https://github.com/sebastianlay/linkernizer
The (possibly best) .NET library for automatically linking URLs and email addresses
https://github.com/sebastianlay/linkernizer
anchor autolink hyperlink
Last synced: about 1 month ago
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The (possibly best) .NET library for automatically linking URLs and email addresses
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/sebastianlay/linkernizer
- Owner: sebastianlay
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-06-19T21:13:10.000Z (10 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-11-18T21:49:38.000Z (5 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-11-18T23:17:05.631Z (5 months ago)
- Topics: anchor, autolink, hyperlink
- Language: C#
- Homepage: https://www.nuget.org/packages/Linkernizer
- Size: 37.1 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Linkernizer
Welcome to Linkernizer, the (possibly best) .NET library for automatically linking URLs and email addresses.
It takes in plain text and wraps anything it considers a link with the HTML markup for a hyperlink / anchor.
You can use it like this:
```c#
var linkernizer = new Linkernizer();
var input = "Visit us at www.example.org or email us at mail@example.org!";
var output = linkernizer.Linkernize(input);
// Visit us at www.example.org or email us at mail@example.org!
```
You can configure a few additional options like this:
```c#
var linkernizer = new Linkernizer(options => {
options.OpenExternalLinksInNewTab = true; // inserts target="_blank"
options.InternalHost = "www.example.com"; // do not insert target="_blank" on these links
options.DefaultScheme = "http://"; // use this scheme for links starting with www.
});
```
## Why should I use or not use Linkernizer?
You should use it because:
- It is **fast** (see the [benchmarks](#benchmarks) below for more details)
- It uses **little memory** (there are zero allocations after the setup when the input does not contain links)
- It has **only one dependency** (to [Microsoft.SourceLink.GitHub](https://www.nuget.org/packages/microsoft.sourcelink.github/))
- It **provides an interface** so that it can be used via dependency injection
However, there are also some limitations:
- Links are not validated against a full list of [top-level domains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains) (as this list will be outdated quickly)
- Links are not validated against a full list of [URI schemes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_URI_schemes) (as these could change quickly as well)
- Telephone numbers are not linked automatically (as this usually generates too many false positives for my taste)
- It assumes the input does not already contain HTML (and will likely lead to invalid markup if this is not the case)
## Installation
The library can be used like any other NuGet package. For example:
```PowerShell
> dotnet add package Linkernizer
```
You can find more information on [https://www.nuget.org/packages/Linkernizer](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Linkernizer).
## Benchmarks
The benchmarks compare the following libraries in their default configuration:
- [Linkernizer](https://github.com/sebastianlay/Linkernizer) (1.0.2)
- [AutoLink](https://github.com/mganss/AutoLink) (2.0.5)
- [TextHelper](https://github.com/tylermercier/TextHelper) (0.2.0)
The execution time (excluding initial setup):
The memory allocated (excluding initial setup):
Keep in mind that the exact values will vary from run to run.
```
| Method | Mean | Error | StdDev | Gen0 | Allocated |
|------------------------------- |-------------:|-----------:|-----------:|-------:|----------:|
| LinkernizerShortTextNoMatches | 10.04 ns | 0.031 ns | 0.028 ns | - | - |
| LinkernizerLongTextNoMatches | 38.89 ns | 0.104 ns | 0.092 ns | - | - |
| LinkernizerShortTextTwoMatches | 644.91 ns | 4.310 ns | 3.599 ns | 0.1411 | 592 B |
| LinkernizerLongTextFourMatches | 3,248.53 ns | 15.657 ns | 13.880 ns | 0.5493 | 2312 B |
|------------------------------- |-------------:|-----------:|-----------:|-------:|----------:|
| AutoLinkShortTextNoMatches | 1,112.75 ns | 3.894 ns | 3.643 ns | 0.0210 | 88 B |
| AutoLinkLongTextNoMatches | 8,240.50 ns | 63.245 ns | 56.065 ns | 0.0153 | 88 B |
| AutoLinkShortTextTwoMatches | 1,752.95 ns | 6.943 ns | 5.798 ns | 0.2937 | 1232 B |
| AutoLinkLongTextFourMatches | 9,930.48 ns | 103.320 ns | 96.645 ns | 2.0142 | 8448 B |
|------------------------------- |-------------:|-----------:|-----------:|-------:|----------:|
| TextHelperShortTextNoMatches | 2,860.00 ns | 9.203 ns | 7.185 ns | 0.0381 | 168 B |
| TextHelperLongTextNoMatches | 20,015.26 ns | 33.143 ns | 25.876 ns | 0.0305 | 168 B |
| TextHelperShortTextTwoMatches | 3,962.34 ns | 35.980 ns | 30.045 ns | 0.2441 | 1040 B |
| TextHelperLongTextFourMatches | 22,227.44 ns | 123.171 ns | 115.214 ns | 0.7324 | 3136 B |
```
You can verify the results by running [the same benchmarks](https://github.com/sebastianlay/Linkernizer/blob/main/Linkernizer.Benchmarks/Program.cs) on your machine.