URL Shortener

A full-stack URL Shortener application built with a Node.js Express backend and a React frontend, using MongoDB as the database and Redis for caching and rate-limiting. This project supports Docker for easy deployment and environment setup.

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Features

• Shorten long URLs with rate-limiting to prevent abuse.
• User authentication (register, login) with JWT-based authorization.
• Dashboard to manage and view your shortened URLs.
• RESTful API for backend services.
• Dockerized setup for quick local development and deployment.

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Directory Structure

.
├── backend                # Backend API (Node.js/Express)
│   ├── src
│   │   ├── config         # Configuration files (database, rate limiter)
│   │   ├── controllers    # API route controllers
│   │   ├── middleware     # Custom middleware (auth, etc.)
│   │   ├── models         # Mongoose models (User, URL)
│   │   ├── routes         # API routes
│   │   ├── utils          # Utility functions (logging, validation)
│   └── tsconfig.json      # TypeScript configuration
├── docker-compose.yml     # Docker Compose configuration
├── frontend               # Frontend application (React)
│   ├── src
│   │   ├── components     # Reusable components (forms, auth)
│   │   ├── pages          # Application pages (dashboard, home, etc.)
│   │   ├── services       # API services for backend communication
│   │   ├── utils          # Utility functions (e.g., token management)
│   └── tsconfig.json      # TypeScript configuration

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Setup Instructions

1. Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed on your system.
• Node.js and npm (optional, if running services locally without Docker).

2. Clone the Repository

git clone git@github.com:Daniyal-j/URLite.git
cd URLite

3. Environment Configuration

• The project uses environment variables to manage configuration. Copy the provided .env.example files in both backend and frontend and fill in the required values.

Backend .env

MONGO_URI=mongodb://mongo:27017/URLite
REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=900000
RATE_LIMIT_MAX=50
RATE_LIMIT_MESSAGE="Too many URL shortening requests, please try again later"
BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000
JWT_SECRET="your-secret-key"
PORT=8000

Frontend .env

REACT_APP_BASE_URL=http://localhost:8000

4. Run with Docker

docker-compose up --build

• Access the frontend at http://localhost:3000.
• The backend API is available at http://localhost:8000.

5. Run Locally (Without Docker)

Backend

1. Navigate to the backend directory:

   cd backend

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start the backend server:

   npm run dev

Frontend

1. Navigate to the frontend directory:

   cd frontend

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start the React development server:

   npm start

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API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /auth/register - Register a new user.
• POST /auth/login - Log in and retrieve a JWT token.

URL Management

• POST /urls/shorten - Shorten a URL (rate-limited).
• GET /urls - Retrieve all URLs for an authenticated user.

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Tech Stack

Backend

• Node.js, Express.js, TypeScript
• MongoDB with Mongoose
• Redis for caching and rate-limiting
• JWT for authentication

Frontend

• React, TypeScript
• Axios for API calls
• Tailwind CSS (optional, if used for styling)

DevOps

• Docker and Docker Compose for containerization

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