Redirect a Short ID to a Markdown File (not just for DEVONthink)

General Nerdery
1

I like using links to Markdown files, and there are already several existing solutions, each with their pros and cons:

  • Wikilinks, like [[Note_Name]], can easily break if the note is moved or renamed. Additionally, they don’t work across DEVONthink databases or in apps like Apple Notes.
  • File paths can change.
  • Hookmark links, like hook://file/pxbWfCG2u?p=cnRmLzEx&n=External%20Sources.rtf, and DEVONthink links, such as x-devonthink-item://4F70343B-1153-4DED-97F2-F1388A754AB5, are much too long and tied to their respective apps. This makes them less flexible for workflows involving other tools.

I wanted links in the following format:
http://id/1A22832D
The links should be as short as possible while still remaining unique. Each link would point to a key in the frontmatter of a Markdown file, like this:

---
title: Test Note  
aliases: 1A22832D  
---

The Current Solution

At first glance, this solution may seem like a Rube Goldberg machine, but once it’s set up, it’s simple to use.

Generating the ID

Coming up with a unique alias for every note is cumbersome. While DEVONthink’s 32-character UUID is too long, the first 8 characters are unique enough for my needs.

Here’s a quick calculation:
Generate 10,000 random 8-character IDs from the hex set {0-9, a-f}.
The total possible unique IDs: 16^8 = 4,294,967,296. This means about 2 duplicates in 10,000 IDs, which is acceptable for my use case.

I wrote a script that:
1. Takes a DEVONthink UUID,
2. Shortens it to 8 characters,
3. Copies it to the clipboard.

Here’s how I use it in practice:
1. I copy a DEVONthink link.
2. I run my script (dlink) in the WARP terminal’s visor mode, and the short UUID is ready to paste.
3. I add the shortened UUID to the frontmatter of my notes.

With this setup, I can:

  • Search for the note in DEVONthink: aliases BEFORE 1A22832D
  • It recognises the key/search term aliases in DEVONthink: aliases==1A22832D
  • If I copy the ID to the alias field in the Inspector, I can use Wikilinks: [[1A22832D]].

A search with a URL looks like this
x-devonthink://search?query=aliases%20BEFORE%201A22832D

This makes it easy to create URLs for other apps like iA Writer, nvUltra, or Apple Shortcuts.

Redirecting the Link on macOS

Now, I wanted http://id/1A22832D to redirect to x-devonthink://search?query=aliases%20BEFORE%201A22832D.
I should be able to click on the short link in any note-taking app, and the search would open.

On macOS, this is possible with two apps: Redirect Web for Safari and Link Unshortener (by the developer of StopTheMadness). Both apps work well for this purpose.

For Link Unshortener, I use the following regex in the Redirects settings:

  • Match: /http://id/(.+)/
  • Replace: x-devonthink://search?query=aliases%20BEFORE%20$1
    Where $1 is replaced by the ID.

Redirecting the Link on macOS and iOS

The apps Redirect Web for Safari and StopTheMadness also work on iOS, creating redirects to usual web-URLs. However, they cannot handle app-specific URLs like devonthink://.

To solve this, I built a plugin for a self-hosted URL shortener, YOURLS. YOURLS can be installed via Docker on a Synology NAS. For example:
https://yourls.ralf.example.com/brett redirects to https://brettterpstra.com.

Normally, YOURLS creates a 1:1 mapping from the short URL to the target URL. My plugin, however, carries over the ID.

Now, https://yourls.ralf.example.com/1A22832D resolves to:
x-devonthink://search?query=aliases%20BEFORE%201A22832D

By combining YOURLS with Redirect Web for Safari, I can go from:
http://id/1A22832D → YOURLS → DEVONthink search.

The Tools You Need

To make this work, I use:
1. A script to generate the unique IDs.
2. Redirect Web for Safari for macOS/iOS or Link Unshortener for Mac only.
3. A self-hosted YOURLS instance with my plugin.
4. A search program that supports URLs, such as Apple Shortcuts, nvUltra, or DEVONthink.

The short scripts I’ve written are available to share. Ideas welcome!

By the way, I’ve been using the solution on the Mac for a year now. Only the extension with Yourls was added today to get it work on the iPhone (again).

2

I have now taken things a step further. YOURLS, or rather the YOURLS plugin, fully resolves URLs of the type http://id/…
With the YOURLS plugin, I can define any additional rules as needed. This eliminates the need for using “Redirect Web for Safari” entirely.

  • If an 8-character ID follows, it is converted into a DEVONthink URL.
  • If the link meets other patterns it can be expanded to shortcut URLs (shortcuts://) and other uses.
  • If “brett” follows, it is treated as a short URL and redirects to Brett’s website.
  • And so on…

I have set up a DNS record in Pi-hole, which redirects the domain “id” to the IP of the reverse proxy (the standard reverse proxy from Synology).
The reverse proxy forwards http://id:443 to http://192.168.1.33:8327, which is the IP and port of YOURLS.
Additionally I installed the YOURLS plugin “Allow Aliases” to enable IP-based YOURLS access

The advantage of this revised approach is that I no longer need any apps, and the link with the ID works on any device in the network.

the plugin:

<?php
/*
Plugin Name: ID Redirect
Description: Redirects 8-character alphanumeric IDs to DEVONthink search queries.
*/

// Hook to handle redirection when a keyword is not found
yourls_add_action('redirect_keyword_not_found', function($args) {
    $keyword = $args[0];

    // Check if the keyword is exactly 8 alphanumeric characters
    if (preg_match('/^[a-zA-Z0-9]{8}$/', $keyword)) {
        // Redirect to the DEVONthink URL
        header("Location: x-devonthink://search?query=$keyword", true, 302);
        exit;
    }
});
1 Like
3

This is really cool and a great idea. Do you want to share these scripts/plugins as a Gist or some place I could link to it from a Web Excursions?

4

Oh, BTW @rhsev , did you ever see my bookmark-cli project? Might be something you’d be interested in integrating:

https://github.com/ttscoff/bookmark-cli

I wrote about it years ago but the downloadable on that page won’t work with SIP enabled, so you have to compile from source.

It should be easily revivable as a Swift script if anyone had interest in looking into it.

1 Like
5

Nevermind, I guess that makes way longer strings than you’re looking for. Definitely not 8-char ids. But if you ever do want persistent bookmarks to files that survive renaming and moving, it’ll do the trick. Just compiled it under Sequoia and it still works.

6

Sure, I can share my short scripts on Gist. I just need to polish them a bit over the weekend and add some comments in the script.

Bookmark-cli sounds definitely interesting - I’ll take a closer look and get back in a few days. Thanks for the pointer!