The Mechanics of URL Query Strings & Percent-Encoding
According to the standard defined in RFC 3986, query strings represent non-hierarchical data that, along with path data, identify a resource within the scope of a URI. Query strings begin with a question mark (?) and are organized into key-value pairs separated by ampersands (&).
1. Percent-Encoding (URL Encoding)
Characters outside the unreserved ASCII set (such as spaces, slashes, ampersands, or UTF-8 international characters) must be escaped using a percent sign followed by two hexadecimal digits:
$$\text{Decoded Character} = \text{decodeURIComponent}("\%20") \longrightarrow \text{" "}$$2. Identifying Leaked Sensitive Tokens
Passing sensitive authentication tokens, passwords, or personal email addresses directly inside query parameters creates significant security vulnerabilities, as URLs are logged in plain text in browser histories, proxy caches, and web server access logs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can this analyzer decode nested URLs inside parameters?
Yes. If a parameter contains an encoded redirect URL (e.g., redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.com), the tool recursively decodes the nested address for inspection.
Is any of the URL data saved to a server?
No. All URL parsing and dictionary matching execute strictly within your local browser's memory (RAM).