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🔗 Serverless URL Shortener with QR Code & Analytics

A production-ready URL shortener with built-in QR code generation and click analytics. Serverless, auto-scaling, and completely free on AWS Free Tier.

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📌 Overview

This project implements a full-featured URL shortener using AWS serverless services. Every shortened URL automatically gets a QR code, and all clicks are tracked with detailed analytics.

✨ Features

Feature	Description
🔗 URL Shortening	Custom or auto-generated 6-character codes
📱 QR Code Generation	Automatic SVG QR codes for every short URL
📊 Click Analytics	Track total clicks, daily breakdown, device types
🚦 Rate Limiting	100 requests/hour per IP (prevents abuse)
⚡ Fast Redirects	301 permanent redirects with caching
🔒 Secure	HTTPS only, IAM least privilege
💰 Cost Effective	$0/month on AWS Free Tier

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🏗️ Architecture

AWS Services Used

Service	Purpose	Free Tier
Lambda	Business logic (Python 3.9)	1M requests/month
API Gateway	REST API endpoints with rate limiting	1M requests/month
DynamoDB	Single-table design for fast lookups	25 GB storage
S3	QR code caching	5 GB storage
CloudWatch	Logging and monitoring	5 GB logs

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🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• AWS Account (Free Tier)
• Basic AWS Console access
• 2-3 hours of your time

Deployment Steps

Step	Service
1	DynamoDB Table
2	S3 Bucket (QR cache)
3	Lambda Layer (qrcode)
4	Lambda Functions (4)
5	API Gateway
6	Testing

📡 API Documentation

POST /shorten - Create Short URL

Request:

{
  "url": "https://example.com/very/long/url",
  "customCode": "my-link"  // optional, max 20 chars
}
Response:

json
{
  "short_code": "abc123",
  "short_url": "https://your-api/abc123",
  "original_url": "https://example.com/very/long/url",
  "clicks": 0,
  "qr_code_url": "https://your-api/qr/abc123"
}
GET /{shortCode} - Redirect
Response: 301 Permanent Redirect to original URL

GET /analytics/{shortCode} - Get Analytics
Response:

json
{
  "short_code": "abc123",
  "original_url": "https://example.com",
  "total_clicks": 42,
  "last_7_days": {
    "daily_breakdown": {"2026-05-15": 15, "2026-05-14": 27},
    "devices": {"mobile": 30, "desktop": 12}
  },
  "recent_clicks": [...]
}
GET /qr/{shortCode} - Get QR Code
Response: SVG image (QR code encoding the original URL)

Example:

curl https://your-api/qr/abc123 --output qr.svg
💻 Web Frontend
The included code/index.html provides a complete UI with:

Shorten URL tab - Create short URLs with QR codes

Analytics Lookup tab - View analytics for any short code

Copy to clipboard - One-click URL copying

Real-time QR display - SVG QR codes rendered instantly

💰 Cost Breakdown

Service	Free Tier	Expected Monthly Usage	Cost
DynamoDB	25 GB storage	1 MB	$0
Lambda	1M requests	1,000 requests	$0
API Gateway	1M requests	1,000 requests	$0
S3	5 GB storage	100 MB	$0
CloudWatch	5 GB logs	1 MB	$0

Total: $0/month (AWS Free Tier covers everything)

📸 Screenshots

DynamoDB Table

Lambda Functions I increased Timeout of QR code generation funcation becuase it is CPU-intensive and exceeds the 3-second default timeout. I also created a policy that follows the least privilege principle.

API Gateway POST method that will trigger the Lambda funcation

Web Interface