What is the difference between hostname and host?

hostname is the domain/IP without port (e.g. api.example.com). host includes the port if non-standard (e.g. api.example.com:8080). For standard ports (80 for HTTP, 443 for HTTPS), port is omitted from host.

Is the URL hash (#fragment) sent to the server?

No — the fragment identifier (#hash) is processed entirely by the browser. It is never sent in the HTTP request to the server. This is why React Router and Angular Router use it for client-side navigation without server requests.

What is URL encoding and when is it needed?

URL encoding (percent encoding) converts special characters into %XX hex format. Spaces become %20 or +, & becomes %26, = becomes %3D. Query parameter values must be encoded to prevent ambiguity. Use encodeURIComponent() for values, encodeURI() for full URLs.

What is the maximum URL length?

There is no official RFC limit, but practical limits exist: Chrome/Firefox support up to ~2MB, IE/Edge limit at 2048 characters, Apache server default limit is 8192 bytes. For long data, use POST body instead of URL query params.

How do I extract query params from a URL in JavaScript?

Use the URL API: const url = new URL(window.location.href); url.searchParams.get("key") — returns value or null. url.searchParams.forEach((value, key) => ...) — iterate all params. Works in all modern browsers and Node.js 10+.

What is the difference between encodeURI and encodeURIComponent?

encodeURI() encodes a full URL — preserves :, /, ?, =, & characters needed for URL structure. encodeURIComponent() encodes a URL component (single value) — encodes everything including :, /, ?, &. Always use encodeURIComponent() for query parameter values.

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Stop squinting at long URLs trying to figure out where the path ends and the query begins. This online URL parser breaks down any URL in milliseconds — colour-coded anatomy view, copyable parts, parameter table and validation in one place. Supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, WebSocket (ws://, wss://), data URIs and custom schemes. No installation, no account, results in under 10ms.

What is a URL Parser?

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) parser breaks a web address into its individual components: protocol (scheme), username, password, hostname, port, pathname, query string (search params), and hash fragment. This tool uses the browser's native URL API for 100% accurate parsing — the same engine your browser uses — with zero server requests.

10 Features in This URL Parser

1. Live URL Breakdown — Colour-coded anatomy view showing every URL part. 2. Query Params Editor — Edit, add, delete params with live URL reconstruction. 3. URL Builder — Compose a URL from protocol, host, path, params, and hash. 4. Encode/Decode — encodeURIComponent and encodeURI with quick-load. 5. cURL Generator — One-click cURL command for any HTTP method. 6. URL Diff — Compare two URLs part-by-part, highlight differences. 7. Batch Parser — Parse up to 50 URLs at once, export as CSV. 8. URL Validator — Detect HTTPS issues, credentials, length warnings. 9. Smart Copy — Copy any individual URL part with one click. 10. History — Last 50 parsed URLs with one-click restore.

Frequently Asked Questions

What URL schemes does this parser support?

This parser handles any valid URL scheme the browser's URL API recognises: http, https, ftp, ws, wss, file, data, blob. Custom schemes (myapp://, slack://) are partially supported — the parser extracts host and path but does not resolve them. mailto: and tel: URIs follow different formats and return limited breakdown. For maximum compatibility, always include the scheme in your URL.

How do I parse URLs in JavaScript without a library?

Use the built-in URL API (works in all modern browsers and Node.js 10+): const u = new URL("https://example.com/path?key=value"); u.hostname → "example.com"; u.pathname → "/path"; u.searchParams.get("key") → "value"; u.origin → "https://example.com". No library needed. For relative URLs: new URL("/path?q=1", "https://example.com"). This tool uses the same URL API.

What makes a URL valid or invalid?

A URL is valid if: (1) It has a recognised scheme followed by ://. (2) The host is a valid domain, IPv4 or [IPv6] address. (3) Percent-encoded sequences use valid hex pairs. (4) The path does not contain unencoded spaces or illegal characters. (5) Port is a number 1–65535. Invalid examples: "example.com" (no scheme), "http://" (no host), "https://exam ple.com" (space in host).

How do I build a URL parser in Python?

Python has urllib.parse built-in: from urllib.parse import urlparse, parse_qs; result = urlparse("https://example.com/path?key=value"); result.scheme → "https"; result.netloc → "example.com"; result.path → "/path"; params = parse_qs(result.query); params["key"] → ["value"]. For building URLs: from urllib.parse import urlencode, urlunparse; query = urlencode({"key": "value"}); urlencode also handles dicts.