🚀 Short-It

Short-It is a fast and minimalist RESTful URL shortener API, written in modern C++ using the Crow web framework and SQLite. It allows you to shorten long URLs, restore original URLs using short codes, and secure API routes with API key authentication.

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✨ Features

• 🔗 Shorten URLs via a simple REST API
• 🔄 Restore original URLs from short codes
• 🔐 API key authentication protects sensitive endpoints
• 💾 Persistent storage using SQLite database
• ⚡ Written with modern C++ and Crow for high performance
• 🧹 Clean, modular RESTful design

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📚 API Endpoints

🌐 Route	🗂️ Method	📄 Description	🔒 Auth Required
/	GET	Public welcome/info endpoint	❌ No
/api/	GET	Validate API key	✅ Yes
/api/short/<url>	GET	Shorten a URL and return its short code	✅ Yes
/api/full/<short>	GET	Retrieve original URL from a short code	✅ Yes

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⚙️ Prerequisites

• 🏗 C++17 or newer compiler
• 🌐 Crow Web Framework
• 🗄 SQLite3 library and development headers
• 🛠 CMake and Make (or any other equivalent build tools)

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🛠 Build & Run Instructions

Clone and build the project:

git clone https://github.com/harshsaxena213/Short-It.git
 cd Short-I

Install Crow and SQLite3 if not installed
mkdir build &  & cd build
cmake ..
Run the server (defaults to port 8080)
./shortit

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🗃 Database Setup

Before running the server, create the SQLite database db.sqlite with the required tables. Open your SQLite shell and run:

-- Create API keys table and add your key(s)
CREATE TABLE api_keys (api_key TEXT PRIMARY KEY);
INSERT INTO api_keys VALUES ('YOUR_API_KEY_HERE');
            
-- Create URL mappings table
CREATE TABLE url (
id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
original_url TEXT NOT NULL,
shortened_url TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE
            );

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💡 Usage Examples

🌍 Public Route (No API Key Required)

GET http://localhost:8080/

Response:

Public Route Of Short-It Please Refer To Docs For Usage Understanding!!

🔑 Protected API Routes (Require user-api-key Header)

✅ Validate your API Key

GET http://localhost:8080/api/
Headers:
user-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

Response:

Your Api Key Is Valid !

✂️ Shorten a URL

GET http://localhost:8080/api/short/https://example.com
Headers:
user-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

Response:

Your New Url<-->J8XOq2FRc93m2nw

🔍 Retrieve Original URL

GET http://localhost:8080/api/full/J8XOq2FRc93m2nw
Headers:
user-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY_HERE

Response:

https://example.com

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📁 Project Structure

• main.cpp — Main program entry with API routes and middleware
• include/api_verify.h — API key validation logic (SQLite-based)
• include/short.h — URL shortening implementation
• include/full.h — URL expansion implementation
• db.sqlite — SQLite database file storing API keys and URL mappings

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🏗 Design Details

• 🟢 API key authentication enforced for all /api/ routes via Crow middleware
• ✨ Shortened URLs use a 15-character alphanumeric code
• 🗄 SQLite ensures persistent and durable storage
• 🧩 Organized using Crow Blueprints for modular routing
• 📝 Logs errors and info messages for easier debugging

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📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

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🙌 Credits

Created by harshsaxena213.

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For a video walkthrough and demonstration, visit:
Demo Video