diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 26559a9..44e5b4f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3880,6 +3880,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing",
  "tracing-subscriber",
  "tree_magic_mini",
+ "url",
  "uuid",
  "walkdir",
 ]
@@ -3933,6 +3934,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tracing-subscriber",
  "tree_magic_mini",
  "upend",
+ "url",
  "uuid",
  "walkdir",
  "webbrowser",
@@ -3949,6 +3951,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "form_urlencoded",
  "idna 0.3.0",
  "percent-encoding",
+ "serde",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 0c1c535..a31e826 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ multihash = { version = "*", default-features = false, features = [
     "identity",
 ] }
 uuid = { version = "0.8", features = ["v4"] }
+url = { version = "2", features = ["serde"] }
 
 filebuffer = "0.4.0"
 tempfile = "^3.2.0"
diff --git a/cli/Cargo.toml b/cli/Cargo.toml
index a5a22ef..5bef1b9 100644
--- a/cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ kamadak-exif = { version = "0.5.4", optional = true }
 
 shadow-rs = "0.17"
 reqwest = { version = "0.11.16", features = ["blocking", "json"] }
+url = "2"
 
 [build-dependencies]
 shadow-rs = "0.17"
diff --git a/cli/src/extractors/web.rs b/cli/src/extractors/web.rs
index 5c0038b..1a480a4 100644
--- a/cli/src/extractors/web.rs
+++ b/cli/src/extractors/web.rs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ impl Extractor for WebExtractor {
                 job_container.add_job(None, &format!("Getting info about {url:?}"))?;
 
             let webpage_url = url.clone();
-            let webpage_get = Webpage::from_url(&webpage_url, WebpageOptions::default());
+            let webpage_get = Webpage::from_url(webpage_url.as_ref(), WebpageOptions::default());
 
             if let Ok(webpage) = webpage_get {
                 let _ = job_handle.update_progress(50.0);
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ mod test {
 
     use upend::database::stores::fs::FsStore;
     use upend::util::jobs::JobContainer;
+    use url::Url;
 
     use super::*;
     use anyhow::Result;
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ mod test {
             Arc::new(Box::new(FsStore::from_path(&temp_dir)?) as Box<dyn UpStore + Sync + Send>);
         let job_container = JobContainer::new();
 
-        let address = Address::Url("https://upend.dev".into());
+        let address = Address::Url(Url::parse("https://upend.dev").unwrap());
         assert!(WebExtractor.is_needed(&address, &connection)?);
 
         WebExtractor.insert_info(&address, &connection, store, job_container)?;
diff --git a/cli/src/main.rs b/cli/src/main.rs
index 9f69789..f46b21d 100644
--- a/cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/cli/src/main.rs
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
 
             let entity = match entity {
                 entity if entity.starts_with('=') => hash_path(&entity[1..])?.to_string(),
-                entity if entity.starts_with("http") => Address::Url(entity).to_string(),
+                entity if entity.starts_with("http") => Address::Url(entity.parse()?).to_string(),
                 _ => entity,
             };
 
diff --git a/cli/src/routes.rs b/cli/src/routes.rs
index d22e6d6..0d87667 100644
--- a/cli/src/routes.rs
+++ b/cli/src/routes.rs
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ use upend::database::stores::{Blob, UpStore};
 use upend::database::UpEndDatabase;
 use upend::util::hash::{b58_decode, b58_encode};
 use upend::util::jobs;
+use url::Url;
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
 #[cfg(feature = "desktop")]
@@ -312,7 +313,7 @@ pub async fn get_object(
         Address::Hash(_) => ("Hash", None),
         Address::Uuid(_) => ("Uuid", None),
         Address::Attribute(attribute) => ("Attribute", Some(attribute)),
-        Address::Url(url) => ("Url", Some(url)),
+        Address::Url(url) => ("Url", Some(url.to_string())),
     };
 
     Ok(HttpResponse::Ok().json(json!({
@@ -342,7 +343,11 @@ impl TryInto<Address> for InAddress {
                 // TODO: make this automatically derive from `Address` definition
                 match t.as_str() {
                     "Attribute" => Address::Attribute(c.ok_or(anyhow!("Missing attribute."))?),
-                    "Url" => Address::Url(c.ok_or(anyhow!("Missing URL."))?),
+                    "Url" => Address::Url(if let Some(string) = c {
+                        Url::parse(&string)?
+                    } else {
+                        Err(anyhow!("Missing URL."))?
+                    }),
                     "Uuid" => match c {
                         Some(c) => c.parse()?,
                         None => Address::Uuid(Uuid::new_v4()),
@@ -641,6 +646,7 @@ pub async fn delete_object(
 #[derive(Deserialize)]
 pub struct GetAddressRequest {
     attribute: Option<String>,
+    // url: Option<String>,
 }
 
 #[get("/api/address")]
@@ -820,7 +826,7 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_in_address() -> Result<()> {
-        let address = Address::Url("https://upend.dev".into());
+        let address = Address::Url(Url::parse("https://upend.dev").unwrap());
         let in_address = InAddress::Address(address.to_string());
         assert_eq!(address, in_address.try_into()?);
 
diff --git a/src/addressing.rs b/src/addressing.rs
index f3423be..1d5ac57 100644
--- a/src/addressing.rs
+++ b/src/addressing.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use serde::de::Visitor;
 use serde::{de, ser, Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
 use std::fmt;
 use std::str::FromStr;
+use url::Url;
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
 #[derive(Clone, Eq, PartialEq, Hash)]
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ pub enum Address {
     Hash(Hash),
     Uuid(Uuid),
     Attribute(String),
-    Url(String),
+    Url(Url),
 }
 
