URL Shortener SERVICE

A full-stack URL shortener application built with Node.js, React, and PostgreSQL.

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Features

• Shorten long URLs with custom or auto-generated slugs
• Server-side redirects (SEO & social media crawler friendly)
• Click analytics and tracking
• Recent links history
• Copy-to-clipboard support
• Responsive UI

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Tech Stack

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Frontend: React, Vite, Tailwind CSS

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Database Schema (PostgreSQL)

urls table

id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
slug VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
long_url TEXT NOT NULL,
clicks INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

clicks table

id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
slug VARCHAR(255),
ip VARCHAR(45),
user_agent TEXT,
referer TEXT,
country VARCHAR(10),
location TEXT,
is_bot BOOLEAN DEFAULT false,
device_info JSONB,
created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

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Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• PostgreSQL (v12 or higher)

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Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the server directory:

   cd server

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Set up PostgreSQL:

   • Create a PostgreSQL database
   • Run the SQL schema provided above
   • Note your database credentials

4. Create a .env file in the server directory:

   PORT=3000
   BASE_URL=http://localhost:3000
   
   DB_HOST=localhost
   DB_PORT=5432
   DB_NAME=your_database_name
   DB_USER=your_db_user
   DB_PASSWORD=your_db_password

5. Start the server:

   npm start

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Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to the client directory:

   cd client

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start the development server:

   npm run dev

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API Endpoints

• POST /api/shorten – Create a shortened URL
• GET /:slug – Redirect to the original URL
• GET /api/recent – Get recently created URLs
• GET /api/stats/:slug – Get analytics for a specific URL

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Environment Variables

Server (.env)

• PORT – Server port (default: 3000)
• BASE_URL – Base URL for generating short links
• DB_HOST – PostgreSQL host
• DB_PORT – PostgreSQL port
• DB_NAME – Database name
• DB_USER – Database user
• DB_PASSWORD – Database password

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Deployment

For production deployment:

1. Build the frontend:

   npm run build

2. Serve the frontend build via:

   • Nginx
   • Express static files
   • CDN (optional)

3. Set production environment variables on the server

4. Use a reverse proxy (Nginx/Apache) if required

5. Enable HTTPS for security

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Security Considerations

• Never commit .env files to version control
• Use strong database credentials
• Implement rate limiting to prevent abuse
• Sanitize inputs to avoid SQL injection
• Consider authentication for managing personal links

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Contributing

Contributions, issues, and feature requests are most welcome.