YLL is a powerful, lightweight URL shortener built with Ruby on Rails. Create and manage shortened URLs with advanced features like expiration dates and password protection.
- Short Links: Generate unique 8-character codes for any URL
- Expiration Control: Set optional expiration times for temporary links
- Security: Password-protect links with HTTP Basic Authentication
- Analytics: Track clicks for each shortened URL
- API Support: Full JSON API for programmatic access
- Ruby 3.0+
- Rails 8.0+
- PostgreSQL (recommended)
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/davidesantangelo/yll.git
# Navigate to the project directory
cd yll
# Install dependencies
bundle install
# Set up the database
rails db:create
rails db:migrate
# Start the server
rails serverCreate a .env file in the root directory with the following variables:
DATABASE_URL=postgres://username:password@localhost/yll_development
HOST_URL=http://localhost:3000
Visit http://localhost:3000 and use the web form to create a new shortened link.
curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/v1/links" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"url": "https://example.com",
"password": "optional_password",
"expires_at": "2025-12-31T23:59:59Z"
}'Simply visit the generated short URL:
http://localhost:3000/r/{code}
When a link is password-protected, the browser will prompt for credentials:
- Username: The short code
- Password: The password you set when creating the link
Via cURL:
curl -u "{code}:{password}" http://localhost:3000/r/{code}POST /api/v1/linksRequest Body:
{
"url": "https://example.com",
"password": "mysecurepassword", // Optional
"expires_at": "2025-12-31T23:59:59Z" // Optional
}Response:
{
"original_url": "https://example.com",
"short_url": "http://localhost:3000/r/Abc12345",
"created_at": "2023-01-15T12:34:56Z",
"expires_at": "2025-12-31T23:59:59Z",
"code": "Abc12345",
"clicks": 0
}GET /api/v1/links/{code}Response:
{
"original_url": "https://example.com",
"short_url": "http://localhost:3000/r/Abc12345",
"created_at": "2023-01-15T12:34:56Z",
"expires_at": "2025-12-31T23:59:59Z",
"code": "Abc12345",
"clicks": 42
}# Run tests
rspec
# Run linting
rubocopYLL supports deployment with Kamal, a deployment tool for Ruby on Rails applications that uses Docker and SSH.
- Docker installed locally
- SSH access to your production server
- Docker installed on your production server
- Install the Kamal gem:
gem install kamal- Initialize Kamal in your project:
kamal init- Edit the generated
config/deploy.ymlfile:
service: yll
image: username/yll
registry:
username: registry_username
password:
- KAMAL_REGISTRY_PASSWORD
servers:
web:
hosts:
- your-server-ip
labels:
traefik.http.routers.yll.rule: Host(`yll.yourdomain.com`)
env:
clear:
DATABASE_URL: postgres://username:password@db-host/yll_production
RAILS_ENV: production
HOST_URL: https://yll.yourdomain.com
volumes:
- /path/on/host/storage:/rails/storage# Build and push the Docker image
kamal setup
# Deploy the application
kamal deploy
# Check deployment status
kamal status
# View logs
kamal logs
# Rollback to previous version
kamal rollbackYou can set up continuous deployment using GitHub Actions:
- Create
.github/workflows/deploy.yml:
name: Deploy
on:
push:
branches: [ main ]
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
with:
ruby-version: '3.4'
- name: Install Kamal
run: gem install kamal
- name: Deploy
run: kamal deploy
env:
KAMAL_REGISTRY_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.KAMAL_REGISTRY_PASSWORD }}
SSH_PRIVATE_KEY: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}- HTTPS enforcement for destination URLs
- URL validation and availability checking
- Rate limiting to prevent abuse
- Password protection using secure hashing
- Fork the repository
- Create your feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature) - Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature') - Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/amazing-feature) - Open a Pull Request
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
YLL uses Rails' has_secure_password for password protection and implements various validations:
- URL format and security validation
- Unique code generation
- Expiration time validation
- URL availability checking
Rate limiting is implemented to prevent abuse, and the application follows Rails best practices for security and performance.