URL Shortener Bot with Backend API

This repository contains two components: a Discord bot for shortening URLs and a backend API for handling the URL shortening and redirection. Both parts work together to provide a seamless experience for shortening URLs and sharing them directly from Discord.

Features

• Discord Slash Command for URL shortening with domain selection.
• Express.js Backend API to handle the actual shortening process and redirection.
• MongoDB Integration for storing and retrieving shortened URLs.
• API Key Validation for secure access to the backend.

Components

1. short.js - Discord URL Shortener Bot

This is a Discord bot built using discord.js that provides a command to shorten URLs directly from Discord. Users can choose from multiple domains, or the bot will use a default domain.

Setup Instructions for short.js

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install discord.js unirest dotenv
   

2. Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the project root and add:

   BOT_TOKEN=your_discord_bot_token
   DISCORD_CLIENT_ID=your_discord_client_id
   API_KEY=your_url_shortening_api_key
   

3. Run the bot:

   node short.js
   

How It Works

• Users enter a URL and optionally choose a domain using the /shortenurl slash command.
• The bot validates the URL and sends a request to the backend API to generate the shortened link.
• The response is sent back as a Discord embed message with the shortened URL.

2. short-backend-api.js - URL Shortener Backend

This is a Node.js backend API using Express.js and MongoDB for URL shortening. It receives requests from the Discord bot or any client and provides a short URL in response.

Setup Instructions for short-backend-api.js

1. Install dependencies:

   npm install express mongoose shortid dotenv
   

2. MongoDB Setup: Make sure MongoDB is running and accessible. By default, it connects to mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/shorturl.

3. Environment Variables: Create a .env file in the project root with:

   API_KEY=your_secure_api_key
   

4. Run the API:

   node short-backend-api.js
   

Routes

• POST /api/shorturl: Shortens a URL.
  • Request:
    • Body: { "longUrl": "https://example.com", "domain": "s.shells.lol" }
    • Header: x-api-key: your_api_key
  • Response: { "shortUrl": "https://s.shells.lol/abcd1234" }
• GET /:shortId: Redirects to the original long URL.

How It Works

• The API checks if the provided API key is valid.
• The longUrl is checked against the database. If it has already been shortened, the existing short URL is returned.
• If it's a new URL, it generates a unique shortId using shortid and stores it in the database.
• The shortId can then be used to redirect users to the original URL when they visit https://yourdomain.com/:shortId.

Models

Url Model

This model represents the schema for storing URLs in MongoDB. It consists of the following fields:

• longUrl: The original URL.
• shortId: The shortened identifier for the URL.

const mongoose = require('mongoose');

const urlSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
  longUrl: { type: String, required: true },
  shortId: { type: String, required: true }
});

module.exports = mongoose.model('Url', urlSchema);

Full Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js v16.6.0 or higher
• MongoDB running locally or remotely
• A valid Discord bot token and a URL shortening API key

Steps

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/url-shortener-bot.git
   cd url-shortener-bot
   

2. Follow the setup instructions for both short.js and short-backend-api.js.

3. Ensure the bot and backend API are both running:

   # In one terminal, run the backend API
   node short-backend-api.js
   
   # In another terminal, run the Discord bot
   node short.js