How do I get the destination URL of a shortened URL using Ruby?

Question

How do I take this URL http://t.co/yjgxz5Y and get the destination URL which is http://nickstraffictricks.com/4856_how-to-rank-1-in-google/

Answer 1

For resolving redirects you should use a HEAD request to avoid downloading the whole response body (imagine resolving a URL to an audio or video file).

Working example using the Faraday gem:

require 'faraday'
require 'faraday_middleware'

def resolve_redirects(url)
    response = fetch_response(url, method: :head)
    if response
        return response.to_hash[:url].to_s
    else
        return nil
    end
end

def fetch_response(url, method: :get)
    conn = Faraday.new do |b|
        b.use FaradayMiddleware::FollowRedirects;
        b.adapter :net_http
    end
    return conn.send method, url
rescue Faraday::Error, Faraday::Error::ConnectionFailed => e
    return nil
end

puts resolve_redirects("http://cre.fm/feed/m4a") # http://feeds.feedburner.com/cre-podcast