Linkium

A modern link-in-bio tool that helps you organize, manage, and share all your important links with a single, shareable URL. Built with Next.js 16 and MongoDB.

Features

• Custom Handles — Claim your unique username and get a personalized link page at /yourhandle
• Unlimited Links — Add as many links as you need with custom titles
• JWT Authentication — Secure signup and login with JWT tokens (1-day expiry)
• Password Security — Passwords are hashed with bcrypt before storage
• Email Password Reset — Forgot password flow with 6-digit OTP sent via email (SMTP)
• Protected API Routes — API endpoints require valid JWT tokens for authenticated operations
• Link Management — Add and delete links from your dashboard
• Responsive Design — Works on all devices

Tech Stack

Technology	Version
Next.js	16.0.10
MongoDB	7.0.0
Tailwind CSS	4.0
jsonwebtoken	9.0.3
bcryptjs	3.0.3
nodemailer	7.0.13
AWS EC2	-

Database is deployed on AWS EC2.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.17 or later
• MongoDB database (local or MongoDB Atlas)

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/linkium.git
   cd linkium

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Set up environment variables

   Create a .env file in the root directory:

   MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key-for-jwt-tokens
   
   # SMTP settings for password reset emails (Gmail example)
   SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
   SMTP_PORT=587
   SMTP_USER=your.email@gmail.com
   SMTP_PASS=your-gmail-app-password
   SMTP_FROM_EMAIL="Linkium <your.email@gmail.com>"

   Note: For Gmail, you need to:

   • Enable 2-Step Verification on your Google account
   • Create an App Password at myaccount.google.com/apppasswords
   • Use that 16-character App Password as SMTP_PASS (not your regular Gmail password)

4. Run the development server

   npm run dev

5. Open http://localhost:3000

Authentication

The application uses JWT (JSON Web Tokens) for authentication:

• Signup: Passwords are hashed with bcrypt before storage
• Login: Returns a JWT token (stored in localStorage) with 1-day expiry
• Protected Routes: API endpoints verify JWT tokens from the Authorization: Bearer <token> header
• Password Reset: Two-step OTP flow:
  1. User requests a 6-digit code via email
  2. User enters code + new password to reset

Token Storage: JWT tokens are stored in localStorage as linkium_token. The user email is stored separately as linkium_user for display purposes.

Usage

1. Sign up with your email and password
2. Log in to receive a JWT token
3. Claim a unique handle for your profile URL
4. Add links with titles (requires authentication)
5. Share your /yourhandle URL (public, no auth needed)