Blink

Overview

Blink is a high-performance, easy-to-use, and free URL shortening service built with .NET Core, MongoDB, Redis, and YARP Reverse Proxy. It allows users to create and manage short URLs, track click statistics, and integrate seamlessly with other applications through a RESTful API. This solution is perfect for anyone needing a reliable, self-hosted URL shortener with advanced monitoring and logging.

Features

✅ Fast URL Shortening – Uses Redis for quick access and caching.
✅ YARP Reverse Proxy – Efficient API gateway and load balancing.
✅ Traditional Controllers & RESTful API – Ensures better structure and maintainability.
✅ Logging & Monitoring – Integrated with Serilog, planned APM, Kibana, Logstash, and ELK for advanced tracking.
✅ Unit Tests – Ensures reliability and code quality.
✅ User Authentication (Planned) – Users will be able to manage their links.
✅ Dashboard for URL Management (Planned) – A web-based UI to manage links.
✅ CI/CD Pipeline (Planned) – Automate testing and deployment.
✅ Docker Compose (Planned) – Simplify deployment with containerized services.

Tech Stack

• Backend: .NET Core with RESTful API
• Database: MongoDB
• Caching: Redis
• API Gateway: YARP Reverse Proxy
• Logging: Serilog, with planned integration for monitoring tools such as Kibana, Logstash, ELK, or APM.
• Testing: Unit Tests
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions (Planned)
• Deployment: Docker Compose (Planned)

Installation & Setup

Prerequisites

• .NET SDK (Latest version)
• Redis Server (Locally or via Docker)
• MongoDB (Locally or via Cloud)
• YARP Reverse Proxy configured

Clone the Repository

 git clone https://github.com/Edrisym/Blink.git
 cd Blink

Configure Redis

Ensure Redis is running on the expected port (default: 6379). If using Docker:

docker run --name redis -d -p 6379:6379 redis:latest

Configure MongoDB

Ensure MongoDB is running locally or on a cloud service (like MongoDB Atlas).

Run the Project

dotnet run

API Endpoints

Shorten a URL

POST /{longUrl}
{
    "url": "https://example.com"
}

Response:

{
    "shortUrl": "http://yourdomain.com/abc123"
}

Retrieve a Shortened URL

GET /{shortCode}

List All Shortened URLs

GET /

Planned Improvements

• User Authentication – Allow users to manage their shortened URLs.
• Admin Dashboard – A UI for managing and monitoring short links.
• Rate Limiting – Prevent API abuse using Redis.
• Health Check Endpoints – Monitor Redis, MongoDB, and API status.
• Enhanced Logging & Monitoring – Integrate Serilog, APM, Kibana, Logstash, and ELK.
• CI/CD Pipeline – Automate builds and deployments.
• Docker Compose – Simplify containerized deployment.

Contribution

Any contributions are welcome! Feel free to submit issues and merge requests to improve the project. Let's collaborate and make this an even better service!

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.