Share Your Web App State via URL — No Backend Required

Ever wanted users to share their exact setup in your web tool — without a database, accounts, or server? Here's a pattern I use in my tools: encode the entire app state into the URL . One click, one link, fully restored. The Problem You build a client-side tool. Users configure settings, enter data, tweak options. Then they want to share their exact configuration with a teammate. Traditional solution: database + user accounts + share endpoints. That's a whole backend for one feature. The Solution: URL State Encoding function shareURL () { // Collect current state const state = { groups : getKeywordGroups (), match : currentMatchType , separator : document . getElementById ( " separator " ). value }; // Encode as base64 URL parameter const encoded = btoa ( JSON . stringify ( state )); const url = ` ${ location . origin }${ location . pathname } ?q= ${ encoded } ` ; navigator . clipboard . writeText ( url ). then (() => { showToast ( " Shareable link copied! " ); }); } On page load, chec