Can a prompt replace Bitly?

Build a link shortener with click analytics and QR codes: a redirect endpoint that looks up a short slug, redirects to its destination, and logs the click (timestamp, rough location, device type, referer) without slowing the redirect down — the lookup and the log write should never block each other. Slugs default to a short random string, but support a custom back-half, and creating one that already exists should fail loudly rather than silently overwrite it. Generate a QR code for any link, cached rather than regenerated on every request. Support an optional expiry date or click cap per link, after which it redirects to a fallback URL instead of erroring. Build a small password-protected admin view listing links with their click counts, plus a rough breakdown by country and device. An edge platform with a key-value store for the slug lookup and a small database for the click log is a clean fit for this and runs comfortably on a free tier — but the specific stack matters less than keeping the redirect itself fast and never dependent on the analytics write completing first.

Do not build landing pages, campaign grouping, or an SLA — the actual thing a link shortener sells isn't a technical feature, it's the operator's intent to keep the domain and the redirect working for years. Be explicit in the README that these links only outlive the domain they're hosted on: letting that domain lapse breaks every link it ever issued, at once.