Installation

vanityURLs runs entirely on infrastructure you already control — a GitHub repository, a domain name, and a free Cloudflare account. There is nothing to install on your machine beyond the optional CLI helper script.

Quick setup

Create a repository from the template

From the vanityURLs GitHub repository, click Use this template → Create a new repository.

Choose a name that reflects your short domain (e.g. my-tiny.link). Select Private — your redirect list may contain internal URLs.

Create your Cloudflare account

If you don’t have one already, follow the Cloudflare account creation guide. The free plan is sufficient.

Purchase your internet domain

Log into Cloudflare and register a short domain via Domains → Register. Type your desired name, search, and complete the purchase. Enable Auto-renew before leaving.

You can also transfer an existing domain to Cloudflare DNS.

Create the Cloudflare Pages site

In the Cloudflare dashboard, click Add a Pages site and connect your GitHub repository.
Configure the build:

Cloudflare Pages build settings

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Framework preset: (leave empty) Build command: cat static.lnk dynamic.lnk > build/_redirects Build output directory: /build

Set up a custom domain for the Pages project pointing to your purchased domain.

Warning

The first build will fail — that’s expected. You still need to generate static.lnk, dynamic.lnk, and build/_headers in the next step.

Local configuration

Configure vanityURLs.conf

Edit vanityURLs.conf in your repository (or run make config if you prefer vi):

SCRIPT_DIR=/usr/local/bin       # path where the lnk script will be installed
REPO_DIR=~/repos/my-tiny.link   # path to your local clone of the repo
MY_DOMAIN=my-tiny.link          # your short domain
MY_PAGE=my-project.pages.dev    # your Cloudflare Pages project URL

Run initial setup

make setup

This generates:

build/_headers — security and cache headers based on your domain and Pages URL
static.lnk — your static redirect list (initially redirects / to your main site)
dynamic.lnk — your dynamic redirect list (initially empty)

Add your first redirects

Edit static.lnk with your preferred text editor, or use the lnk script:

lnk add /github https://github.com/yourname
lnk add /linkedin https://linkedin.com/in/yourname

Commit and push

git add -A && git commit -m "add initial redirects" && git push

Cloudflare detects the push and deploys in ~15 seconds. Your links are live.

Verify

Open https://your-domain/github in a browser — you should be redirected to your GitHub profile.