Tiny-Link

Tiny-Link is a simple Node.js module that provides URL shortening functionality using Redis as the backend storage.

Installation

To use Tiny-Link in your Node.js project, install it via npm:

npm install tiny-link

Use Case: Shortening URLs for Social Media Sharing

Scenario: You are developing a web application that allows users to share content on various social media platforms. However, the URLs of the shared content are often long and cumbersome. To enhance the user experience and improve the aesthetics of shared posts, you decide to implement a URL shortening feature using Tiny-Link.

Example: Step 1: Initialize Tiny-Link

const { TinyLink } = require('tiny-link');
const Redis = require('ioredis');

// Create an ioredis instance
const redisClient = new Redis();

// Create an instance of Tiny-Link with your Redis client
const tinyLink = new TinyLink({ client: redisClient });

Step 2: Shorten URLs for Social Media Sharing

// Original long URL of the shared content
const longUrl = 'https://your-website.com/articles/article-title';

// Shorten the URL using Tiny-Link
const shortKey = await tinyLink.shortenUrl(longUrl);
// Example Output: "x7l8UcP-2XJpWvR_q0HkD"

// Construct the short URL to be shared on social media
const shortUrl = `https://your-short-domain/${shortKey}`;

// Now, users can share the short URL on social media platforms
console.log('Shortened URL for Social Media:', shortUrl);

Step 3: Handling Redirects

// Extract the short key from the incoming request
const shortKeyFromRequest = /* Extract the short key from the request parameters */;

// Retrieve the original URL using Tiny-Link
const originalUrl = await tinyLink.getOriginalUrl(shortKeyFromRequest);

// Redirect the user to the original URL
// This depends on your server framework (e.g., Express, Koa)
// Example using Express:
res.redirect(301, originalUrl);

In this use case, Tiny-Link is utilized to make shared content URLs more user-friendly on social media. The process involves shortening the original long URL into a compact and memorable short key. When users click on the short URL, Tiny-Link helps retrieve the original URL, allowing for a seamless redirect to the actual content.

This use case demonstrates how Tiny-Link can enhance the user experience by simplifying URLs, making them more suitable for sharing on social media platforms where character limits may apply.

Usage

const { TinyLink } = require('tiny-link');
const Redis = require('ioredis');

// Create an ioredis instance
const yourRedisClient = new Redis();

// Create an instance of Tiny-Link with your Redis client
const tinyLink = new TinyLink({ client: yourRedisClient });

// Shorten a URL
const shortKey = await tinyLink.shortenUrl('https://example.com');

// Get the original URL
const originalUrl = await tinyLink.getOriginalUrl(shortKey);

// Clear a specific key
const result = await tinyLink.deleteKey(shortKey);

// Flush all keys with a specific prefix
const flushResult = await tinyLink.flushKeys();

Configuration Options

Tiny-Link supports the following configuration options:

• client: An instance of the ioredis client for connecting to Redis.
• prefix (optional): A prefix to be added to all keys in Redis. Default is "tiny-link:".
• ttl (optional): Time-to-live for keys in seconds. Default is 0 (no TTL).

Methods

1. shortenUrl(originalUrl, ttlInSeconds)

Shortens a URL and returns the generated short key.

• originalUrl: The original URL to be shortened.
• ttlInSeconds (optional): Time-to-live for the short URL in seconds. Overrides the default TTL.

2. getOriginalUrl(shortKey)

Retrieves the original URL for a given short key.

• shortKey: The short key to look up.

3. deleteKey(shortKey)

Clears (deletes) a specific key from Redis.

• shortKey: The short key to clear.

4. flushKeys()

Clears (deletes) all keys with the configured prefix from Redis.

Returns a message indicating the number of keys flushed.

License

MIT