Ch. 1: Foundations

In this chapter you will build the core of Linkly: a worker that creates short codes and resolves them back to URLs, callable first from the command line and then over HTTP. By the end you will have a working web service where POST /links mints a short code and GET /s/:code redirects to the original URL.

Create the project

A iii project is a directory with a config.yaml file that describes your system. Create one:

iii project init linkly
cd linkly

Add the workers you’ll need

Later in this chapter you’ll serve the link worker over HTTP (provided by http) and stash short-code → URL mappings in a key-value store (provided by state). Declare both now so they’re ready when the link worker reaches for them:

worker-compose.yaml

# namespace: default
engine:
  workers: {}
containers:
  http:
    worker: package://api.workers.iii.dev/http
    version: "0.21.3"
    config_name: http
  state:
    worker: package://api.workers.iii.dev/state
    version: "0.22.2"
    config_name: state
    config_override:
      adapter:
        name: kv
        config:
          store_method: in_memory

The engine: section makes this Compose invocation own the engine. Project workers belong only under containers:. state uses an in-memory store by default, so every restart starts clean. That’s what we want for this chapter. A worker’s settings live in a per-worker file under config/, and the engine only generates those files the first time it starts, so you’ll make that default explicit in config/state.yaml when Compose starts the worker, a few steps from now. Since the store is in-memory, every restart clears the data we’re storing. That’s fine here; Ch. 3: Persist everything swaps in durable storage. The exact versions in worker-compose.yaml make starts repeatable.

Create the link worker

Create a TypeScript worker directory inside the project. This worker will handle storing and retrieving short links:

mkdir -p link/src && touch link/src/index.ts

Configure the entrypoints

A worker is a self-contained service. Here, the link worker is a Node package but it could be any language or runtime. link/iii.worker.yaml is the manifest that describes how the worker runs itself. Create it with the following content:

iii.worker.yaml

name: link
scripts:
  start: pnpm start

Compose runs the worker from scripts.start, but a worker can also be an ordinary service. Any process that uses a iii SDK and calls registerWorker() is a worker.

Learn more about the iii.worker.yaml manifest.

Create link/package.json with this content. The start script uses tsx watch, which runs the TypeScript source directly and reloads the worker whenever you save a change.

package.json

{
  "name": "link",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "private": true,
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "tsx watch src/index.ts"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "iii-sdk": "0.21.4",
    "@iii-dev/helpers": "0.21.4",
    "tsx": "^4.22.3"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "typescript": "^5.9.3",
    "@types/node": "^24.10.1"
  }
}

Install the dependencies once:

cd link && pnpm install && cd ..

Write the worker entry point

link/src/index.ts is the worker’s entry point. You’ll build it up in a few small steps rather than pasting one large file at once.

The command above created an empty index.ts. Add the first snippet below, then append each later snippet to the end of the file.

Open the connection to the engine

registerWorker opens the connection to the engine. Replace the template’s example code in index.ts with the connection setup and a small helper that generates random short codes:

src/index.ts

import { registerWorker } from "iii-sdk";
import { Logger } from "@iii-dev/helpers/observability";

const worker = registerWorker(process.env.III_URL ?? "ws://localhost:49134", {
  workerName: "link",
});
const logger = new Logger();

const CHARS = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789";

function makeCode(): string {
  let s = "";
  for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) s += CHARS[Math.floor(Math.random() * CHARS.length)];
  return s;
}

Add `link::create`

registerFunction publishes a function under a name like link::create that anything else on the engine can call. This one stores the mapping by calling state::set on the state worker through worker.trigger. Worker-to-worker calls always flow through the engine, so the link worker doesn’t import anything from state; it knows the function name. Append it:

src/index.ts

worker.registerFunction("link::create", async (payload: { url: string; code?: string }) => {
  const code = payload.code ?? makeCode();
  // Store an absolute URL so the redirect's Location header is absolute, not
  // resolved relative to /s/:code.
  const url = /^https?:\/\//i.test(payload.url) ? payload.url : `https://${payload.url}`;
  await worker.trigger({
    function_id: "state::set",
    payload: { scope: "links", key: code, value: { url } },
  });
  logger.info("link created", { code, url });
  return { code, url };
});

