🔗 Bitly Clone – URL Shortener with Authentication

A full-stack URL shortener web application inspired by Bitly, built using Python, Flask, PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy, Jinja2, and Tailwind CSS.
The app supports user authentication, short-link tracking, and a personal dashboard to manage URLs.

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TODOs

• pagination
  • server based
    • cursor based
    • normal
  • client based
• super admin
• admin (ORG) i.e CDA
  • Haron
  • Usman
• RBAC / ABAC
• flask compress and minify
• middleware
• regex
• sort by: (filter on table headers)

🚀 Features

• 🔐 User Authentication (Sign up / Login / Logout)
• ✉️ Email-based user accounts
• 🔗 Short URL generation (3-character - Random based)
• 📊 Click tracking for each shortened link
• 👤 User-specific dashboards
• 🔒 Protected routes (only logged-in users can manage links)
• 🎨 Responsive UI using Tailwind CSS
• 🗄 PostgreSQL database with Alembic migrations

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🧱 Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	Python, Flask
Database	PostgreSQL
ORM	SQLAlchemy
Migrations	Flask-Migrate (Alembic)
Frontend	HTML, Jinja2, Tailwind CSS
Auth	Flask-Login
Versioning	Git & GitHub

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📁 Project Structure

bitly_clone/
│
├── app/
│   ├── controllers/
│   │   ├── __init__.py      # App factory (controllers)
│   │   ├── admin.py         # Admin routes
│   │   ├── auth.py          # Authentication routes
│   │   └── routes.py        # Dashboard & redirect routes
│   │
│   ├── templates/
│   │   ├── admin_dashboard.html
│   │   ├── admin_user_links.html
│   │   ├── base.html
│   │   ├── index.html
│   │   ├── login.html
│   │   ├── signup.html
│   │   └── dashboard.html
│   │
│   ├── models.py            # User & Link models
│   ├── __init__.py          # App factory
│
├── migrations/              # Alembic migrations
├── config.py                # App configuration
├── run.py                   # Entry point
├── requirements.txt         # Project requirements
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

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🧪 How It Works

1. User signs up using email & password
2. User logs in and accesses the dashboard
3. Shortens URLs from the dashboard
4. Each short link tracks click count
5. Redirects increment clicks uniquely per click

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⚙️ Setup Instructions

1️⃣ Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/mananurrehman/bitly_clone.git
cd bitly_clone

2️⃣ Create Virtual Environment

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Linux/macOS
venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows

3️⃣ Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

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4️⃣ Configure Environment

Update config.py with your PostgreSQL database URL.

Example:

SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI = "postgresql://user:password@localhost/bitly_clone"

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5️⃣ Initialize Database

flask db init
flask db migrate
flask db upgrade

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6️⃣ Run Application

python run.py

Visit:

http://127.0.0.1:5000

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🔐 Security Notes

• Passwords are hashed securely
• Sessions manage authentication state
• Users can only view/manage their own links

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📌 Future Improvements

• 🔗 Custom short URLs
• 📈 Advanced analytics (daily / monthly clicks)
• ⏳ Link expiration
• 📋 Copy-to-clipboard button
• 🐳 Docker support
• ☁️ Cloud deployment (AWS / Render / Railway)

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👨‍💻 Author

Built by Manan ur Rehman
Learning by building real-world backend systems.

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⭐ Support

If you like this project:

• ⭐ Star the repo
• 🍴 Fork it
• 🧠 Improve it

Happy Coding! 🚀