Shrtn

Shrtn is a full-stack URL shortener and Manifest V3 browser extension for creating persistent short links, generating downloadable QR codes, and tracking redirect analytics.

Version 1.1.0 adds browser context-menu actions, local recent-link history, result restoration, duplicate detection, and more resilient API handling.

Install from the Chrome Web Store · Open the website · Privacy · Support

Product overview

Shrtn provides two ways to create short links:

Use the browser extension while visiting any HTTP or HTTPS page.
Use the live web shortener without installing the extension.

The extension can shorten the current page or a selected hyperlink directly from the browser context menu. Generated results include a public short URL, downloadable QR code, click analytics, and browser-local history.

Screenshots

Landing page

Browser extension workflow

Browser context-menu actions

Shorten the current page	Shorten a hyperlink without opening it

QR codes and recent links

Downloadable QR codes	Local recent-link history

What is new in v1.1.0

Browser context-menu actions

Right-click the current page to:

Shorten the current page.
Generate a QR code for the current page.

Right-click a hyperlink to:

Shorten the selected link without opening it.
Generate a QR code for the selected link.

Local recent-link history

Store up to 20 recent extension results.
Reopen previously generated links.
Display whether a result came from the popup, page menu, or link menu.
Clear the local history from the extension.
Restore the most recent result after reopening the popup.

Duplicate-link handling

When a URL already exists in recent history, Shrtn can:

Reuse the existing result.
Open its QR code.
Deliberately create another short link.

Reliability improvements

Apply timeouts to extension API requests.
Retry safe analytics requests after temporary failures.
Avoid automatically retrying link-creation requests, preventing accidental duplicate creation.
Reset copy-button feedback automatically.
Display the installed extension version and support links.

Features

Browser extension

Read the active HTTP or HTTPS browser tab.
Create seven-character public short links.
Shorten pages through the browser context menu.
Shorten hyperlinks without opening them.
Generate downloadable QR codes.
Copy generated URLs to the clipboard.
Open generated links in a new tab.
Display redirect click counts.
Display creation and last-clicked timestamps.
Refresh analytics manually.
Restore the most recently generated result.
Store up to 20 recent results locally.
Detect duplicate URLs in local history.
Clear recent-link history.
Display API availability.
Link directly to the website, store listing, and support page.

Website and REST API

Create short links through the landing page.
Redirect short URLs to their original destinations.
Persist link records in PostgreSQL.
Track successful redirect counts.
Track the most recent redirect timestamp.
Validate URL and short-code formats.
Return structured JSON responses.
Apply API and redirect rate limiting.
Serve a production landing page from Express.
Expose a health-check endpoint for deployment monitoring.

Privacy model

Shrtn does not require an account.

The extension stores recent results locally using browser storage. This local history contains the URLs and metadata required to reopen recent results.

The backend stores only the link records required for:

Resolving public short URLs.
Redirecting users to the original URL.
Tracking redirect counts.
Recording creation and last-clicked timestamps.

QR codes are generated inside the browser extension and are not stored as image files by the backend.

Architecture

Chrome or Chromium-based browser
              |
              | Popup or context-menu action
              v
  https://shrtn.up.railway.app
              |
              v
     Node.js and Express API
              |
              v
       Neon PostgreSQL

Extension workflow

Current page or selected hyperlink
              |
              v
     Shrtn extension action
              |
              v
      POST /api/v1/links
              |
              v
 Short URL + QR code + analytics
              |
              v
  Browser-local recent history

Redirect workflow

Public short URL
       |
       v
GET /{shortCode}
       |
       v
Increment analytics
       |
       v
HTTP redirect to original URL

Technology stack

Area	Technology
Extension UI	React, JavaScript, CSS
Extension build	Vite
Browser platform	Chrome Manifest V3
Background processing	Manifest V3 service worker
QR generation	QRCode
Backend	Node.js, Express
Validation	Zod
Short-code generation	Nano ID
Database	PostgreSQL
Database hosting	Neon
Security	Helmet, Express Rate Limit
Testing	Vitest, Supertest
Linting	Oxlint
API documentation	OpenAPI 3.0
API testing	Postman
Continuous integration	GitHub Actions
Deployment	Railway

Project structure

shrtn/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── ci.yml
├── docs/
│   ├── screenshots/
│   │   └── v1.1.0/
│   ├── database.md
│   └── openapi.yaml
├── extension/
│   ├── public/
│   │   ├── icons/
│   │   └── manifest.json
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── background/
│   │   ├── services/
│   │   └── utils/
│   ├── tests/
│   └── vite.config.js
├── postman/
├── server/
│   ├── migrations/
│   ├── public/
│   │   ├── assets/
│   │   ├── app.js
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   └── styles.css
│   ├── src/
│   └── tests/
├── .env.example
└── README.md

Prerequisites

Install the following before running Shrtn locally:

Node.js 20 or newer
npm
PostgreSQL or a Neon PostgreSQL database
Chrome, Brave, or another Chromium-based browser
Git

Local development

Clone the repository

git clone `
  https://github.com/jayasuryapazhani/shrtn.git

Set-Location .\shrtn

Install backend dependencies

npm --prefix .\server install

Install extension dependencies

npm --prefix .\extension install

Environment configuration

Create the backend environment file:

Copy-Item `
  .\.env.example `
  .\server\.env

Update server/.env:

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://USER:PASSWORD@HOST/DATABASE?sslmode=require
PUBLIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:5056

DATABASE_URL is required.

