LinkShortner-Backend

This is a simple URL shortener backend built with Node.js, Express, and MongoDB. It allows users to generate short URLs, retrieve original URLs, and delete shortened URLs.

🚀 Features

• Create Short URLs: Convert long URLs into short, easy-to-share links.
• Redirect to Original URL: Users are redirected when they visit a short URL.
• Delete Short URLs: Remove shortened URLs when they are no longer needed.
• Express API: RESTful API built with Express.js.
• MongoDB Database: Stores URL mappings.
• Environment Variables Support: Uses .env for configuration.
• Utility Functions: Includes helper functions for unique ID generation and URL validation.

🛠 Tech Stack

• Node.js - JavaScript runtime
• Express.js - Web framework for Node.js
• MongoDB - NoSQL database for storing URL mappings
• Mongoose - ODM for MongoDB
• nanoid - Generates unique short URL IDs
• dotenv - Loads environment variables
• cors - Enables Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
• nodemon - Auto-restarts server during development

📦 Installation

1️⃣ Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/akashkottil/LinkShortner-Backend.git
cd LinkShortner-Backend

2️⃣ Install dependencies

npm install

3️⃣ Setup environment variables

Create a .env file in the root directory:

MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
PORT=5000
BASE_URL=http://localhost:5000

4️⃣ Start the server

Development mode (with auto-restart)

npm run dev

Production mode

npm start

The server will start on http://localhost:5000 (or the port specified in the .env file).

📌 API Endpoints

➤ Create a Short URL

• Endpoint: POST /
• Body:

{
  "originalUrl": "https://example.com"
}

• Response:

{
  "shortUrl": "http://localhost:5000/abc123"
}

➤ Redirect to Original URL

• Endpoint: GET /:shortUrlId
• Example: GET /abc123
• Response: Redirects to the original URL.

➤ Delete a Short URL

• Endpoint: DELETE /
• Body:

{
  "shortUrlId": "abc123"
}

• Response:

{
  "message": "Short URL deleted successfully"
}

🏗 Project Structure

📂 LinkShortner-Backend
 ┣ 📂 controllers
 ┃ ┗ 📜 url.js        # URL handling logic
 ┣ 📂 models
 ┃ ┗ 📜 Url.js        # Mongoose schema for storing URLs
 ┣ 📂 routes
 ┃ ┗ 📜 url.js        # API routes
 ┣ 📂 utils
 ┃ ┣ 📜 generateUniqueId.js   # Function to generate unique short URL IDs
 ┃ ┗ 📜 validateUrl.js        # Function to validate URLs
 ┣ 📜 server.js       # Main server entry point
 ┣ 📜 .env            # Environment variables
 ┣ 📜 .gitignore      # Files to ignore in Git
 ┣ 📜 package.json    # Project dependencies
 ┣ 📜 README.md       # Documentation

📌 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

💡 Contributing

Feel free to fork this repository and submit pull requests! 🚀

📞 Contact

• GitHub: akashkottil
• Email: thedeveloperkot@gmail.com

Happy coding! 🎉🚀