DevOps Trainee — Take-Home Assignment

Overview

This is a small URL shortener API built with FastAPI, running behind NGINX, and using Redis for storage. Everything runs in Docker.

There are 3 tasks below. Complete all of them and submit your repo.

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Getting Started

# Clone your repo (created from this template)
git clone <your-repo-url>
cd devops-trainee-assignment

# Start the project
docker compose up --build

The app should be accessible at http://localhost:8080

API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/shorten	Shorten a URL. Body: {"url": "https://example.com"}
GET	/{short_code}	Redirect to original URL
GET	/stats/{short_code}	Get click stats for a short URL

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Tasks

Task 1: Add a Health Check

The project needs a proper health check endpoint for monitoring.

Requirements:

• Add a GET /health endpoint to the API
• It should return: service status, uptime (how long the app has been running), and whether Redis is reachable or not
• Configure Docker to use this endpoint to determine if the container is healthy
• The health check should fail if Redis is not reachable

Deliverable: Working endpoint + Docker healthcheck configured

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Task 2: Fix the Staging Environment

This app runs in two environments: dev and staging. The dev environment works fine (you just tested it). Now you need to get staging working.

To switch to staging:

docker compose --env-file .env.staging up --build

It breaks. Your job is to figure out why and fix it.

There may be more than one issue. Make sure the app works correctly in staging mode.

Deliverable: Working staging environment + document what was wrong in SOLUTIONS.md

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Task 3: Investigate Last Night's Incident

Users reported the API was slow last night between 2:00 AM and 2:45 AM. The app recovered on its own after that.

A log file from that period is available at logs/incident.log.

Investigate the logs and write an incident report.

Deliverable: INCIDENT.md with your analysis (template provided below)

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Submission Requirements

1. Git Commits

• Work in git. Commit as you go. Don't squash.
• Write meaningful commit messages.
• We will review your git history.

2. SOLUTIONS.md

For each ticket, write:

• What you found — what was the issue?
• What you did — how did you fix it?
• Why — why was it broken in the first place?

3. INCIDENT.md

Use this template:

## What happened
(Brief summary)

## Timeline
(What you observed in the logs, with timestamps)

## Root cause
(Why did this happen?)

## Impact
(What was the effect on users?)

## How to prevent this in the future
(What monitoring, alerts, or changes would catch this early?)

4. Production Readiness (Open-ended)

At the bottom of your SOLUTIONS.md, answer this:

"If this project had to run in production serving real users, what are 3 things you'd change or add? Just list them with one line each."

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Rules

• Google is your teammate. Use it freely.
• Don't change things that already work. If dev mode works, it should still work after your changes.
• Time limit: 48 hours from when you receive this.
• Everything you need is in this repo. There are no hidden tricks.

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Good luck.