Links
Short links are the core of MASK. Create branded, trackable links with custom slugs, UTM parameters, expiration dates, and more.
Creating a link
From the dashboard, click Create Link. Paste your destination URL and MASK will generate a short link automatically. You can customize the slug, add metadata, and configure advanced options before saving.
Links can also be created programmatically via the Links API.
Custom slugs
By default, MASK generates a random slug for each link. You can replace it with a custom slug to create readable, branded URLs like mask.bz/launch.
Slugs must be at least 4 characters and unique within the domain. They can contain letters, numbers, and hyphens.
UTM parameters
UTM parameters tag your destination URL so your analytics tool can attribute traffic to the right source and campaign. The five standard parameters are:
- •
utm_source— Where the traffic comes from (e.g., twitter, newsletter) - •
utm_medium— The marketing medium (e.g., social, email, cpc) - •
utm_campaign— The campaign name - •
utm_term— Paid search keywords - •
utm_content— Differentiate similar content or ads
Add these parameters to your destination URL before you shorten it. The UTM Builder assembles a correctly-formatted tagged URL for you. MASK preserves the full tagged URL and sends visitors straight to it, while your short link itself stays clean. Your analytics tool then reads the UTM values on arrival.
Link expiration
Set an expiration date to automatically disable a link after a specific date and time. Expired links return a 410 Gone response. You can reactivate an expired link by removing or extending the expiration date.
Password protection
Protect a link with a password to restrict access. Visitors will see a password prompt before being redirected to the destination. Password-protected links are useful for sharing private content with a controlled audience.
Custom domains
By default, links use the mask.bz domain. On Growth and above, connect your own domain from the Domains page to create branded short links like go.yourcompany.com/demo, and set it as Default for new links to create every new link on it unless you choose another domain.
A subdomain points to MASK with a CNAME record and a root domain with an A record, plus a TXT record that proves you own it. The Domains page shows the exact records for your domain and checks them when you select Verify.
Bulk link creation
The bulk shortener on the Links page imports up to 500 rows at a time and creates them within your plan's link allowance (250 links on Growth). Paste one URL per line, paste comma- or tab-separated text, or drop or choose a .csv, .tsv or .txt file.
When the first row is a header, columns are matched by name, ignoring case, spaces and underscores: url (or destination, link, long url, original url, target), title (or name, label), tags (names of tags that already exist in the workspace, separated by ; or |), and utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content, which are added to that row's URL. Without a header, the first column is the URL and an optional second column is the title.
Before anything is created, the preview flags a tag name that does not exist in the workspace and a destination that appears twice. A column it does not import, such as slug, expires or domain, is listed by name as not imported instead of being dropped silently. When a URL already has a UTM value, you choose whether to keep it or replace it, and you can add the whole batch to a campaign, whose UTM tags are added the same way, or give it tags. A row whose URL is not valid is skipped and listed with the reason.
The Links API creates one link per request, at up to 60 requests a minute per API key.
Link tags
Tags help you organize and filter links. Add one or more tags when creating or editing a link, and filter the links list by tag.
Tags are scoped to the workspace. Members whose role can manage links can create tags and apply them, up to 25 tags on one link.