url shortener

this project was created to practice the url shortener system design from system design school: https://systemdesignschool.io/problems/url-shortener/solution

microservices architecture with grpc for internal communication:

• gateway: fastify http api + static web app
• urlgen: generates and stores short codes
• redirect: resolves codes to original urls
• analytics: tracks click metrics
• cache: redis
• db: dynamodb

quickstart (docker only)

pnpm install
make up

then try it:

• web app:

  • open http://localhost:3000
  • paste a long url and click "shorten"
  • copy the short link and open it to test the redirect

• api:

  • post http://localhost:3000/api/urls/shorten with body { "longUrl": "https://example.com" }
  • get http://localhost:3000/:code -> 302 to long url
  • get http://localhost:3000/api/urls/:code

handy make targets:

• make logs -> follow logs for all services
• make tail S=gateway -> logs for a single service
• make ps -> status
• make restart -> rebuild and restart
• make down -> stop and remove containers + volumes

microservices implementation

completed

• service separation - each service runs in its own container
• grpc communication - services communicate via grpc instead of direct calls
• single responsibility - each service has focused purpose
• independent deployment - services build/deploy separately via docker

improvements for true microservices

• database per service - split shared redis/dynamodb per service ownership
• remove shared business logic - move data access into each service
• proper data ownership - analytics shouldn't directly read urls table
• event-driven architecture - services publish/subscribe to events