Private, Secure, and Free Shortlinks

A simple, high-performance URL shortener built with Python and FastAPI. It uses the Hashids library to generate short, non-sequential, and unique codes from database IDs, providing a clean and secure way to shorten links.

✨ Features

• Obfuscated & Reversible IDs: Uses the Hashids library to convert sequential database IDs into short, non-sequential, and URL-safe codes.
• Link Expiration (TTL): Set links to expire after a specific duration (1 hour, 24 hours, 1 week) or never.
• Link Previews: Enhances user security by providing a preview page (/get/<hash>) to show the destination URL before redirecting.
• Persistent & Scalable Storage: Uses a file-based SQLite database that persists across server restarts.
• Privacy-Focused: No tracking or analytics. Just simple, fast redirects.
• Spam Protection: Implements API rate limiting to prevent abuse.
• Automatic Internationalization: The UI automatically detects the user's browser language and displays one of 9 supported languages.
• Production-Ready: Includes a health check endpoint and is configured for easy deployment on platforms like Render.

🛠️ Tech Stack

!Python !FastAPI !SQLite !JavaScript !HTML5 !CSS3

🚀 Running Locally

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/tripping-alien/shortlink.git
   cd shortlink

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv .venv
   # On macOS/Linux:
   source .venv/bin/activate
   # On Windows (Command Prompt/PowerShell):
   .\.venv\Scripts\activate

3. Install dependencies and run the server:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   python -m uvicorn app:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 --reload

4. Access the application:

   • Open your web browser and navigate to http://localhost:8000.

☁️ Deployment on Render

This project is configured for easy deployment on a platform like Render.

1. Create a new Web Service on Render and connect it to your GitHub repository.

2. Set the Start Command to:

   • Build Command: pip install -r requirements.txt
   • Start Command: uvicorn app:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port $PORT

   Note: The build command ensures all your Python dependencies are installed before the server starts.

3. Add Environment Variables:

   • PYTHON_VERSION: 3.11 (or your desired Python version).
   • HASHIDS_SALT: A long, random, and secret string. This is critical for security and should be set in your production environment. You can generate one locally using the command:

     python -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))"

     Note: For local development, if this variable is not set, the application will automatically generate and use a stable .salt file.
   • BASE_URL: The public URL of your web service (e.g., https://shortlinks.art).

4. Add a Persistent Disk to store the shortlinks.db file.

   • Name: data-disk
   • Mount Path: /var/data
   • The application is configured to use the RENDER_DISK_PATH environment variable, which Render automatically sets to this mount path.

5. Update the Health Check Path in your service settings to /health.

✍️ Author

• Andrey Lopukhov - tripping-alien

License

This project is open source and released under the MIT License.