Source: Jolli-sample-repos/url-shortener Last Updated: 4/8/2026

Contributing

Guidelines for contributing to the URL shortener project.

Development Workflow

Make changes in backend/src/ or frontend/
Test locally - Backend auto-reloads with nodemon
Build - npm run build (backend only)
Commit - Standard git workflow

Your First Contribution

Smallest possible change to get familiar:

Add a new field to health check response in backend/src/index.ts:


app.get('/health', (req, res) => {
  res.json({
    status: 'healthy',
    timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
    version: '1.0.0'  // Add this line
  });
});

Test: curl http://localhost:3001/health
Verify new version field appears in response

Adding API Endpoints

Create endpoint in backend/src/routes.ts:


/**
 * @openapi
 * /api/v1/your-endpoint:
 *   get:
 *     summary: Your endpoint description
 */
router.get('/your-endpoint', (req, res) => {
  // Implementation
});

OpenAPI docs auto-generate from JSDoc comments.

Code Style

TypeScript: Strict mode enabled
Formatting: Follow existing patterns
Validation: Use Zod schemas for input validation
Errors: Return proper HTTP status codes (400, 404, 410, 500)

File Organization

models.ts - TypeScript interfaces
storage.ts - Data operations
validator.ts - Zod schemas
routes.ts - API endpoints
generator.ts - Short code generation

Testing

No automated tests currently. Manual testing:

Start backend + frontend
Test via frontend UI
Test via API with curl/Postman

Tech Stack Rust