🔗 URL Shortener

A simple URL shortener built with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and a plain HTML/CSS frontend.

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📦 Features

• Shortens long URLs to compact codes
• Redirects users to the original URL
• Simple REST API (/api/shorten and /:shortURL)
• Frontend using plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• MongoDB containerized with Docker

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⚙️ Requirements

• Node.js (v18+ recommended)
• Docker
• A terminal (PowerShell, Bash, etc.)

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🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/url-shortener.git
cd url-shortener

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2. Start MongoDB with Docker

Run the command below to spin up MongoDB:

docker run -d   --name mongodb   -p 27017:27017   -e MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME=user   -e MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD=password   mongo

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3. Set up the backend

3.1. Navigate to the backend folder

cd backend

3.2. Create a .env file

PORT=3000
MONGO_URI=mongodb://user:password@localhost:27017/ni?authSource=admin

3.3. Install dependencies

npm install

3.4. Start the backend

npm start

Server will be running at:
http://localhost:3000

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4. Run the frontend

You have a few options:

Option A: Open directly in browser

Double-click frontend/index.html or open it in your browser.

Option B: Run with a simple HTTP server (Python)

cd frontend
python -m http.server 8080

Visit:
http://localhost:8080

Option C: Use live-server (Node.js)

Install globally:

npm install -g live-server

Then:

cd frontend
live-server

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🧪 API Example

POST /api/shorten

Request:

{
  "originalURL": "https://example.com"
}

Response:

{
  "shortURL": "abcde"
}

Visit http://localhost:3000/abcde to be redirected.

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🗑️ Stopping and Removing Docker Container

docker stop mongodb
docker rm mongodb

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📁 Project Structure

url-shortener/
├── backend/
│   ├── server.js
│   ├── package.json
│   └── .env
├── frontend/
│   ├── index.html
│   └── style.css
├── LICENSE           
├── README.md
└── .gitignore

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📝 License

MIT