URL Pretty Print: Anatomy, Encoding and Tracking Parameters

A long URL hides three different things at once: what the address actually points at, what has been percent-encoded on the way, and which parameters are there for measurement rather than for the page. This separates all three. A host written as xn--bcher-kva is read back into letters, a value encoded twice is named as such, and the rebuilt address at the bottom is the one worth sharing.

Everything runs in the browser; the address is neither transmitted nor stored. That matters here more than elsewhere, because URLs routinely carry session tokens, authorisation codes and email addresses.

Break it down