BitLinks — Minimal URL Shortener (Next.js + MongoDB)

Free and open‑source URL shortener focused on simplicity. Create short links, share them, and get instant redirects.

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Features

• Clean UI with Tailwind CSS
• Create custom short slugs for your links
• Instant redirect via dynamic route app/[url]/page.js
• API route to create short links: POST /api/generate
• MongoDB persistence

Tech Stack

• Next.js App Router
• React 19
• MongoDB (official Node driver)
• Tailwind CSS v4

Quick Start

Prerequisites:

• Node.js 18+ (LTS recommended)
• A MongoDB connection string (Atlas or local)

1. Clone and install

git clone <your-repo-url> bitlinks
cd bitlinks
npm install

2. Configure environment

Create a .env.local file in the project root:

MONGODB_URI="your-mongodb-connection-string"
NEXT_PUBLIC_HOST="http://localhost:3000"

Notes:

• MONGODB_URI is required by lib/mongodb.js.
• NEXT_PUBLIC_HOST is used to show the full generated short link in the UI.

3. Run the dev server

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Build and Start (Production)

npm run build
npm run start

Project Structure (important parts)

app/
  page.js                # Landing page
  shorten/page.js        # UI to create short links
  [url]/page.js          # Dynamic redirect route
  api/generate/route.js  # API: create short links
lib/
  mongodb.js             # MongoDB client
public/
  team.png               # Hero image

API

POST /api/generate

Create a new short link.

Request body:

{
  "url": "https://example.com/very/long/link",
  "shorturl": "my-custom-slug"
}

Response (success):

{
  "success": true,
  "error": false,
  "message": "URL generated successfully"
}

If shorturl already exists, the API responds with:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": true,
  "message": "Short URL already exists"
}

How Redirects Work

• Visiting http://<host>/<shorturl> hits app/[url]/page.js.
• The page looks up the slug in MongoDB and issues a server redirect to the original URL.
• If not found, it redirects back to NEXT_PUBLIC_HOST.

Deployment

You can deploy anywhere that supports Next.js. Common options:

• Vercel: add the environment variables (MONGODB_URI, NEXT_PUBLIC_HOST) in the project settings. Then vercel --prod or connect your GitHub repo.
• Node server: build with npm run build and run with npm run start. Ensure env vars are set on the host.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to open issues and pull requests.

1. Fork the repo
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feat/your-feature
3. Commit changes: git commit -m "feat: add awesome thing"
4. Push: git push origin feat/your-feature
5. Open a PR

License

MIT License. See LICENSE file if present. If not, you may license this project under MIT with the following header in your contributions:

MIT License © Your Name