Corefinder - Interactive Digital Business Card 🎨

A sophisticated Python CLI application that generates a beautiful ASCII art digital business card with interactive URL shortening and clickable hyperlinks.

🌟 Key Features

✨ Interactive Elements

• Smart URL Shortening: Automatically converts long URLs to cf.link branded short links
• Terminal Hyperlinks: URLs are clickable in modern terminals while showing branded domains
• Progress Bar Interface: Professional countdown display with real-time server status
• Background HTTP Server: Seamless redirect handling for shortened URLs

🔧 Technical Excellence

• Zero External Dependencies: Uses only Python standard library
• Cross-Platform: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux
• Thread-Safe: Concurrent URL shortening with SQLite backend
• Production Ready: Professional error handling and graceful degradation

🚀 Quick Start

Install from PyPI (Recommended)

pip install --user corefinder
corefinder

Development Installation

git clone https://github.com/Corefinder89/corefinder.git
cd corefinder
pip install --use-feature=in-tree-build .
corefinder

Direct Execution

python -m app

💻 CLI Commands

corefinder                    # Display interactive business card
corefinder --daemon          # Run with persistent server
corefinder --version         # Show version information  
corefinder --help           # Display help

🏗️ Architecture Overview

Core Components

corefinder/
├── app/
│   ├── main.py              # CLI & application orchestration
│   ├── card.py              # ASCII art generator
│   └── url_shortener.py     # HTTP server & URL management
├── tests/                   # Test suite
│   ├── debug_shortener.py   # URL shortener debugging
│   ├── test_redirect.py     # HTTP redirect testing
│   └── test_main.py         # Main application tests
└── documentation/           # Technical documentation

URL Shortening System Architecture

The URL shortener creates professional branded links while maintaining full functionality through three core components:

1. SQLite Database Storage (url_shortener.db)
2. HTTP Redirect Server (runs on localhost:8888+)
3. Terminal Hyperlink Generation

🔧 How URL Shortening Works

Smart URL Mapping Process

# 1. Original URL
original_url = "https://www.linkedin.com/in/soumyajit-basu/"

# 2. Generate unique short code
short_code = "a3Kx9P"  # 6-character alphanumeric (62^6 combinations)

# 3. Store in SQLite database
CREATE TABLE urls (
    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
    original_url TEXT NOT NULL,
    short_code TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE
)

# 4. Create terminal hyperlink
display_url = "http://cf.link/a3Kx9P"        # What user sees
working_url = "http://localhost:8888/a3Kx9P"  # Actual redirect URL

Terminal Hyperlinks with ANSI Escape Sequences

Creates clickable links using ANSI escape sequences:

f"\033]8;;{working_url}\033\\{display_url}\033]8;;\033\\"

Result: User sees branded cf.link/a3Kx9P but clicks open the original LinkedIn URL.

HTTP Redirect Flow

1. User clicks: Terminal displays cf.link/a3Kx9P
2. Terminal opens: localhost:8888/a3Kx9P
3. Server extracts: Short code a3Kx9P
4. Database lookup: Returns original LinkedIn URL
5. HTTP 302 redirect: Browser opens original destination
6. Final result: User reaches LinkedIn profile

Automatic Port Management

• Primary port: 8888
• Fallback ports: 8889, 8890, 9000-9002
• Intelligent selection: Automatically finds available port

🛠️ Development Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.6+
• pip package manager

Local Development

git clone https://github.com/Corefinder89/corefinder.git
cd corefinder

# Set up virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux
# .venv\Scripts\activate   # Windows

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

# Run application
python -m app

Building for Distribution

Using Makefile (Unix/Linux/macOS)

make clean      # Clean previous builds
make build      # Build package
make publish    # Publish to PyPI

Manual Build (All Platforms)

# Clean previous builds
rm -rf build/ dist/ *.egg-info/

# Build package
python -m pip install --upgrade build
python -m build

# Publish to PyPI
python -m twine upload dist/*

Development Workflow

# 1. Make changes to code
# 2. Test quickly
python -m app

# 3. Rebuild package
pip install -e . --force-reinstall

# 4. Test CLI
corefinder

🌟 Advanced Features

Terminal Compatibility

✅ Supported Terminals:

• Windows Terminal
• VS Code Terminal
• iTerm2 (macOS)
• GNOME Terminal

❌ Unsupported Terminals:

• Old Windows Command Prompt
• Basic terminal emulators

Fallback: Shows display text as regular text in unsupported terminals.

Server Operation Modes

• Standard Mode: 60-second runtime with progress visualization
• Daemon Mode: Persistent server for continuous operation

Database Features

• Thread-safe: SQLite with concurrent access handling
• Collision prevention: Automatic uniqueness checking for short codes
• Scalability: Handles millions of URL records efficiently

📊 Performance Characteristics

• Memory: ~5-10MB typical usage
• CPU: Minimal (I/O bound operations)
• Storage: SQLite database scales with URL count
• Network: Single port HTTP server with fallback
• Thread Safety: Full thread-safe implementation

🧪 Testing

# Run all tests
python -m pytest tests/

# Debug URL shortener specifically
python tests/debug_shortener.py

# Test HTTP redirects
python tests/test_redirect.py

# Test main application
python tests/test_main.py

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Module not found errors:

pip install --use-feature=in-tree-build . --force-reinstall

Server port conflicts:

• URL shortener automatically tries alternative ports (8888-9002)

Changes not reflected:

pip install --use-feature=in-tree-build . --force-reinstall
corefinder

Unicode/encoding errors during installation:

# Ensure setup.py reads files with UTF-8 encoding
with open('README.md', encoding='utf-8') as f:
    long_description = f.read()

🤝 Contributing

Development Process

1. Fork the repository
2. Create feature branch: git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature
3. Commit changes: git commit -m 'Add amazing feature'
4. Push to branch: git push origin feature/amazing-feature
5. Open Pull Request

Code Standards

• Follow PEP 8 style guidelines
• Add tests for new functionality
• Update documentation for API changes
• Use type hints where appropriate

Testing Requirements

• All tests must pass
• New features require corresponding tests
• Maintain or improve code coverage

🚀 Future Enhancements

Planned Features

• Custom domain configuration
• URL analytics and click tracking
• RESTful API for programmatic access
• Web interface for URL management
• Theme customization for ASCII art

Technical Improvements

• Async HTTP server for better performance
• Configuration file support
• Plugin system for extensibility
• Docker containerization

📞 Contact & Support

• Author: Soumyajit Basu (@Corefinder89)
• GitHub: github.com/Corefinder89
• Email: soumyajit.basu62@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: soumyajit-basu-5a783886

Support Channels

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Discussions: GitHub Discussions

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

📝 Changelog

Version 1.2.7 (2025-10-02)

• ✨ Added Smart URL Shortening with cf.link branding
• 🔗 Terminal Hyperlinks for clickable URLs in modern terminals
• 📊 Progress Bar Interface with real-time countdown
• 🔄 Daemon Mode for persistent server operation
• 🌐 HTTP Server with automatic port fallback
• 📚 Enhanced Documentation with architecture overview

Version 1.1.7

• 🎨 Initial ASCII art business card display
• 💻 Basic CLI interface with help and version flags
• 📋 Personal and professional information display

🌟 Show Your Support

If you find this project useful:

• ⭐ Star the repository
• 🐛 Report bugs or issues
• 💡 Suggest new features
• 🤝 Contribute to the codebase
• 📢 Share with others

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Made with ❤️ by Soumyajit Basu