Encode and decode URL-safe strings entirely in bash — no python or external tool required. Useful in pure-shell deployment scripts that need to build query strings.
Bash
urlencode() {
local s="$1" out=""
local i c
for (( i = 0; i < ${#s}; i++ )); do
c="${s:i:1}"
case "$c" in
[a-zA-Z0-9._~-]) out+="$c" ;;
*) printf -v hex '%%%02X' "'$c"
out+="$hex" ;;
esac
done
printf '%s' "$out"
}
urldecode() {
local s="${1//+/ }"
printf '%b' "${s//%/\\x}"
}
urlencode "hello world & friends" # hello%20world%20%26%20friends
urldecode "hello%20world%20%26%20friends" # hello world & friendsSave your own code snippets
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