every request.

Section titled “2. Create a short link”
Terminal window
curl -X POST https://qck.sh/public-api/v1/links \
  -H "X-API-Key: qck_your_api_key_here" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://example.com"}'

Returns 201 Created:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
    "short_code": "abc123",
    "short_url": "https://qck.sh/abc123",
    "original_url": "https://example.com",
    "created_at": "2026-04-08T12:00:00Z"
  },
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "0190a8b2-...",
    "timestamp": "2026-04-08T12:00:00Z",
    "status": 201
  }
}

3. Check analytics

Section titled “3. Check analytics”
Terminal window
curl https://qck.sh/public-api/v1/links/{id}/stats \
  -H "X-API-Key: qck_your_api_key_here"

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”