Windows Home Server — Part 17: Replacing Paid Link Shorteners & Bio-Links (Linktree, Bitly)

Redirection services like Bitly and Linktree charge subscription fees for features like custom domain mapping, detailed click analytics, and logo customization.

We can run our own fast URL shortener natively on Windows for free. We will write a lightweight Node.js application that reads redirects from a local config file, performs instant redirections, and logs click events (timestamp, destination, and user agent) to a local SQLite database for custom analytics.

---

1. Shortener Architecture

Our application is built for high speed. Since it is written in Node.js and runs natively, redirects take less than 10 milliseconds:

[User clicks: lnk.yourdomain.com/blog]
                     │
                     ▼
              [Caddy Server]
                     │
           (Proxy to Local Port 8089)
                     │
                     ▼
             [Node.js Redirector] ──(Log Click)──> [SQLite: clicks.db]
                     │
             (302 Redirect Header)
                     │
                     ▼
       [https://blog.oriz.in/...]

---

2. Implementing the Redirector Application

Step 1: Create directories and install packages

Run in PowerShell:

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "C:\Server\apps\shortener"
cd C:\Server\apps\shortener
npm init -y
npm install express sqlite3

Step 2: Write the Redirection Database

Create a JSON file C:\Server\apps\shortener\redirects.json containing your short-links:

{
  "github": "https://github.com/chirag127",
  "blog": "https://blog.oriz.in",
  "linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/chiragsinghal"
}

Step 3: Implement the Server

Create C:\Server\apps\shortener\server.js. This script reads the JSON file and performs the redirection while logging statistics to SQLite:

const express = require('express');
const sqlite3 = require('sqlite3').verbose();
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const app = express();
const PORT = 8089;
const dbPath = path.join(__dirname, 'clicks.db');
const redirectsFile = path.join(__dirname, 'redirects.json');

// Initialize SQLite Database
const db = new sqlite3.Database(dbPath);
db.run(`
  CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS clicks (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT,
    short_code TEXT,
    destination TEXT,
    timestamp DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
    user_agent TEXT
  )
`);

// Read redirects config
let redirects = {};
function loadRedirects() {
    try {
        const fileContent = fs.readFileSync(redirectsFile, 'utf8');
        redirects = JSON.parse(fileContent);
        console.log('Redirects configuration loaded.');
    } catch (err) {
        console.error('Failed to load redirects:', err.message);
    }
}
loadRedirects();

// Reload configuration when JSON file is modified
fs.watchFile(redirectsFile, () => {
    loadRedirects();
});

// Handle Redirects
app.get('/:code', (req, res) => {
    const code = req.params.code.toLowerCase();
    const destination = redirects[code];

    if (!destination) {
        return res.status(404).send('Shortcode not found');
    }

    const userAgent = req.headers['user-agent'] || 'Unknown';

    // Log click to SQLite database asynchronously
    db.run(
        'INSERT INTO clicks (short_code, destination, user_agent) VALUES (?, ?, ?)',
        [code, destination, userAgent],
        (err) => {
            if (err) {
                console.error('Failed to log click:', err.message);
            }
        }
    );

    // Redirect user (302 Found)
    res.redirect(302, destination);
});

app.listen(PORT, '127.0.0.1', () => {
    console.log(`URL Shortener listening on port ${PORT}`);
});

---

3. Configuring Caddy Routing

Open C:\Server\caddy\Caddyfile and map a short domain (or subdomain):

lnk.yourdomain.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8089
}

Restart Caddy:

nssm restart Caddy

---

4. Wrapping Shortener in NSSM

Create the service:

nssm install URLShortener node.exe "C:\Server\apps\shortener\server.js"
nssm set URLShortener AppDirectory "C:\Server\apps\shortener"
nssm set URLShortener Start SERVICE_AUTO_START
nssm start URLShortener

Reviewing Analytics

To view click analytics, you can connect to your SQLite file (clicks.db) using any database browser tool or write a simple script to print summaries:

# Read top redirect codes via SQLite query in PowerShell
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("System.Data.SQLite")
$conn = New-Object System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteConnection("Data Source=C:\Server\apps\shortener\clicks.db;")
$conn.Open()
$cmd = $conn.CreateCommand()
$cmd.CommandText = "SELECT short_code, COUNT(id) as click_count FROM clicks GROUP BY short_code ORDER BY click_count DESC"
$reader = $cmd.ExecuteReader()
while ($reader.Read()) {
    Write-Host "Code: $($reader['short_code']) | Clicks: $($reader['click_count'])"
}
$conn.Close()

By hosting this redirector on your home server, you gain complete control over your short links and access logs, bypassing paid link shortener fees for free.

---

In the next part, we will replace paid email routing and SMTP sending services.

Proceed to Part 18: Replacing Paid Email Forwarding & SMTP (SendGrid, Mailgun) →