Swift URL Stripper

A modern Swift package for removing tracking parameters from URLs while preserving functionality.

Overview

URLStripper automatically removes tracking parameters from URLs, helping to:

Protect privacy by removing tracking identifiers
Clean up URLs for sharing and bookmarking
Reduce URL length by removing unnecessary parameters
Maintain functionality by preserving important query parameters

Quick Start

import URLStripper

// Basic usage - removes all tracking parameters
let dirtyURL = "https://example.com?utm_source=newsletter&id=123&fbclid=abc"
let cleanURL = dirtyURL.withoutTracking
// Result: "https://example.com?id=123"

// Works with Foundation URL objects too
let url = URL(string: "https://example.com?gclid=123&page=home")!
let cleaned = url.withoutTracking
// Result: URL("https://example.com?page=home")

Installation

Swift Package Manager

Add URLStripper to your project in Xcode:

File → Add Package Dependencies
Enter the repository URL: https://github.com/arraypress/swift-url-stripper
Choose the version and add to your target

Or add it to your Package.swift:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/arraypress/swift-url-stripper", from: "1.0.0")
]

Core APIs

String Extensions

`withoutTracking: String`

Removes all tracking parameters from the URL string.

"https://example.com?utm_source=test&id=123".withoutTracking
// Result: "https://example.com?id=123"

`withoutAnalytics: String`

Removes only analytics tracking (Google Analytics, Google Ads, etc.).

"https://example.com?utm_source=google&fbclid=123&id=page".withoutAnalytics
// Result: "https://example.com?fbclid=123&id=page"

`withoutSocial: String`

Removes only social media tracking (Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, etc.).

"https://example.com?utm_source=google&fbclid=123&id=page".withoutSocial
// Result: "https://example.com?utm_source=google&id=page"

`withoutEmail: String`

Removes only email marketing tracking (MailChimp, HubSpot, etc.).

"https://example.com?utm_source=google&mc_cid=123&id=page".withoutEmail
// Result: "https://example.com?utm_source=google&id=page"

`withoutEcommerce: String`

Removes only e-commerce tracking (Amazon, eBay, affiliate links, etc.).

"https://example.com?utm_source=google&ref=amazon&id=page".withoutEcommerce
// Result: "https://example.com?utm_source=google&id=page"

`withoutTracking(removing:) -> String`

Removes all tracking plus custom parameters.

"https://example.com?utm_source=test&debug=true&id=123".withoutTracking(removing: ["debug"])
// Result: "https://example.com?id=123"

`withoutParams(_:) -> String`

Removes only specified parameters, preserving all tracking.

"https://example.com?utm_source=test&debug=true&temp=remove".withoutParams(["debug", "temp"])
// Result: "https://example.com?utm_source=test"

URL Extensions

All the same methods are available for Foundation URL objects:

let url = URL(string: "https://example.com?utm_source=test&id=123")!

url.withoutTracking        // Returns clean URL
url.withoutAnalytics       // Removes only analytics
url.withoutSocial         // Removes only social media tracking
url.withoutEmail          // Removes only email tracking
url.withoutEcommerce      // Removes only e-commerce tracking

Supported Tracking Parameters

URLStripper recognizes 500+ tracking parameters from major platforms:

Analytics Platforms

Google Analytics & Ads: utm_*, gclid, gbraid, wbraid, _ga, _gl
Matomo/Piwik: pk_campaign, mtm_*, matomo_*
Search Engines: msclkid, yclid, various search parameters

Social Media Platforms

Facebook/Meta: fbclid, __tn__, __cft__, __xts__, mibextid
Twitter/X: twclid, __twitter_impression, ref_src
TikTok: ttclid, is_from_webapp, sender_device
Instagram: igshid, igsh
LinkedIn: li_fat_id
Reddit: Various share and tracking parameters

Email Marketing

MailChimp: mc_cid, mc_eid, mc_tc
HubSpot: _hsenc, _hsmi, hsa_*, __hssc, __hstc
Salesforce: jobid, subid, sfmc_*
General: mkt_tok, _ke, _kx, dm_i

