mdn.io

The "I'm feeling lucky" URL shortener.

Why?

The Mozilla Developer Network is an awesome JavaScript resource. When looking for JavaScript references on something like Function.apply, you might use a search engine with "apply site:developer.mozilla.org" and click the first result.

mdn.io does that for you, and can be configured to search any domain.

Use it in comments when explaining concepts

// Make sure add() takes a single argument (see http://mdn.io/Function.length)
expect(queue.add.length).to.equal(1);

As a lmgtfy replacement for JavaScript questions

friend: dude, is it call() or apply() that takes an array?

you: mdn.io/apply

Type directly in the address bar as a shortcut to search the MDN

mdn.io/bind

mdn.io/closure

mdn.io/cross origin sharing

How does it work?

mdn.io uses DuckDuckGo's Bang! functionality to redirect you to the first search result.

Note that, because this is a search, the page you're redirected to may change in the future. However, you can rest assured that you'll always be redirected to the page that DuckDuckGo finds most relevant.

Searching other domains

mdn.io can be used to search any domain. See the configuration section and fire up your own instance.

Development

npm install # Install dependencies.
npm start # Start server locally.

Configuration

Configure mdn.io with the following environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
PORT	The port to run the server on.	3000
SERVICE_URL	The search service URL to use.	https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%21%20%s
SEARCH_DOMAIN	The domain to search.	developer.mozilla.org
FALLBACK_URL	The fallback URL for empty queries.	https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/JavaScript

Alternative service URLs:

• Google - https://www.google.com/search?btnI&q=%s
• Bing - http://www.bing.com/search?q=%s (Bing does not have an "I'm Feeling Lucky" equivalent, you'll be redirected to the search result page instead)

Example: Reddit URL shortener

SEARCH_DOMAIN="reddit.com" FALLBACK_URL="http://reddit.com" PORT=8080 npm start

Deployment

npm run deploy