PUBLIC_BASE_URL is optional during local development. When omitted, Shrtn builds short URLs from the incoming request origin.

Never commit server/.env.

Database migrations

Run all database migrations:

npm --prefix .\server run db:migrate

Current migrations:

001_create_links.sql
002_add_click_analytics.sql

Start the backend and website

npm --prefix .\server run dev

The default local address is:

http://localhost:5056

Test the health endpoint:

Invoke-RestMethod `
  -Uri "http://localhost:5056/health"

Expected status:

UP

Build the extension

npm --prefix .\extension run build

The production extension is generated in:

extension/dist

Load the extension locally

Open the extensions page in Chrome, Brave, or another compatible Chromium browser.
Enable Developer mode.
Select Load unpacked.
Select the extension/dist directory.
Pin Shrtn to the browser toolbar.
Open a normal HTTP or HTTPS webpage.
Open the Shrtn popup or use the page context menu.

The committed production configuration connects to:

https://shrtn.up.railway.app

API endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Purpose
`GET`	`/health`	Check API and database availability
`POST`	`/api/v1/links`	Create a short link
`GET`	`/api/v1/links/{shortCode}/analytics`	Retrieve redirect analytics
`GET`	`/{shortCode}`	Redirect to the original URL

See docs/openapi.yaml for the complete API contract.

Example: create a short link

'{"originalUrl":"https://example.com"}' |
  curl.exe `
    -X POST `
    "http://localhost:5056/api/v1/links" `
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" `
    --data-binary "@-"

Example response:

{
  "data": {
    "originalUrl": "https://example.com/",
    "shortCode": "AbC123x",
    "shortUrl": "http://localhost:5056/AbC123x",
    "createdAt": "2026-08-01T13:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Example: retrieve analytics

curl.exe `
  "http://localhost:5056/api/v1/links/AbC123x/analytics"

Example response:

{
  "data": {
    "originalUrl": "https://example.com/",
    "shortCode": "AbC123x",
    "createdAt": "2026-08-01T13:00:00.000Z",
    "clickCount": 3,
    "lastClickedAt": "2026-08-01T14:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Reading analytics does not increment the click count. Only successful public short-link redirects update analytics.

Security

Shrtn includes:

Helmet security headers.
Disabled X-Powered-By disclosure.
HTTP Strict Transport Security in production.
A 10 KB JSON request-body limit.
General API rate limiting.
Stricter short-link creation rate limiting.
Redirect rate limiting.
URL and short-code validation.
Trusted proxy configuration for Railway.
Restricted extension host permissions.

Rate-limit counters currently use an in-memory store and reset when the API process restarts. A shared external store would be required for multiple API replicas.

Automated validation

Run all backend checks:

npm --prefix .\server run check

Current backend validation:

48 automated tests
0 lint errors

Run all extension checks:

npm --prefix .\extension run check

Current extension validation:

45 automated tests
0 lint errors
Production build completed

Total automated tests:

GitHub Actions runs the extension and backend checks for pushes and pull requests targeting main.

Deployment

Backend and landing page

Railway deploys the server directory from the main branch.

Root directory:       /server
Start command:        npm start
Pre-deploy command:   npm run db:migrate
Health endpoint:      /health

Required Railway variables:

DATABASE_URL=<Neon PostgreSQL connection string>
NODE_ENV=production

Railway supplies:

PORT
RAILWAY_PUBLIC_DOMAIN

Database

The production PostgreSQL database is hosted on Neon.

See docs/database.md for the schema and migration details.

Browser extension

The production extension is distributed through the Chrome Web Store:

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/shrtn/adodmibgcbmnhdagfkipjpjfkeaalfim

Current versions

Browser extension: 1.1.0
Backend API:       1.0.0
Landing page:      v1.1.0 design

Live services

Service	Address
Website	`https://shrtn.up.railway.app`
Privacy policy	`https://shrtn.up.railway.app/privacy`
Production API	`https://shrtn.up.railway.app`
Health endpoint	`https://shrtn.up.railway.app/health`
Chrome Web Store	`https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/shrtn/adodmibgcbmnhdagfkipjpjfkeaalfim`
Support	`https://github.com/jayasuryapazhani/shrtn/issues`

Support and feedback

Report bugs or request improvements through GitHub Issues:

https://github.com/jayasuryapazhani/shrtn/issues

Author

Built by Jayasurya Pazhani.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 78 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
docs		docs
extension		extension
postman		postman
release		release
server		server
.env.example		.env.example
.gitignore		.gitignore
README.md		README.md

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

Shrtn

Product overview

Screenshots

Landing page

Browser extension workflow

Browser context-menu actions

QR codes and recent links

What is new in v1.1.0

Browser context-menu actions

Local recent-link history

Duplicate-link handling

Reliability improvements

Features

Browser extension

Website and REST API

Privacy model

Architecture

Extension workflow

Redirect workflow

Technology stack

Project structure

Prerequisites

Local development

Clone the repository

Install backend dependencies

Install extension dependencies

Environment configuration

Database migrations

Start the backend and website

Build the extension

Load the extension locally

API endpoints

Example: create a short link

Example: retrieve analytics

Security

Automated validation

Deployment

Backend and landing page

Database

Browser extension

Current versions

Live services

Support and feedback

Author

About

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Resources

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