E-commerce & Affiliate

Amazon: ref_, tag, linkCode, ascsubtag, creative
eBay: _trksid, _trkparms, mkevt, mkcid
Etsy: frs, crt, sts, share_time
General: affiliate_id, partner_id, campaign_id

Other Platforms

News Sites: ftag, intcid, ncid, smid
Video Platforms: Various platform-specific parameters
Chinese Platforms: Bilibili, Weibo, and other tracking parameters

Examples

Clean URLs for Sharing

func shareURL(_ originalURL: String) {
    let cleanURL = originalURL.withoutTracking
    // Share the clean URL without exposing tracking
    shareToSocialMedia(cleanURL)
}

Selective Cleaning

func processAnalyticsURL(_ url: String) -> String {
    // Remove analytics tracking but keep social media attribution
    return url.withoutAnalytics
}

func processSocialURL(_ url: String) -> String {
    // Remove social media tracking but keep analytics
    return url.withoutSocial
}

Batch Processing

func cleanURLList(_ urls: [String]) -> [String] {
    return urls.map { $0.withoutTracking }
}

// Clean multiple URLs efficiently
let dirtyURLs = [
    "https://example.com?utm_source=email&fbclid=123",
    "https://shop.com?gclid=456&ref=affiliate"
]
let cleanURLs = cleanURLList(dirtyURLs)

Custom Parameter Removal

func processDebugURL(_ url: String) -> String {
    // Remove tracking and debug parameters
    return url.withoutTracking(removing: ["debug", "test", "dev"])
}

func removeOnlyInternalParams(_ url: String) -> String {
    // Remove only internal parameters, keep tracking for analytics
    return url.withoutParams(["internal_id", "session_debug", "dev_mode"])
}

Real-World Examples

Google Search Results

let googleURL = "https://example.com?gclid=Cj0KCQjw&utm_source=google&id=page"
let clean = googleURL.withoutTracking
// Result: "https://example.com?id=page"

Facebook Shared Links

let facebookURL = "https://news.com/article?fbclid=IwAR123&utm_medium=social"  
let clean = facebookURL.withoutTracking
// Result: "https://news.com/article"

Amazon Product Links

let amazonURL = "https://amazon.com/widget?ref=sr_1_1&tag=affiliate-20&keywords=test"
let clean = amazonURL.withoutTracking
// Result: "https://amazon.com/widget?keywords=test"

Email Newsletter Links

let emailURL = "https://shop.com/sale?utm_source=newsletter&mc_cid=abc123"
let clean = emailURL.withoutTracking  
// Result: "https://shop.com/sale"

Performance

URLStripper is optimized for performance:

✅ Fast parameter lookup using Set-based collections
✅ Efficient URL parsing with Foundation's URLComponents
✅ Minimal memory overhead with lazy evaluation
✅ Scales well with URLs containing many parameters
✅ Individual cleaning: ~0.00007ms per URL
✅ Batch processing: ~0.0004ms per URL in batches

Requirements

Swift 5.9+
iOS 13.0+ / macOS 10.15+ / tvOS 13.0+ / watchOS 6.0+

Key Features

🎯 Smart Parameter Detection

Recognizes 500+ tracking parameters from major platforms
Organized by category (analytics, social, email, e-commerce)
Case-insensitive parameter matching
Handles parameters with and without values

🔧 Flexible API

// Remove all tracking
url.withoutTracking

// Remove specific categories
url.withoutAnalytics
url.withoutSocial

// Remove custom parameters
url.withoutParams(["debug", "test"])

🛡️ Safe & Reliable

Preserves functionality - only removes known tracking parameters
Handles edge cases - malformed URLs, missing parameters, encoding
Type safe - works with both String and URL types
Non-mutating - original URLs are never modified
Thoroughly tested - comprehensive test suite included

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests, report bugs, or suggest new features.

Adding New Tracking Parameters

To add support for new tracking parameters:

Add the parameter to the appropriate category in TrackingParameters.swift
Add test cases in URLStripperTests.swift
Update documentation if needed

License

URLStripper is available under the MIT license. See LICENSE file for details.

Made with ❤️ for a cleaner, more private web.

URLStripper

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