Slug Generator
{{ summaryPrimary }}
{{ summaryLine }}
{{ badge.text }}
Paste a title, heading, product name, route label, or file name; the slug updates as you type.
{{ sourceStatus || sourceHelperText }}
Choose the word separator used by the primary slug and URL path variant.
Control casing for the primary slug while the ledger still includes code-friendly variants.
Decide whether the generated slug should be ASCII-oriented or keep Unicode letters.
Keep URLs readable; 48 to 72 characters works well for most page titles.
chars
Optional cleanup for SEO-style slugs where short connector words are not needed.
{{ remove_stop_words ? 'On' : 'Off' }}
Avoids ending the slug with a partial word when the max length is tight.
{{ smart_trim ? 'On' : 'Off' }}
Optional prefix for section ids, CSS hooks, and design-system anchors.
Use one line per title when preparing many page or file slugs at once.
{{ batch_mode ? 'On' : 'Off' }}
Keeps pasted title lists from producing identical URL or filename targets.
{{ dedupe_batch ? 'On' : 'Off' }} 
{{ primarySlugText || 'Waiting for source text' }}
Source Target Value Chars Fit Copy
No slug variants yet.
{{ row.sourceLabel }} {{ row.target }} {{ row.value }} {{ row.characters }} {{ row.fit }}
Target Recommended value Review Why Copy
No paste targets yet.
{{ row.target }} {{ row.value }} {{ row.review }} {{ row.why }}
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A slug is a short readable identifier used in a URL path, file name, anchor, CSS selector, or content system key. Good slugs remove spacing and punctuation surprises while keeping enough words for a person to recognize the page or record later.

A title converted into URL segment and anchor slug variants

URL syntax reserves characters such as /, ?, #, and & for structural meaning. A slug avoids those characters in the path segment itself, which makes the value easier to copy, compare, and route without accidental parsing changes.

Slug quality is partly technical and partly editorial. A short identifier is easier to scan, but cutting too many words can make two pages look alike or hide the meaning of a heading.

Technical Details:

Slug generation starts by turning a title into word tokens. Camel-case boundaries, digit boundaries, accent marks, and symbol words such as &, +, @, and % are handled before the words are joined.

The generated value then passes through casing, separator, stop-word, and length rules. The default path favors lowercase ASCII words joined by hyphens because that form is readable and avoids percent-encoding in most URL segments.

Transformation Core:

Option How It Changes the Slug Output Cue
Character handling ASCII-safe folds accent marks. Unicode keeps non-ASCII letters. Strict ASCII keeps ASCII tokens only. The summary badge reports ASCII-safe, Unicode kept, or strict ASCII.
Separator Hyphen, underscore, or dot joins the tokens. The paste checklist marks non-hyphen public URL choices for review. Search URL shows Ready for hyphen output and Review otherwise.
Maximum length Values are clamped from 8 to 160 characters. Smart trim backs up to a separator when a cut would leave a partial word. Warnings report slugs trimmed to the maximum length.
Remove stop words Common connector words are dropped only when at least one token remains. If every token would be removed, the original tokens are kept. Warnings report how many stop words were removed.
Batch mode Each non-blank source line becomes its own slug. Duplicate batch slugs can receive numeric suffixes while respecting the length cap. The summary reports the number of slugs and target checks.

Slug Variant Ledger expands each primary slug into URL segment, path, filename, anchor, HTML id, CSS class, snake_case, dot.path, and section-id variants. Paste Target Checklist then adds review labels for the targets most likely to break when length, separator, or Unicode choices are wrong.

Unicode slugs can be valid in modern systems, but copied paths may display as percent-encoded text. The Encoded path row shows what that escaped form looks like before the value reaches a route, CMS, or analytics system.

Everyday Use & Decision Guide:

For a public URL, start with Separator set to Hyphen, Letter case set to Lowercase, Character handling set to ASCII-safe, and Maximum length around 48 to 72 characters. That usually produces a readable path segment without extra encoding.

Use Preserve source case, underscores, or dots only when matching a route convention, code name, metric path, or existing file naming pattern. Those forms may be correct for technical targets even when the checklist marks them for review as public URL choices.

  • Turn on Batch mode before pasting several titles; otherwise only the first non-blank line is active.
  • Keep De-duplicate batch slugs on when multiple headings may normalize to the same value.
  • Check CMS permalink when the primary slug is long; the row flags values above 72 characters.
  • Use ID prefix when a numeric title needs a safe HTML id or CSS selector.

A generated slug is a candidate, not a publishing plan. Before changing a live URL, check redirects, internal links, analytics references, and any system that stores the old path.

Step-by-Step Guide:

  1. Paste a title, heading, file name, or one-title-per-line batch into Source text.
  2. Click Normalize spaces if the source has copied line breaks or repeated spacing that should not affect tokens.
  3. Choose Separator, Letter case, and Character handling for the target system.
  4. Set Maximum length and leave Smart trim on when a readable word boundary matters.
  5. Open Slug Variant Ledger to compare URL, filename, anchor, CSS, snake_case, and dot-path forms.
  6. Open Paste Target Checklist. Resolve Review, Long, Encode, or Adjusted labels before copying the final target value.

Interpreting Results:

Primary Slug is the main normalized value. Use it for the common path segment only after the summary warnings and paste-target rows agree with the destination.

Review does not mean the value is invalid. It means the current option is less typical for that target, such as an underscore in a public URL or Unicode that may be percent-encoded.

Do not treat a unique generated value as proof that the site has no collision. Batch de-duplication catches duplicates in the pasted lines only; it cannot see existing routes, files, or CMS records.

Worked Examples:

Quarterly Launch Plan: APAC Beta with the default settings becomes quarterly-launch-plan-apac-beta. The URL segment and path rows are ready, and the same source also produces anchor, HTML id, CSS class, snake_case, and dot-path variants.

Cafe Partner Roadmap in ASCII-safe mode becomes cafe-partner-roadmap after accent folding. In Unicode mode, a source that contains non-ASCII letters can keep them, and Encoded path shows the percent-encoded form.

A batch with two lines that both normalize to api-status receives numeric suffixes when De-duplicate batch slugs is on, such as api-status and api-status-2. That protects the pasted batch, but live-route collisions still need a separate check.

FAQ:

Are slugs the same as full URLs?

No. The primary slug is usually one path segment. The ledger can show a Path row with a leading slash, but it does not add protocol, host, query, or fragment parts.

Why is my Unicode slug marked Encode?

Character handling set to Unicode can keep non-ASCII letters. Some tools display those characters as percent-encoded text, so the checklist shows the encoded path for review.

Why did extra pasted lines get ignored?

When Batch mode is off, only the first non-blank line is active. Turn Batch mode on to generate one slug per line.

Should stop words always be removed?

No. Use Remove stop words only when the slug stays clear after connector words such as of, for, or the are dropped.

Glossary:

Slug
A readable identifier used as a URL segment, anchor, file name, selector, or content key.
Path segment
One part of a URL path between slashes.
Percent-encoding
A URL-safe representation where reserved or non-ASCII characters may appear as percent followed by hexadecimal digits.
Stop word
A short connector word removed only when the remaining slug still carries enough meaning.

References: