Quick Start

Get up and running with GoLink in under 2 minutes.

Quick Start Guide

Welcome to GoLink! This guide walks you through setting up an account, navigating the dashboard, and creating your very first shortened link.

1. Create an Account

Navigate to the GoLink Auth portal or sign up directly through the dashboard:

Sign up URL
https://auth.golink.buzz/auth/register

Or if you are running GoLink locally:

Local environment
http://auth.localhost:3000/auth/register

Fill in your name, email, and choose a secure password. GoLink uses Better Auth for secure session handling and encrypted credential storage.

Once registered, GoLink automatically provisions a default personal organization for you so you can start creating links immediately.

2. Navigate to the Console

After signing in, you will be redirected to the GoLink Console:

txt
https://app.golink.buzz/[your-organization-slug]

The console is your central hub for:

Viewing active and archived links
Creating new short URLs with custom slugs
Inspecting real-time analytics dashboards
Configuring custom branded domains
Managing organization members and invite links

3. Create Your First Link

Click on the "New Link" button in the dashboard or press the shortcut key.

Fill in the link creation form:

Field	Description	Example
Destination URL	The full target web address you want to shorten	`https://github.com/sudhucodes/golink`
Domain	The domain to use for the short link	`go.golink.buzz` or your custom domain
Short Slug	The custom keyword or alias (leave blank for random)	`repo`

Click Create Link. Your shortened link will be ready instantly:

Your Short Link
https://go.golink.buzz/repo

4. Test the Redirection

Open a new browser tab or run a curl request to test your new link:

Test redirect
curl -I https://go.golink.buzz/repo

You will receive an HTTP 302 Found (or 301 Moved Permanently) status pointing directly to your destination URL with full tracking instrumentation enabled.

5. Check Live Analytics

Go back to your GoLink Console and click on your newly created link:

Total Clicks: The aggregate number of redirects served.
Unique Visitors: Distinct visitors deduplicated by fingerprint.
Geographic Location: Interactive world map and country breakdown.
Device & Browser: Categorization of Desktop, Mobile, and Tablet traffic.
Referrers & UTMs: Track campaign sources like Twitter, LinkedIn, Newsletter, or direct visits.

Automatic bot filtering is active by default. Common search engine bots and crawlers (such as Googlebot or Discordbot) are logged separately so your analytics reflect human traffic.

Next Steps

Last updated on October 20, 2026

Introduction