Hello, Dev Community! I’m excited to finally pull back the curtain on my latest side project: Coz.jp, a new link shortening service.

While “yet another link shortener” might sound simple, the goal here was to build something fast, reliable, and deeply integrated, all while using a modern and scalable tech stack. I want to share a little bit about what it does and the architecture I chose.

Why I Built It

As a developer, I’ve always needed a link shortener that gives me full control after the link is created. That’s what Coz.jp is all about: fast creation, but also the ability to go back and fix errors by editing the target URL, or deleting the link entirely. It focuses on:

Fast and Reliable URL Shortening: Speed is non-negotiable for link redirects.

Complete Link Management: Easily fix mistakes or update destinations after publishing.

Privacy-Friendly Analytics: Gain insights without compromising user security.

The Technical Core: My Stack

For a project like this, I needed a setup that was robust, easy to deploy, and scalable. I went with a modern, containerized architecture that uses some of my favorite tools:

Framework: Laravel The back-end is powered by Laravel. Its elegant syntax and robust features made developing the API endpoints and the link management dashboard incredibly efficient. Laravel's Eloquent ORM provides a secure and structured way to handle the thousands of daily redirects.

Containerization: Docker Compose Everything runs inside Docker Compose. This ensures that the local development environment is an exact mirror of the production environment, eliminating the dreaded "it works on my machine" problem and making deployment rock-solid.

Database: MySQL The reliable backbone of the application is MySQL. It handles the quick lookups required for redirects and securely stores all the user and link data.

Reverse Proxy: Traefik I used Traefik as the edge router. Traefik handles all the incoming traffic, manages HTTPS certificates automatically, and routes traffic efficiently to the correct Docker containers. This setup gives me excellent performance and a truly scalable, production-ready infrastructure.

Ready for Your Workflow

One of the key features I focused on was developer and business integration. Coz.jp offers:

Full API Integration: Ready for you to integrate into scripts or custom applications.

N8N Node: For those using low-code automation, I've built an n8n node to allow seamless integration into your automated workflows.

You can manage your links with a simple email verification process, ensuring only you control your shortened URLs.

Try It Out!

I’d love for you to check it out. You can login and Start your free trial today.