URLShortener

A lightweight self-hosted URL shortener built with Express and Firebase Realtime Database.

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Introduction

URLShortener solves two practical needs in one service:

• Create short links quickly on the home page
• Manage links later in a dashboard (search, copy, delete, and view clicks)

Features

• Create short URLs: POST /new, POST /new/
• URL validation: only accepts http:// and https://
• Unique short code generation with collision checks
• Redirect by short code: GET /:shortURL
• Click counting on each redirect
• Dashboard page: GET /dashboard
• Management APIs:
  • List URLs: GET /api/urls
  • Delete URL: DELETE /api/urls/:shortURL

Setup

1. Copy env file:

cp .env.example .env

2. Fill Firebase settings in .env
3. Install dependencies:

npm install

Run

Development:

npm run dev

Production:

npm run start

Default URL: http://localhost:3000

Pages

• Home: GET /
• Dashboard: GET /dashboard

API Example

Create:

POST /new

{
  "originalURL": "https://example.com/article/123"
}

{
  "shortURL": "abc123xyz0"
}

List:

GET /api/urls

Delete:

DELETE /api/urls/:shortURL

Tech Stack

• Node.js
• Express
• Firebase Realtime Database
• Nano ID