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+MIT License
+
+Copyright (c) 2025 Shay Patel
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
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+![Screenshot #1 - Homepage](screenshots/HomePage.png)
+
+# Halflink
+
+A primitive URL shortener service built powered by Spring Boot, with a NextJS frontend.
+
+## Tech Stack
+
+- **Backend**: Spring Boot (Java)
+- **Database**: PostgreSQL
+- **Frontend**: React (NextJS) with TypeScript
+
+## Architecture
+
+The application follows a three-tier architecture:
+
+- **Presentation Layer**: React-based frontend for URL management
+- **Application Layer**: Express.js API server handling business logic
+- **Data Layer**: PostgreSQL for URL mappings, interacted with via Spring Boot Data JPA
+
+## Getting Started
+
+### Prerequisites
+
+- Java (tested on OpenJDK 21.0.5)
+- Maven (tested on Apache Maven 3.6.3)
+- Node.js (v18 or higher, tested on v22.17.0)
+- PostgreSQL (v14 or higher, tested on psql 18.1)
+
+### Installation
+
+1. Clone the repository:
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/0xShay/halflink.git
+cd halflink
+```
+
+2. Configure database variables:
+```bash
+cd backend/src/main/resources
+# Edit application.properties with your database credentials
+```
+
+3. Build and start the backend server:
+```bash
+cd backend
+mvn package
+java -jar target/halflink-1.0.0.jar
+```
+
+4. Build and start the user interface:
+```bash
+cd frontend
+npm install
+npm run build
+npm start
+```
+
+The application will be available at `http://localhost:3000`
+
+![Screenshot #2 - Successful Shorten](screenshots/LinkShortened.png)
+![Screenshot #3 - Manage Link](screenshots/ManageLink.png)
+
+## License
+
+This project is open source and available [under the MIT License](LICENSE).
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