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Shortener: A Cloudflare Workers URL Shortener

A fast, serverless URL shortener service built with Rust and deployed on Cloudflare's global edge network. This service provides instant URL redirection with global low-latency access through Cloudflare's distributed infrastructure.

Features

  • Edge-first architecture: Deployed across Cloudflare's global network for minimal latency
  • Rust-powered: Written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly for maximum performance
  • KV storage: Uses Cloudflare KV for persistent, globally distributed URL mappings
  • Instant redirects: Sub-millisecond redirect responses from edge locations
  • Observability: Built-in logging and monitoring through Cloudflare Workers

How it Works

The service operates with a simple routing structure:

  1. Root path (/): Redirects to a configured home URL (set via HOME environment variable)
  2. Short URLs (/:url): Looks up the URL parameter in Cloudflare KV storage and redirects to the target URL if found

URL mappings are stored in Cloudflare KV, allowing for:

  • Global distribution and replication
  • Fast lookup times from any edge location
  • Persistent storage without managing databases

Development

Prerequisites

  • Rust with wasm32-unknown-unknown target
  • Wrangler CLI
  • Cloudflare account with Workers and KV enabled

Commands

# Run local development server with file watching and hot reload
wrangler dev

# Deploy to Cloudflare Workers globally
wrangler deploy

# Build the project (compiles Rust to WebAssembly) - for testing only
wrangler deploy --dry-run --outdir=dist

Configuration

Edit wrangler.toml to configure:

  • Environment variables (like HOME redirect URL)
  • KV namespace bindings
  • Workers deployment settings

Architecture

  • Runtime: Cloudflare Workers (V8 isolates)
  • Language: Rust compiled to WebAssembly
  • Storage: Cloudflare KV (globally distributed key-value store)
  • Build: Uses worker-build for optimized WASM compilation