Full-stack URL shortener built with MongoDB, Express, Vue.js, and Node.js (MEVN). Generates short aliases for long URLs with click tracking and an admin dashboard.
The app follows a conventional MEVN architecture: Vue.js SPA served via Vercel's CDN, communicating with a RESTful Express.js API hosted on Heroku. MongoDB Atlas provides the database layer. URL shortening uses a base-62 encoded counter, and click events are logged server-side with User-Agent parsing for analytics.
Running on Heroku's free tier meant the API would idle after 30 minutes of inactivity, causing a cold start on the first request. A simple keep-alive cron job was added, but the service was eventually discontinued due to Heroku's free plan retirement.