# url-slug-generator

Generates and audits clean, SEO-friendly URL slugs under 60 characters for articles, blog posts, and product pages.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1100 installs · ★ 1062
- Author: kostja94
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/components/utility/url-slug/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-21
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/url-slug-generator

## What it does

The skill converts page titles into concise URL slugs of 3 to 5 words separated by hyphens. It strips stop words, enforces lowercase formatting, and replaces accented characters with standard ASCII letters, such as swapping "é" for "e". Its recommendations align with Google search findings across 11.8M results, where top-ranking pages average 50 to 60 characters in total URL length.

Every run produces a primary slug, exact character count, target keyword placement, and alternative options. It explicitly filters out tracking parameters, dates, and raw database identifiers like `/post/12847`.

This skill focuses strictly on individual page paths. Site-wide directory structure and hierarchy belong to `url-structure`. If you update an existing slug on a live site, configure a 301 redirect immediately, because changing paths without redirection breaks established rankings.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill url-slug-generator -a claude-code
```
```bash
npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill url-slug -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/url-slug/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/url-slug/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill url-slug -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/url-slug/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill url-slug -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/url-slug/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install kostja94/marketing-skills url-slug
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/url-slug/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill url-slug -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills --path skills/components/utility/url-slug
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/url-slug/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill url-slug -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/components/utility/url-slug/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- generate clean URL slugs from long blog and article titles
- strip stop words, special characters, and tracking parameters from URLs
- validate slug length against the 60-character SEO benchmark
- transliterate accented characters into clean ASCII paths

## Example prompts
- Create an SEO slug for The Ultimate SEO Checklist for 2025
- Generate a clean slug for an article about ai people search under 50 characters
- Audit the URL slug how-to-increase-the-traffic-to-your-website and suggest shorter alternatives

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: be526c7dffd3388c.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE be526c7dffd3388c
```text
---
name: url-slug-generator
description: When the user wants to create, optimize, or validate URL slugs for content pages. Also use when the user mentions "URL slug," "URL path," "blog URL," "article URL," "short URL," "clean slug," "permalink," "slug optimization," "URL structure," "SEO-friendly URL," "create URL slug," or "SEO slug." For site-wide URL policy, use url-structure.
metadata:
  version: 1.0.1
---

# Components: URL Slug

Guides creation of SEO-friendly URL slugs for blog posts, articles, and content pages. Research on 11.8M Google results shows shorter URLs tend to rank higher; position #1 URLs average 50–60 characters.

**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

## Scope

- **URL slug**: The path segment after the base (e.g., `ai-people-search` in `/blog/ai-people-search`)
- **Applies to**: Blog posts, articles, guides, category pages, product pages

## Best Practices

### Length

| Guideline | Target |
|-----------|--------|
| **Slug length** | Under 60 characters total (including path prefix) |
| **Word count** | 3–5 words |
| **Principle** | Shorter = easier to read, share, remember; less truncation in SERPs; see **serp-features** |

**Example**: "The Complete Guide to AI Search Engine for Finding People" → `ai-people-search` (3 words) or `ai-search-finding-people` (4 words), not `ai-search-engine-finding-people-speed-discovery-outreach` (9 words, 51 chars).

### Format

| Rule | Do | Avoid |
|------|-----|-------|
| **Separators** | Hyphens (`-`) | Underscores (`_`), spaces, periods |
| **Case** | Lowercase only | Mixed case (causes duplicate content) |
| **Characters** | Letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), hyphens | Special chars |
| **Stop words** | Remove when possible: the, a, and, or, to | Keep when needed: "how-to" |

### Content

| Rule | Guideline |
|------|-----------|
| **Primary keyword** | Include near start; one focus per URL |
| **Descriptive** | Clear what page is about from slug alone |
| **No keyword stuffing** | One keyword mention is enough |
| **No dates** | Omit unless time-specific (news, annual roundups) |

### Non-ASCII Characters

| Scenario | Rule |
|----------|------|
| **Accented letters** | Convert to ASCII: é→e, ü→u, ñ→n, ç→c |
| **Non-Latin scripts** | Use UTF-8 percent-encoding if required; prefer ASCII for compatibility |
| **Example** | `jalapeno` not `jalapeño`; `cafe` not `café` |

### Common Mistakes

- **Copy-pasting full title**: Summarize instead — long title → short slug
- **Auto-generated IDs**: `/post/12847` — always customize
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE be526c7dffd3388c

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