GoLinks 🔗

A modern, self-hosted URL shortener for teams. Create memorable short links (like go/docs or go/jira) that redirect to long URLs, making it easy to share and remember important resources.

📖 What are GoLinks?

GoLinks (also known as "go links" or "short links") are human-readable shortcuts to web resources. Instead of sharing long, complex URLs like:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a2b3c4d5e6f7g8h9i0j/edit#gid=0

You can create a memorable GoLink:

go/team-budget

GoLinks are particularly useful in team environments where resources are frequently shared. They're easy to remember, type, and communicate verbally.

✨ Features

• 🚀 Simple & Fast: Create short links in seconds
• 📊 Analytics: Track click counts and view top links
• 🏷️ Tags: Organize links with custom tags
• 🎯 Query Preservation: Original query parameters are preserved on redirect
• 🌱 Test Data: Optional sample data for testing and development
• 🐳 Docker Ready: Easy deployment with Docker Compose
• ⚙️ Configurable: Environment-based configuration

🏗️ Architecture

Tech Stack

Backend:

• Java 21
• Spring Boot 3.3
• PostgreSQL 15
• Docker

Frontend:

• Angular 21
• Standalone Components
• Signals & Zoneless Change Detection
• TailwindCSS 4
• Nginx

Infrastructure:

• Docker Compose
• Multi-stage builds
• Environment-based configuration

Project Structure

go-links/
├── backend - Spring Boot project
├── frontend - Angular project
├── sql - Database schema and seed data
└── docker-compose.yml

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Git

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/go-links.git
cd go-links

2. Configure environment (optional)

Edit docker-compose.yml to customize:

environment:
  # Database
  POSTGRES_DB: golinks
  POSTGRES_USER: postgres
  POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres

  # Test data (set to "false" for production)
  SEED_DATA: "true"

  # Frontend (Nginx)
  SERVER_NAME: localhost
  BACKEND_URL: http://backend:8080

3. Start the application

docker-compose up -d

4. Access the application

• Dashboard: http://localhost
• API: http://localhost/api/golinks
• Redirect: http://localhost/{slug}

First Steps

1. Open http://localhost in your browser
2. Click "Create New Link"
3. Fill in the form:
   • Name: github (this will be your short link)
   • Target URL: https://github.com
   • Description: GitHub
   • Tags: dev, git
4. Click "Save"
5. Test it: visit http://localhost:8080/github → redirects to GitHub!

📝 Usage

Creating a GoLink

Via UI:

1. Navigate to http://localhost
2. Click "Create New Link"
3. Enter details and save

Via API:

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/golinks \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "docs",
    "targetUrl": "https://docs.google.com",
    "description": "Google Docs",
    "tags": ["productivity", "google"]
  }'

Using a GoLink

Simply navigate to:

http://localhost:8080/{name}

Examples:

• http://localhost/github → https://github.com
• http://localhost/docs → https://docs.google.com

Query parameters are preserved:

http://localhost/github?tab=repositories
  → https://github.com?tab=repositories

Editing a GoLink

1. Click on a link name in the dashboard
2. Modify fields
3. Click "Update"

Note: The system uses optimistic locking to prevent concurrent edits. If someone else modifies the link while you're editing, you'll be prompted to refresh.

Deleting a GoLink

1. Navigate to the edit page
2. Click "Delete"
3. Confirm the action

Viewing Analytics

• Click counts: Displayed on the edit page for each link
• Top Links: Sidebar on the dashboard shows most popular links

How to use it:

• Use a browser extension to automatically prepend http:// and append the domain
• Configure a custom DNS server (e.g., Pi-hole, dnsmasq) for network-wide go/ links
• Set up your router's DNS to resolve go to your server's IP address

🔧 Configuration

Environment Variables

Database Service (db):

• POSTGRES_DB - Database name (default: golinks)
• POSTGRES_USER - Database user (default: postgres)
• POSTGRES_PASSWORD - Database password (default: postgres)
• SEED_DATA - Load test data (true/false, default: false)

Backend Service (backend):

• DB_HOST - Database host (default: db)
• DB_PORT - Database port (default: 5432)
• DB_NAME - Database name (default: golinks)
• DB_USER - Database user (default: postgres)
• DB_PASSWORD - Database password (default: postgres)

Frontend Service (frontend):

• SERVER_NAME - Nginx server name (default: localhost)
• BACKEND_URL - Backend URL for API proxy (default: http://backend:8080)

Ports

• 80 - Frontend (Nginx)
• 8080 - Backend (Spring Boot)
• 5432 - PostgreSQL (internal only)

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by Google's internal go/links system
• Built with modern web technologies and best practices