 // multihash SHA2-256
@@ -30,7 +31,9 @@ impl Address {
             Self::Attribute(attribute) => {
                 Code::Identity.digest(&[&[b'A'], attribute.as_bytes()].concat())
             }
-            Self::Url(url) => Code::Identity.digest(&[&[b'X'], url.as_bytes()].concat()),
+            Self::Url(url) => {
+                Code::Identity.digest(&[&[b'X'], url.to_string().as_bytes()].concat())
+            }
         };
 
         Ok(hash.to_bytes())
@@ -50,7 +53,7 @@ impl Address {
                         digest_content.as_slice(),
                     )?)),
                     b'A' => Ok(Self::Attribute(String::from_utf8(digest_content)?)),
-                    b'X' => Ok(Self::Url(String::from_utf8(digest_content)?)),
+                    b'X' => Ok(Self::Url(Url::parse(&String::from_utf8(digest_content)?)?)),
                     _ => Err(anyhow!("Error decoding address: Unknown identity marker.")),
                 }
             }
@@ -146,6 +149,7 @@ pub trait Addressable: Hashable {
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use anyhow::Result;
+    use url::Url;
     use uuid::Uuid;
 
     use crate::addressing::Address;
@@ -180,7 +184,7 @@ mod tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_url_codec() -> Result<()> {
-        let addr = Address::Url(String::from("https://upend.dev"));
+        let addr = Address::Url(Url::parse("https://upend.dev").unwrap());
         let encoded = addr.encode()?;
         let decoded = Address::decode(&encoded)?;
         assert_eq!(addr, decoded);
diff --git a/src/database/entry.rs b/src/database/entry.rs
index 57a61c5..57a1e8b 100644
--- a/src/database/entry.rs
+++ b/src/database/entry.rs
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ use crate::database::inner::models;
 use crate::util::hash::{b58_decode, hash, Hash, Hashable};
 use anyhow::{anyhow, Result};
 use chrono::NaiveDateTime;
-use regex::Regex;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use std::convert::TryFrom;
 use std::io::{Cursor, Write};
+use url::Url;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct Entry {
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ impl TryFrom<&Entry> for models::Entry {
             identity: e.address()?.encode()?,
             entity_searchable: match &e.entity {
                 Address::Attribute(attr) => Some(attr.clone()),
-                Address::Url(url) => Some(url.clone()),
+                Address::Url(url) => Some(url.to_string()),
                 _ => None,
             },
             entity: e.entity.encode()?,
@@ -183,11 +183,8 @@ impl EntryValue {
         match string.parse::<f64>() {
             Ok(num) => EntryValue::Number(num),
             Err(_) => {
-                lazy_static! {
-                    static ref URL_REGEX: Regex = Regex::new("^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+://").unwrap();
-                }
-                if URL_REGEX.is_match(string) {
-                    EntryValue::Address(Address::Url(string.to_string()))
+                if let Ok(url) = Url::parse(string) {
+                    EntryValue::Address(Address::Url(url))
                 } else {
                     EntryValue::String(string.to_string())
                 }
@@ -230,6 +227,12 @@ impl std::str::FromStr for EntryValue {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<Url> for EntryValue {
+    fn from(value: Url) -> Self {
+        EntryValue::Address(Address::Url(value))
+    }
+}
+
 impl std::fmt::Display for EntryValue {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
         let (entry_type, entry_value) = match self {
@@ -284,7 +287,7 @@ mod tests {
         let decoded = encoded.parse::<EntryValue>()?;
         assert_eq!(entry, decoded);
 
-        let entry = EntryValue::Address(Address::Url("https://upend.dev".to_string()));
+        let entry = EntryValue::Address(Address::Url(Url::parse("https://upend.dev").unwrap()));
         let encoded = entry.to_string()?;
         let decoded = encoded.parse::<EntryValue>()?;
         assert_eq!(entry, decoded);
@@ -306,7 +309,7 @@ mod tests {
     fn test_into() {
         assert_eq!(EntryValue::String(String::from("UPEND")), "UPEND".into());
         assert_eq!(EntryValue::Number(1337.93), 1337.93.into());
-        let addr = Address::Url("https://upend.dev".into());
+        let addr = Address::Url(Url::parse("https://upend.dev").unwrap());
         assert_eq!(EntryValue::Address(addr.clone()), addr.into());
     }
 
@@ -322,7 +325,7 @@ mod tests {
         );
         assert_eq!(
             EntryValue::guess_from("https://upend.dev"),
-            EntryValue::Address(Address::Url("https://upend.dev".to_string()))
+            EntryValue::Address(Address::Url(Url::parse("https://upend.dev").unwrap()))
         );
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/database/lang.rs b/src/database/lang.rs
index ff439ed..6b2cc8b 100644
--- a/src/database/lang.rs
+++ b/src/database/lang.rs
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ impl FromStr for Query {
 mod test {
     use super::*;
     use anyhow::Result;
+    use url::Url;
 
     #[test]
     fn test_matches() -> Result<()> {
@@ -321,7 +322,7 @@ mod test {
             }))
         );
 
-        let address = Address::Url(String::from("https://upend.dev"));
+        let address = Address::Url(Url::parse("https://upend.dev").unwrap());
         let query = format!("(matches @{address} ? ?)").parse::<Query>()?;
         assert_eq!(
             query,