URL Shortener API with Firebase RTDB:

A simple and lightweight URL shortener API built with Wrangler and Firebase Realtime Database.

I host the project on the free Cloudflare Workers plan. Normally, there are no resource-related issues because the software consumes very few resources. However, please be careful with your admin credentials, use the count parameter with the /urls endpoint whenever possible, and remain vigilant regarding the URLs posted to the database.

🚀 Features:

• Provides protection by limiting the daily request quota and preventing burst traffic, such as spam or rapid-fire requests.

• No duplicate URLs (saves space in your database).

• No sign-up, no credit card, or other personal information required.

• No logs are maintained to track user activity.

• Highly configurable.

• Store mappings in Firebase Realtime Database.

• Minimal and fast REST API.

• Multi-language support for response messages.

🛡 GDPR Compliance:

This project is designed with GDPR compliance in mind:

• ❌ No direct IP addresses or personal data are stored.

• ❌ No user privacy information is logged.

• ⚠️ Basic rate limiting is implemented by hashing IP addresses:

  • Hashing is done using SHA-256, combined with a strong, secret salt.

  • Hashes are stored only in an NoSQL database called KV.

  • IP hashes are automatically deleted after a configurable retention period.

• ✅ No tracking, cookies, or analytics.

This ensures that no identifiable user data is collected, stored, or shared in any form.

🌐 API Endpoints:

The API is available in two versions, each with its own usage details:

Public endpoint:	Rate limit:	Owner:	Privacy policy:
https://nsh.nde-code.workers.dev/	1 req/sec, 10 new links/day	Nde-Code	privacy.md

To use this API you can use:

• JavaScript in the browser: CORS is enabled for all domains (but only for the posting URL, of course).

• cURL from a terminal: https://curl.se/

• Postman (Recommended): https://www.postman.com/

Here’s a complete list of the available methods:

Method	Endpoint	Description	Request Body	Response
POST	/post-url	Create a short URL from a long one.	{ "long_url": "https://example.com" }	200 OK: { "<localized_success>": "https://.../:code" } 503 Unavailable: KV db unavailable 400 Bad Request: Invalid body, missing long_url, unexpected field, or invalid URL format 429 Too Many Requests: Rate limit exceeded 507 Insufficient Storage: Database limit reached
GET	/urls	Retrieve links from the database (optionally using the count parameter to limit the number of links returned; defaults to the configured number if not provided) API/ADMIN key required	None	200 OK: { [code]: { long_url: string, post_date: string, is_verified: boolean } } if link(s) or no URL(s) otherwise 401 Unauthorized: Invalid API key 400 Bad Request: The count parameter is invalid 429 Too Many Requests: Rate limit exceeded
GET	/url/:code	Redirect to the original long URL associated with the short code.	None	301 Moved Permanently (if is_verified = false) 302 Found (otherwise) 404 Not Found: Invalid or unknown code
PATCH	/verify/:code	Mark the URL as verified (is_verified = true). API/ADMIN key required	None	200 OK: Verified successfully / Already verified 404 Not Found 401 Unauthorized: Invalid API key 429 Too Many Requests: Rate limit exceeded
DELETE	/delete/:code	Delete a shortened URL from the database. API/ADMIN key required	None	200 OK: Link deleted 404 Not Found 401 Unauthorized: Invalid API key 429 Too Many Requests: Rate limit exceeded

Authentication

To access protected endpoints, you must include an API or ADMIN key in the request headers using one of the following:

• Authorization: Bearer <API_or_ADMIN_KEY>

• x-api-key: <API_or_ADMIN_KEY>

Of course, on my personal instance, trying to access these admin endpoints is forbidden.

🖥️ Documentation for developers:

Those interested in working on or launching this project from source using the Wrangler CLI can refer to the developer documentation by clicking here.

⚖️ License:

This project is licensed under the Apache License v2.0.

🎯 Reach me:

Created and maintained by Nde-Code.

Feel free to reach out for questions or collaboration, or open an issue or pull request and I'll be happy to help.