A URL shortener built with ASP.NET Core, featuring a beautiful UI, automatic link expiration, and Docker support. currently hosted here.

• ⚡ Fast & Lightweight: Built with ASP.NET Core Minimal API
• 🔒 Automatic Cleanup: Links expire after 72 hours
• 🐳 Docker Ready: Full Docker and Docker Compose support
• 🌐 Domain Agnostic: Works with any custom domain
• 💾 SQLite Database: Simple, file-based storage with indexing
• 🔄 Background Service: Automatic cleanup of expired URLs

• .NET 9.0 SDK
• Docker (optional)

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/agrimrules/shawty.git
   cd shawty

2. Run the application

   cd shawty
   dotnet run

3. Open your browser

   http://localhost:5277
   

1. Start the containers

   docker-compose up --build -d

2. Access the application

   http://localhost:5277
   

3. Stop the containers

   docker-compose down

1. Add OpenAI API key as environment variable before starting

   export OPENAI_API_KEY=xyz

1. Navigate to the home page
2. Paste your long URL into the input field
3. Click "Shorten URL"
4. Copy and share your shortened link!

Note: All shortened links are valid for 72 hours.

POST /api/shorten
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "url": "https://example.com/very/long/url"
}

Response:

{
  "shortCode": "a1b2c3d4"
}

GET /{shortCode}

Redirects to the original URL or returns a 404 page if not found.

• Backend: ASP.NET Core 9.0 (Minimal API + Razor Pages)
• Database: SQLite with Microsoft.Data.Sqlite
• Hashing: MD5 (8-character Base64 encoding)
• Styling: Vanilla CSS with custom design system
• Fonts: Google Fonts (Outfit)

shawty/
├── Database/
│   └── DatabaseManager.cs      # SQLite operations
├── Pages/
│   ├── Index.cshtml            # Home page
│   ├── Index.cshtml.cs         # Home page logic
│   ├── NotFound.cshtml         # Custom 404 page
│   ├── Shared/
│   │   └── _Layout.cshtml      # Layout template
│   └── _ViewImports.cshtml     # Razor imports
├── Services/
│   └── UrlCleanupService.cs    # Background cleanup job
├── wwwroot/
│   └── css/
│       └── site.css            # Premium styling
├── Program.cs                  # Application entry point
├── Dockerfile                  # Docker configuration
└── docker-compose.yml          # Docker Compose setup

The SQLite database is stored at ../sqlite/data.db relative to the application directory.

Links expire after 72 hours. To change this, modify the cleanup service:

// In Services/UrlCleanupService.cs
DatabaseManager.DeleteOldUrls(72);  // Change 72 to desired hours

The background service runs every 1 hour. To change this:

// In Services/UrlCleanupService.cs
private readonly TimeSpan _period = TimeSpan.FromHours(1);  // Adjust as needed

The application works on any platform that supports:

• Docker containers
• ASP.NET Core 9.0 runtime
• Port mapping

dotnet build

dotnet test

CREATE TABLE urls (
    url TEXT,
    encoded TEXT,
    timestamp DATETIME
);

CREATE INDEX idx_urls_encoded ON urls(encoded);

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

This project is licensed under the GPL-3.0 License.

• Built with ASP.NET Core
• Styled with Google Fonts