Introduction

Self-hosted short links for Express + MongoDB: UTM builder, click analytics, React admin UI

What it is

A set of Express routers and a Mongoose model you mount inside an app you already have. Not a service, not a server — shorty never listens on a port and never authenticates anyone.

What it is not

• Not an app. It exports routers. You mount them, you guard them, you own the process.
• Not an auth system. It asks your app who is calling, through the user adapter. Whatever your middleware already established is what it gets.
• Not multi-tenant on its own. It stores what you tell it to store, in your database, under your connection.

Requirements

Node	20+
Express	4.18+ or 5
Mongoose	7, 8, or 9 — all three run the full suite in CI

Both peers are peer dependencies, not dependencies. shorty uses the copy you already have, which is the only way the Mongoose model registry stays coherent.

Next

• Quickstart — mounted and serving in about ten lines
• The user adapter — the one integration contract