Configuration

The vanityURLs.conf file is the single source of truth for your local environment. It is read by both the Makefile and the lnk script. Here is the complete file from v8s.link, with every variable explained.

The full file

# This file is your config for vanityURLs to personalize and share branded URLs.
# For more info, visit https://github.com/bhdicaire/vanityURLs

# The path to your local scripts folder included in your PATH.
# Example: ~/.config/bin
SCRIPT_DIR=~/.config/bin

# The path to your local clone of this repository.
# Example: ~/repos/v8s.link
REPO_DIR="/Volumes/Tarmac/codePublic/vanityURLs/v8s.link"

# Your vanity domain served by Cloudflare.
# Example: dicai.re or felleg.xyz
MY_DOMAIN="v8s.link"

# Your Cloudflare Pages project URL (not your custom domain).
# Example: vanityURLs.pages.dev
MY_PAGE="v8s-link.pages.dev"

# How many characters long auto-generated short codes should be.
# Example: 3 gives you paths like /x7q, /mK2, /9zR
SHORTCODE_LENGTH=3

# Uncomment to test lnk commands without modifying any files.
#DRY_RUN=true

Variable reference

`SCRIPT_DIR`

Where the lnk and validateURL scripts will be installed when you run make setup. This directory must be on your $PATH for the commands to work without typing the full path.

# macOS common choices:
SCRIPT_DIR=~/.config/bin        # preferred (clean, user-owned)
SCRIPT_DIR=/usr/local/bin       # system-wide (requires sudo for setup)
SCRIPT_DIR=~/bin                # classic home bin

# Verify it's in your PATH:
echo $PATH | tr ':' '\n' | grep bin

Add to PATH if missing

If ~/.config/bin is not in your $PATH, add this to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.config/bin:$PATH"

Then reload: source ~/.zshrc

`REPO_DIR`

The absolute path to your local clone of this repository. The lnk script uses this to know where to write changes to static.lnk and dynamic.lnk.

The v8s.link value (/Volumes/Tarmac/...) is an absolute macOS path specific to the maintainer’s machine. You must change this to your own path.

# Find your path:
cd your-repo && pwd

# Typical values:
REPO_DIR=~/repos/my-tiny.link
REPO_DIR=~/projects/v8s.link
REPO_DIR=/Users/yourname/code/my-domain

Do not use the v8s.link path

REPO_DIR="/Volumes/Tarmac/codePublic/vanityURLs/v8s.link" is the maintainer’s local machine path. If you use it unchanged, every lnk command will fail with “No such file or directory”.

`MY_DOMAIN`

Your vanity domain — the short domain that people will type. This is used by make setup to generate the correct _headers file and by lnk check to construct the full URL for live checks.

MY_DOMAIN="v8s.link"        # what v8s.link uses
MY_DOMAIN="my-tiny.link"    # your own domain
MY_DOMAIN="dicai.re"        # short .re TLD example

`MY_PAGE`

Your Cloudflare Pages project URL — the .pages.dev URL assigned when you create the Pages project. This is not your custom domain. It is used to add X-Robots-Tag: noindex to the pages.dev URL so search engines don’t index it separately from your custom domain.

MY_PAGE="v8s-link.pages.dev"          # v8s.link's pages project
MY_PAGE="my-tiny-link.pages.dev"      # your project (name chosen when creating it)

To find yours: Cloudflare Dashboard → Pages → Your project → the .pages.dev URL shown at the top.

`SHORTCODE_LENGTH`

Controls how many characters the lnk script generates when you ask for a random short code instead of specifying a path manually.

SHORTCODE_LENGTH=3    # generates: /x7q, /mK2, /9zR  (50,000+ combinations)
SHORTCODE_LENGTH=4    # generates: /x7qM, /mK2p, ...  (2.8M+ combinations)
SHORTCODE_LENGTH=5    # generates: /x7qMz, ...         (150M+ combinations)

Length 3 is sufficient for most personal deployments (tens or hundreds of links). Increase it if you plan to generate thousands of short codes.

`DRY_RUN`

When uncommented, lnk commands print what they would do without writing any files. Useful when learning the tool or testing automation scripts.

#DRY_RUN=true    # commented out → real writes (default)
DRY_RUN=true     # uncommented → preview only, nothing is modified

Complete setup sequence

Clone the template

# From GitHub: Use this template → Create a new repository
# Then clone your new repo:
git clone git@github.com:yourname/my-tiny.link.git
cd my-tiny.link

Edit vanityURLs.conf

make config   # opens in $EDITOR
# or directly: nano vanityURLs.conf

Set all four required variables. SHORTCODE_LENGTH and DRY_RUN are optional.

Run setup

make setup

This installs lnk and validateURL to SCRIPT_DIR, generates build/_headers, and creates starter static.lnk and dynamic.lnk files.

Verify lnk is reachable

which lnk        # should print: /your/SCRIPT_DIR/lnk
lnk --help       # should print command reference

If which lnk prints nothing, SCRIPT_DIR is not in your $PATH. See the tip in SCRIPT_DIR above.