Sometimes you just need to get a link from one place to another, and the most convenient method of transport is your memory. Links like http://bit.ly/1loNbfX/ are short, but they’re very impractical to remember.
Instead of random number-and-letter links, kikl.co creates fun and memorable URLs like kikl.co/fat-walrus, perfect for remembering, sharing by word of mouth, and typing easily.
Links are automatically generated and short-lived by design; they last between 24 hours and 7 days. This allows kikl.co to keep reusing really short and memorable URLs without tying fat-walrus to a single URL forever.
The app contains some involved SQL queries like this one to efficiently select random words while maintaining unique adjective-noun combinations for active links.
I originally built kikl.co in 2014 with a jQuery frontend. In 2024, I significantly refactored the app to simplify the code, improve the API, and update to a modern frontend stack using Vue.js and Tailwind CSS.