Smart Link Intelligence

It started as a URL Shortener... and somehow became much bigger.

The original plan was simple: “Let's build a URL shortener.”

Then one feature became two. Two became five. Before I knew it, we had notes sharing, student utilities, authentication, dashboards... basically anything that sounded interesting got added.

Classic developer behavior. 🚀

AI was everywhere. I wanted to try EVERYTHING.

This was around the time when Kiro had just launched, Gemini CLI was trending, and every week a new AI coding tool was dropping.

So naturally... I collected them like Infinity Stones. 💎😂

I genuinely felt like Doctor Strange with all five Infinity Stones in my hands.

“Bro, I can build anything with this AI stuff.” 😭

And to be fair... it actually built a lot.

This project also taught me GitHub.

Before this project, collaboration meant:

“Bro, send me the ZIP file.”

That's it. 😭

This was the first time GitHub actually made sense. We started working with:

• Feature branches 🌿
• Proper commits
• Pull Requests
• Code reviews
• Merge conflicts (yes... painful memories 😂)

It felt like we were finally building software the “real developer” way.

We actually launched it.

The funniest part?

We didn't keep it as a college submission.

We launched it for students, shared it around campus, and people actually started using it for notes, links, and other resources.

Seeing strangers use something I built was a completely different feeling. ❤️

The plot twist...

Now comes the honest part.

This project was heavily vibe coded.

I knew how to use the app.

I knew how to ask AI.

But I didn't really know how the code worked.

Sounds dumb? Yeah... I know. 😅

I was in Semester 3, exploring everything at once, and AI was doing way too much of the heavy lifting.

The biggest lesson I took away

This project completely changed how I look at AI.

I realized AI is an incredible companion, but a terrible replacement for understanding fundamentals.

After this project, I started rebuilding things myself, reading documentation, understanding architecture, Git workflows, backend logic, and blockchain internals instead of just accepting AI-generated code.

And honestly... I'm glad this project happened exactly this way.

Because it wasn't just my first project.

It was the project that taught me how I want to build software from now on. 💛

Wait... the story doesn't end there. 😭❤️

A few weeks later, I got an opportunity to present this project at Innovation Village in my college.

I must have pitched it to 100+ people that day — students, professors, founders, and visitors.

The funny thing is... I never felt tired.

I was literally enjoying explaining the project over and over again. Every new person meant a new conversation, new questions, and another chance to show what we had built.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

One founder walked up to me after the pitch, appreciated the project, handed me his visiting card, and simply said:

“Come meet me personally.”

I remember looking at that card thinking... “Wait, did this actually happen?” 😅

My first internship started because of this project.

I went for the meeting, went through the process, and eventually received my first internship offer.

That company was Tezi App. 🚀

Looking back, it's crazy that a Semester 3 project — the same one that was heavily vibe coded — became the reason I got my first real opportunity in tech.

I'll always be grateful to Krishna Sir and the entire Team Tezi for believing in me before I had much experience.

Sometimes one project changes much more than just your GitHub profile.

It changes your journey. ❤️