Add `link::resolve`

link::resolve looks the mapping back up with state::get, returning the URL or null when the code is unknown. Append it, with a final log line so you can see the worker come up:

src/index.ts

worker.registerFunction("link::resolve", async (payload: { code: string }) => {
  const stored = await worker.trigger<{ scope: string; key: string }, { url: string } | null>({
    function_id: "state::get",
    payload: { scope: "links", key: payload.code },
  });
  logger.info("link resolved", { code: payload.code, found: !!stored?.url });
  return { url: stored?.url ?? null };
});

logger.info("link worker ready");

The state::set / state::get calls pass a scope (links) and a key (the short code). Scopes keep different kinds of data in state from colliding; later chapters add more.

Start the engine

From the project root, start the engine and Compose project. The workers register their functions with the engine. --up is a iii compose flag, as shown in the generated CLI reference:

iii compose --up --namespace linkly --file worker-compose.yaml

On this first start, the configuration worker creates config/state.yaml and config/http.yaml from each Compose container’s defaults and config_override. From here on, edit a worker’s settings in its config/<worker>.yaml file; the worker hot-reloads supported changes.

Make the in-memory store explicit

Now that Compose generated config/state.yaml, open it. The config_override you declared is present under value:

config/state.yaml

id: state
name: State
value:
  triggers_enabled: true
  adapter:
    name: kv
    config:
      store_method: in_memory

Because the store is in-memory, every restart clears the data. That’s fine here; Chapter 3 swaps in durable storage.

Register the worker

Keep the engine/Compose terminal open. From another terminal at the root linkly directory, add the local link worker. The -n flag is the documented short form of --namespace for iii trigger:

iii trigger -n linkly compose::add worker=./link

On the Compose/engine output you will see the link worker register link::create and link::resolve. The output will look something like this:

[11:54:47.597 AM] [INFO] iii::worker_connections Worker registered
    ├ worker_id: adf46954-461e-450c-961f-ed6fe0cc1e31
    └ ip_address: Some("127.0.0.1")
[11:54:47.609 AM] [INFO] iii::function [REGISTERED] Function link::create
[11:54:47.609 AM] [INFO] iii::function [REGISTERED] Function link::resolve
[11:54:47.697 AM] [INFO] iii-node link worker ready

Call the functions

iii trigger invokes a function on the running engine. Create a link with a custom code:

iii trigger -n linkly link::create url=https://iii.dev code=iii

{
  "code": "iii",
  "url": "https://iii.dev"
}

Resolve it back:

iii trigger -n linkly link::resolve code=iii

{
  "url": "https://iii.dev"
}

An unknown code resolves to null:

iii trigger -n linkly link::resolve code=nope

{
  "url": null
}

You have a working domain worker. link::create and link::resolve are registered with the engine and callable from anywhere within your iii system. Next let’s put them behind HTTP so that external 3rd party systems could use them.

As you’ll see later, unless you’re supporting 3rd party systems it isn’t necessary to expose services over http since iii can even run browser tabs as workers.

Expose your functions over HTTP

A function becomes an HTTP endpoint when you bind it to an http trigger. That trigger type is served by the http worker you added at the start of the chapter.

Create a function to handle new links

Add http::create to the bottom of link/src/index.ts. It validates the request body, calls link::create through the engine with worker.trigger, and returns the new link:

src/index.ts

worker.registerFunction("http::create", async (req) => {
  const { url, code } = req.body ?? {};
  if (!url) {
    return {
      status_code: 400,
      body: { error: 'missing "url"' },
      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
    };
  }
  const link = await worker.trigger<{ url: string; code?: string }, { code: string; url: string }>({
    function_id: "link::create",
    payload: { url, code },
  });
  return {
    status_code: 201,
    body: link,
    headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  };
});

Bind your create function to a Trigger

In the same file (link/src/index.ts) at the end bind http::create to POST /links with a new trigger. This Trigger has the http worker listen for POST requests to /links and when it receives one it will run the function specified by function_id.

src/index.ts

worker.registerTrigger({
  type: "http",
  function_id: "http::create",
  config: { api_path: "/links", http_method: "POST" },
});

This is the first Trigger you’ve registered yourself. In iii, Triggers control what causes something to happen. In this case an http request causes a function to run. Learn more about Using iii / Triggers.

