diff --git a/laravel/app/Http/Controllers/ShortlinkController.php b/laravel/app/Http/Controllers/ShortlinkController.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cf2b632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/laravel/app/Http/Controllers/ShortlinkController.php
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Http\Controllers;
+
+use Illuminate\Http\Request;
+use App\Models\Shortlink;
+
+class ShortlinkController extends Controller
+{
+    public function create(Request $request) {
+        if (auth()->user() == null) {
+            return response()->json(['error' => 'Unauthorized'], 401);
+        }
+
+        try {
+            $request->validate([
+                'url' => 'required|url'
+            ]);
+    
+            //check if url returns 200 at its final redirect
+
+            $shortlink = new Shortlink();
+            $shortlink->create($request->url, auth()->id());
+            return redirect("/l/{$shortlink->shortid}");
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            return back()->withErrors([
+                'error' => $e->getMessage()
+            ]);
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    public function goto(Request $request, $id) {
+        try {
+            $shortlink = (new Shortlink())->get($id);
+            // check if the link is expired or if it has reached the max clicks
+            // log the interaction
+            return redirect($shortlink->destination);
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            return response()->json(['error' => $e->getMessage()], 404);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/laravel/app/Models/Shortlink.php b/laravel/app/Models/Shortlink.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe5fe02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/laravel/app/Models/Shortlink.php
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Models;
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
+
+class Shortlink extends Model
+{
+    use HasFactory;
+
+    protected $fillable = [
+        'shortid',
+        'destination',
+        'user_id',
+        'max_clicks',
+        'expires_at',
+    ];
+
+    public function create(string $url, int $user_id): Shortlink {
+        $this->shortid = $this->generateNewId();
+        $this->destination = $url;
+        $this->user_id = $user_id;
+        $this->max_clicks = 0;
+        $this->expires_at = null;
+        $this->save();
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function get(string $id): Shortlink {
+        $shortlink = Shortlink::where('shortid', $id)->first();
+        if ($shortlink == null) {
+            throw new \Exception('This shortened link does not exist');
+        }
+        return $shortlink;
+    }
+
+    public function delete(): void {
+        Shortlink::where('shortid', $this->id)->delete();
+    }
+
+    public function modify(int $max_clicks, $expires_at): void {
+        $this->max_clicks = $max_clicks;
+        $this->expires_at = $expires_at;
+        $this->save();
+    }
+
+    function generateNewId(int $length = 6): string {
+        $characters = 'qwrtypsdfghjklzxcvbnmQWRTYPSDFGHJKLZXCVBNM256789_';
+        // try n x 2 times to generate a new id, if it finds an id, return it, otherwise, try to look for an id of length + 1
+        for ($i = 0; $i < $length * 2; $i++) {
+            $id = '';
+            for ($i = 0; $i < $length; $i++) {
+                $id .= $characters[rand(0, strlen($characters) - 1)];
+            }
+            if (Shortlink::where('shortid', $id)->count() == 0) {
+                return $id;
+            }
+        }
+        return $this->generateNewId($length + 1);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/laravel/database/migrations/2024_06_10_010339_create_shortlinks_table.php b/laravel/database/migrations/2024_06_10_010339_create_shortlinks_table.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a43a2ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/laravel/database/migrations/2024_06_10_010339_create_shortlinks_table.php
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    /**
+     * Run the migrations.
+     */
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        Schema::create('shortlinks', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->string('shortid')->unique()->primary();
+            $table->string('destination');
+            $table->foreignId('user_id')->references('id')->on('users');
+            $table->integer('max_clicks')->default(0);
+            $table->timestamp('expires_at')->nullable();
+            $table->timestamps();
+        });
+
+        Schema::create('link_interactions', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->id();
+            $table->string('link');
+            $table->foreign('link')->references('shortid')->on('shortlinks');
+            $table->string('ip');
+            $table->timestamps();
+        });
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Reverse the migrations.
+     */
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::dropIfExists('shortlinks');
+        Schema::dropIfExists('link_interactions');
+    }
+};
diff --git a/laravel/public/css/default.css b/laravel/public/css/default.css
index b960761..4df7210 100644
--- a/laravel/public/css/default.css
+++ b/laravel/public/css/default.css
@@ -120,4 +120,45 @@ header nav a {
     background: #ff000028;
     border-radius: 5px;
     padding: 10px;
+}
+
+#shortener-container {
+    display: flex;
+    flex-direction: column;
+    align-items: center;
+    padding: 60px 50px;
+    background-color: var(--primary);
+    width: calc(100% - 100px);
+    gap: 40px;
+}
+
+#shortener-container h1 {
+    font-size: 2.5em;
+    color: white;
+}
+
+#shortener-container input {
+    color: black;
+    background-color: #fff;
+    border-radius: 5px;
+    font-size: 1.3em;
+    margin-bottom: 20px;
+    padding: 10px;
+    border: 0;
+    width: 600px;
+    box-shadow: 2px 2px 5px 0 #0004;
+}
+
+#shortener-container button {
+    font-size: 1.3em;
+    padding: 10px 20px;
+    border: none;
+    border-radius: 5px;
+    color: white;
+    box-shadow: 2px 2px 5px 0 #0004;
+    background-color: var(--foreground);
+}
+
+#shortener-container input::placeholder {
+    color: #aaa;
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/laravel/resources/views/home.blade.php b/laravel/resources/views/home.blade.php
index 9c42834..af4752e 100644
--- a/laravel/resources/views/home.blade.php
+++ b/laravel/resources/views/home.blade.php
@@ -5,6 +5,21 @@
 @endsection
 
 @section('content')
-    <h1>HOMEPAGE!</h1>
-    <p>Placeholder text</p>
+    <div id="shortener-container">
+        @if (auth()->check())
+            <h1>Shorten your URL</h1>
+            <form action="shorten" method="post">
+                @csrf
+                <input type="text" name="url" placeholder="Enter your URL here" required>
+                <button type="submit">Shorten</button>
+            </form>
+            @if ($errors->any())
+                <p class="error">{{ $errors->first() }}</p>
+            @endif
+        @else
+            <h1>Welcome to slink URL Shortener</h1>
+            <p><a href="register">Sign Up</a> or <a href="login">Log In</a> to shorten your URLs</p>
+        @endif
+    </div>
+
 @endsection
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/laravel/routes/web.php b/laravel/routes/web.php
index 2995aec..10f8713 100644
--- a/laravel/routes/web.php
+++ b/laravel/routes/web.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
 use App\Http\Controllers\RegisterController;
 use App\Http\Controllers\LoginController;
+use App\Http\Controllers\ShortlinkController;
 
 Route::get('/', function () {
     return view('welcome');
@@ -43,4 +44,10 @@ Route::get('/home', function () {
         return view('home');
     }
     return view('home');
-});
\ No newline at end of file
+});
+
+Route::post('/shorten', [ShortlinkController::class, 'create']);
+
+// Route::get('/l/{id}', );
+
+Route::get('/{id}', [ShortlinkController::class, 'goto']);
\ No newline at end of file