Feature request: Support built-in go/ short links for service aliases #128

New Issue

adam · 2025-12-29T09:23:29+01:00

adam commented

2025-12-29 09:23:29 +01:00

Originally created by @henryxrl on GitHub (Dec 22, 2025).

Sorry for another feature request — but this really shows how much I enjoy and rely on GoDoxy. Thanks again for this great project ❤️

I’d like to propose adding built-in golink (shortlink) support to GoDoxy, for example:

go/service
gd/service (stands for GoDoxy)
or a customizable prefix

that redirects to an existing GoDoxy route.

Background

The concept of go/ links originated at Google and has since been widely adopted by large tech companies such as Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Square, and many others.

A go link is a short, human-friendly keyword (e.g. go/docs) that can be typed directly into the browser to access internal services or resources quickly. It significantly reduces cognitive load compared to remembering full domains, subdomains, or ports.

Some well-known implementations include:

Why GoDoxy Is a Perfect Fit

Implementing go/ links at the reverse-proxy layer makes them:

global (work for all services)
service-agnostic
centrally managed
independent of application logic
automatically derived from existing routes and aliases, requiring no manual per-service setup

For homelab and self-hosted environments, this is especially valuable.
GoDoxy already has:

service discovery
aliases
routing
homepage metadata

Adding go/ links would be a very natural extension of existing concepts like proxy.aliases.

Suggested Behavior (Example)

If a service is defined with aliases such as:

proxy.aliases=git, git-backend

or

proxy.aliases=git2.example2.com

where:

git / git-backend are short aliases
git2.example2.com is an explicit domain alias (useful when the default domain would otherwise be git2.example1.com),

then GoDoxy could automatically support short links like:

https://go/git
https://go/git-backend
https://go/git2

(or a configurable prefix such as /go/, /gd/),

which redirect (302 or 307) to the correct canonical URL for that alias.

This allows:

disambiguation between multiple domains
explicit control when a service should resolve to a non-default domain
reuse of existing proxy.aliases semantics without additional configuration

Optional Ideas (Not Required)

Configurable prefix (go, gd, etc.)
Optional UI page listing all go/ links
Reuse existing alias metadata (no new config required)

Happy to help test or iterate on the design if this sounds interesting!

Originally created by @henryxrl on GitHub (Dec 22, 2025). Sorry for another feature request — but this really shows how much I enjoy and rely on GoDoxy. Thanks again for this great project ❤️ I’d like to propose adding built-in golink (shortlink) support to GoDoxy, for example: - `go/service` - `gd/service` (stands for GoDoxy) - or a customizable prefix that redirects to an existing GoDoxy route. --- ### Background The concept of `go/` links originated at Google and has since been widely adopted by large tech companies such as Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, Square, and many others. A go link is a short, human-friendly keyword (e.g. `go/docs`) that can be typed directly into the browser to access internal services or resources quickly. It significantly reduces cognitive load compared to remembering full domains, subdomains, or ports. Some well-known implementations include: - [GoLinks® – Knowledge Discovery & Link Management Platform](https://www.golinks.io/) - [Trotto – Open-Source Go Links](https://www.trot.to/) - [tailscale/golink – A private shortlink service for tailnets](https://github.com/tailscale/golink) --- ### Why GoDoxy Is a Perfect Fit Implementing `go/` links at the reverse-proxy layer makes them: - global (work for all services) - service-agnostic - centrally managed - independent of application logic - **automatically derived from existing routes and aliases, requiring no manual per-service setup** For homelab and self-hosted environments, this is especially valuable. GoDoxy already has: - service discovery - aliases - routing - homepage metadata Adding `go/` links would be a very natural extension of existing concepts like `proxy.aliases`. --- ### Suggested Behavior (Example) If a service is defined with aliases such as: ```text proxy.aliases=git, git-backend ``` or ```text proxy.aliases=git2.example2.com ``` where: - `git` / `git-backend` are short aliases - `git2.example2.com` is an explicit domain alias (useful when the default domain would otherwise be `git2.example1.com`), then GoDoxy could automatically support short links like: - `https://go/git` - `https://go/git-backend` - `https://go/git2` (or a configurable prefix such as `/go/`, `/gd/`), which redirect (302 or 307) to the correct canonical URL for that alias. This allows: - disambiguation between multiple domains - explicit control when a service should resolve to a non-default domain - reuse of existing proxy.aliases semantics without additional configuration --- Optional Ideas (Not Required) - Configurable prefix (`go`, `gd`, etc.) - Optional UI page listing all `go/` links - Reuse existing alias metadata (no new config required) --- Happy to help test or iterate on the design if this sounds interesting!

adam referenced this issue

2025-12-29 09:23:45 +01:00

[PR #128] [CLOSED] AWS Route53 autocert example #169

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