ShortURL TSV Express Middleware

Comfortably manage your shortURLs with Google Sheets

Features

• Minimal maintenance (small, single NPM dependency)
  It's 139 simple lines of JavaScript and one dependency to parseurl which comes with express.

• Manage your shortURLs with Google Sheets
  No additional persistence needed, set permissions, use formulas and create your own user interfaces.

Installation and Use

Install using npm.

npm install @reasn/shorturl-tsv-express-middleware --save

Then use it in your Node.js script like this:

const express = require('express');
const app = express();  
const createMiddleware = require('./index');

let server;

app.use(createMiddleware({
    url: "URL to your TSV file",
    onError: error => {
        console.error(error);
        server.close();
    }
}));

server = app.listen(process.env.PORT || 3000);

Use Google Sheets as management interface

• Make sure you have a Google account.
• Create a new Google Sheet by going to sheet.new.
• Enter shortUrls in the first columns and the targets to redirect to in the second column.
• Select File > Publish to the web to open a dialog box headlined Publish to the web.
• Make sure Link is selected (not Embed).
• Select Sheet1 (not Entire Document) in the first drop-down.
• Select Tab-separated values (.tsv) in the second drop-down.
• Make sure to uncheck Require viewers to sign in ....
• Make sure to check Automatically republish when changes are made.
• Copy the url to your newly published file and use it in your script as options.url

Runtime Configuration

Below is an example with all possible options parameters.

app.use(createMiddleware({
    url, // The URL to your TSV file
    onError, // error handler (`error => undfined`)
    request, //request || https.get,
    interval, // Interval to fetch updates, default: 1000 * 60 * 5, i.e. 5 minutes
    preventAutoStart, // Unless set to true, the regular fetching of updates is starts when invoking createMiddleware(), default: false
    updateRoute, // Exposes a route to force updates via GET request. This can be used for a reflected (D)DOS. Check whether that's a threat before using.
    responseCode, // the 3xx HTTP response code, default: 302
    log, // log message handler (`message => undefined`)
    maxOpenRequests, // The number of possible open requests to fetch updates, default: 5
    maxHops, // The number of redirect lookups before assuming a circular redirect, default: 50
    };
}));

server = app.listen(process.env.PORT || 3000);

Contributing

I welcome any contributions, enhancements, and bug-fixes. File an issue on GitHub and submit a pull request.

License

Swagger Express Middleware is 100% free and open-source, under the MIT license. Use it however you want.

This package is Treeware. If you use it in production, then we ask that you buy the world a tree to thank us for our work. By contributing to the Treeware forest you’ll be creating employment for local families and restoring wildlife habitats.