Your personal web library.
Save links instantly with titles, notes & tags — then find them in seconds.
Brainly is a clean, fast, personal link manager built for people who are tired of messy browser bookmarks.
No bloat. No unnecessary features.
Just:
- Save a link
- Add a note
- Tag it
- Find it later instantly
Think of it as your private version of Raindrop.io — but simpler, faster, and fully yours.
- 🔖 Save links with title, URL, description/notes, and tags
- 🏷️ Tag-based filtering — click any tag to filter instantly
- 🔍 Full-text search — search by title, URL, or notes
- ✏️ Edit & delete saved links
- 🎨 Color-coded tags — automatically assigned consistent colors
- 📱 Fully responsive UI — works on mobile, tablet, and desktop
- 🔐 JWT Authentication — secure and private
- 🚀 Deployed on Vercel + Render — accessible from anywhere
| Layer | Technology |
|---|---|
| Frontend | React + Vite |
| Backend | Node.js + Express |
| Database | MongoDB Atlas |
| Authentication | JWT (JSON Web Tokens) |
| Styling | Pure CSS with custom properties |
| Fonts | Plus Jakarta Sans + Syne |
| Deployment | Vercel (Frontend) + Railway (Backend) |
Make sure you have:
- Node.js v18+
- MongoDB Atlas account (Free tier works)
- Git
git clone https://github.com/0xdanyal/brainly.git
cd brainly
cd backend
npm install
Create a .env file inside backend/ and add:
MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://youruser:yourpassword@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net/linkstash?retryWrites=true&w=majority
JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_key_here
PORT=3000
Start the backend server:
npm run dev
You should see:
Server running on port 3000
MongoDB connected
3️⃣ Setup Frontend
cd ../frontend
npm install
Create a .env file inside frontend/ and add:
VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:3000/api
Run the frontend:
npm run dev
Open in your browser:
http://localhost:5173
👨💻 Author
Muhammad Danyal
Built because existing bookmark managers felt too complicated and bloated.
📄 License
MIT License — free to use, modify, and distribute.