Every function registered comes with its own Trigger which is why worker.trigger worked earlier without a declaration.

Mint a link over HTTP

Save the file and the worker reloads with the new route registered. In this project, config/http.yaml configures the http container to listen on 127.0.0.1:3111. This Compose setup does not start a separate in-process engine HTTP server. The http container provides the project HTTP API and owns the route below. Now try out your new Trigger:

curl -i -X POST http://127.0.0.1:3111/links \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url":"https://example.com","code":"demo"}'

HTTP/1.1 201 Created
content-type: application/json

{"code":"demo","url":"https://example.com"}

The link sits in state now, but GET /s/demo has nowhere to go yet. There’s no handler; add one next.

Create a function to handle redirects

Add http::redirect to the bottom of link/src/index.ts. It looks up the short code via link::resolve, returns a 404 when there’s no match, and a 302 to the original URL otherwise:

src/index.ts

worker.registerFunction("http::redirect", async (req) => {
  const code = req.path_params.code;
  const { url } = await worker.trigger<{ code: string }, { url: string | null }>({
    function_id: "link::resolve",
    payload: { code },
  });
  if (!url) {
    return {
      status_code: 404,
      body: { error: "link not found" },
      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
    };
  }
  return { status_code: 302, headers: { Location: url } };
});

Bind your redirect function to a Trigger

Like before, bind http::redirect to GET /s/:code with a new Trigger:

src/index.ts

worker.registerTrigger({
  type: "http",
  function_id: "http::redirect",
  config: { api_path: "/s/:code", http_method: "GET" },
});

Follow the short code

state is in-memory in this chapter, so each time the engine restarts the previous link is gone. Chapter 3 swaps in durable storage. For now create a fresh link and try it out:

curl -i -X POST http://127.0.0.1:3111/links \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"url":"http://iii.dev/docs/understanding-iii","code":"learn-iii"}'

curl -i http://127.0.0.1:3111/s/learn-iii

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
location: http://iii.dev/docs/understanding-iii

An unknown code returns 404:

curl -i http://127.0.0.1:3111/s/missing

HTTP/1.1 404 Not Found

{"error":"link not found"}

Conclusion

You have built a real link shortener: a domain worker exposed over HTTP, where the same link::create and link::resolve functions serve both the command line and the web. Restarting the engine still clears every link, though: state is in-memory until Chapter 3 swaps it for durable storage. Next, in Ch. 2: Observe everything, you will add logs and traces and watch invocations flow through the engine in the console.

​Create the project

​Add the workers you’ll need

​Create the link worker

​Configure the entrypoints

​Write the worker entry point

​Open the connection to the engine

​Add link::create

​Add link::resolve

​Start the engine

​Make the in-memory store explicit

​Register the worker

​Call the functions

​Expose your functions over HTTP

​Create a function to handle new links

​Bind your create function to a Trigger

​Mint a link over HTTP

​Create a function to handle redirects

​Bind your redirect function to a Trigger

​Follow the short code

​Conclusion

Create the project

Add the workers you’ll need

Create the link worker

Configure the entrypoints

Write the worker entry point

Open the connection to the engine

Add `link::create`

Add `link::resolve`

Start the engine

Make the in-memory store explicit

Register the worker

Call the functions

Expose your functions over HTTP

Create a function to handle new links

Bind your create function to a Trigger

Mint a link over HTTP

Create a function to handle redirects

Bind your redirect function to a Trigger

Follow the short code

Conclusion