# URL Normalizer & Deduplicator (`ryua_marines/url-normalizer`) Actor

Cleans a list of URLs and marks the ones that point at the same page. Strips tracking parameters and unifies scheme, host case, default ports, query order and trailing slashes.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ryua\_marines/url-normalizer.md
- **Developed by:** [Ryusuke Asai](https://apify.com/ryua_marines) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.20 / 1,000 normalized urls

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## URL Normalizer & Deduplicator

Clean a list of URLs and find the ones that point at the same page.

Two URLs can look different and still be the same page. `https://Example.com/a/?utm_source=x`
and `http://example.com:80/a` are one page, not three. Scrapers, sitemap dumps, CRM exports
and link audits are full of these, and they quietly inflate every count downstream.

This Actor rewrites each URL into one canonical form and marks the repeats.

### What it does to each URL

| | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Host case | `https://Example.COM/a` | `https://example.com/a` |
| Default port | `https://example.com:443/a` | `https://example.com/a` |
| Tracking parameters | `…/a?utm_source=x&id=1` | `…/a?id=1` |
| Query order | `…/a?b=2&a=1` | `…/a?a=1&b=2` |
| Trailing slash | `https://example.com/a/` | `https://example.com/a` |
| Fragment | `…/a#section` | `…/a` |
| Scheme | `http://example.com/a` | `https://example.com/a` |

Non-default ports, percent-encoding and query parameters you actually use are left alone.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | |
|---|---|---|---|
| `urls` | array | — | required |
| `stripParams` | array | `utm_*`, `fbclid`, `gclid`, `ref` | the parameters to remove |
| `forceHttps` | boolean | `true` | rewrite `http://` as `https://` |
| `keepTrailingSlash` | boolean | `false` | keep the slash at the end of the path |

### Output

One row per input URL, in the order you sent them.

```json
{ "original": "https://Example.com/a?utm_source=x", "normalized": "https://example.com/a", "isDuplicate": false }
{ "original": "https://example.com/a/",             "normalized": "https://example.com/a", "isDuplicate": true }
{ "original": "not a url",                          "normalized": "",                      "isDuplicate": false, "error": "not a valid URL" }
```

Nothing is dropped. A URL that cannot be parsed comes back with an `error` and the run continues,
so the output always lines up with the input.

### What it does not do

- It does not fetch anything. No requests are made to the URLs, so it is fast and cannot be blocked.
- It does not follow redirects. Two URLs that redirect to the same page are not detected as duplicates.
- It does not know your site. If a query parameter matters to you, keep it out of `stripParams`.

# Actor input Schema

## `urls` (type: `array`):

URLs to normalize

## `stripParams` (type: `array`):

Query parameters to remove

## `forceHttps` (type: `boolean`):

Rewrite http:// as https://

## `keepTrailingSlash` (type: `boolean`):

Do not remove the slash at the end of the path

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "urls": [
    "https://Example.com/a?utm_source=x&id=1",
    "https://example.com/a/",
    "http://example.com:80/a"
  ],
  "stripParams": [
    "utm_source",
    "utm_medium",
    "utm_campaign",
    "utm_term",
    "utm_content",
    "fbclid",
    "gclid",
    "ref"
  ],
  "forceHttps": true,
  "keepTrailingSlash": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://Example.com/a?utm_source=x&id=1",
        "https://example.com/a/",
        "http://example.com:80/a"
    ],
    "stripParams": [
        "utm_source",
        "utm_medium",
        "utm_campaign",
        "utm_term",
        "utm_content",
        "fbclid",
        "gclid",
        "ref"
    ],
    "forceHttps": true,
    "keepTrailingSlash": false
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ryua_marines/url-normalizer").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "urls": [
        "https://Example.com/a?utm_source=x&id=1",
        "https://example.com/a/",
        "http://example.com:80/a",
    ],
    "stripParams": [
        "utm_source",
        "utm_medium",
        "utm_campaign",
        "utm_term",
        "utm_content",
        "fbclid",
        "gclid",
        "ref",
    ],
    "forceHttps": True,
    "keepTrailingSlash": False,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ryua_marines/url-normalizer").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "urls": [
    "https://Example.com/a?utm_source=x&id=1",
    "https://example.com/a/",
    "http://example.com:80/a"
  ],
  "stripParams": [
    "utm_source",
    "utm_medium",
    "utm_campaign",
    "utm_term",
    "utm_content",
    "fbclid",
    "gclid",
    "ref"
  ],
  "forceHttps": true,
  "keepTrailingSlash": false
}' |
apify call ryua_marines/url-normalizer --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ryua_marines/url-normalizer"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Y5yY2K35qdUs0FX5N/builds/zRBH9fkU4jmPEpWAA/openapi.json