Use random string in ref link instead of tg ID

- Enable old links with tg id by default in .env with LEGACY_REFS=true

.env.example

@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ SUBSCRIPTION_NOTIFY_DAYS_BEFORE=3                                           # Da
 
 
 REFERRAL_ONE_BONUS_PER_REFEREE=False                                        # Give a bonus only once per referee
+LEGACY_REFS=true                                                            # Allow ref_<tg_id> links. Leave unset/true unless you want to disable old links
 # Referral Bonus Days
 # Bonus for the inviting user
 REFERRAL_BONUS_DAYS_1_MONTH=3

bot/handlers/inline_mode.py

@@ -38,7 +38,13 @@ async def inline_query_handler(inline_query: InlineQuery,
         # For all users: referral functionality
         if not query or "реф" in query or "ref" in query or "друг" in query or "friend" in query:
             referral_result = await create_referral_result(
-                inline_query, bot, referral_service, i18n, current_lang, settings
+                inline_query,
+                bot,
+                referral_service,
+                i18n,
+                current_lang,
+                settings,
+                session,
             )
             if referral_result:
                 results.append(referral_result)
@@ -67,9 +73,15 @@ async def inline_query_handler(inline_query: InlineQuery,
         await inline_query.answer(results=[], cache_time=10)
 
 
-async def create_referral_result(inline_query: InlineQuery, bot: Bot,
+async def create_referral_result(
-                                referral_service: ReferralService,
+    inline_query: InlineQuery,
-                                i18n_instance, lang: str, settings: Settings) -> Optional[InlineQueryResultArticle]:
+    bot: Bot,
+    referral_service: ReferralService,
+    i18n_instance,
+    lang: str,
+    settings: Settings,
+    session: AsyncSession,
+) -> Optional[InlineQueryResultArticle]:
     """Create referral link result for inline query"""
     _ = lambda key, **kwargs: i18n_instance.gettext(lang, key, **kwargs)
     
@@ -80,7 +92,13 @@ async def create_referral_result(inline_query: InlineQuery, bot: Bot,
             return None
         
         user_id = inline_query.from_user.id
-        referral_link = referral_service.generate_referral_link(bot_username, user_id)
+        referral_link = await referral_service.generate_referral_link(
+            session, bot_username, user_id
+        )
+
+        if not referral_link:
+            logging.warning("Could not produce referral link for inline user %s", user_id)
+            return None
         
         # Create message content (use same text as friend message)
         message_text = _(

bot/handlers/user/referral.py

@@ -60,8 +60,18 @@ async def referral_command_handler(event: Union[types.Message,
         return
 
     inviter_user_id = event.from_user.id
-    referral_link = referral_service.generate_referral_link(
+    referral_link = await referral_service.generate_referral_link(
-        bot_username, inviter_user_id)
+        session, bot_username, inviter_user_id)
+
+    if not referral_link:
+        logging.error(
+            "Failed to generate referral link for user %s (probably missing DB record).",
+            inviter_user_id,
+        )
+        await target_message_obj.answer(_("error_generating_referral_link"))
+        if isinstance(event, types.CallbackQuery):
+            await event.answer()
+        return
 
     bonus_info_parts = []
     if settings.subscription_options:
@@ -132,7 +142,16 @@ async def referral_action_handler(callback: types.CallbackQuery, settings: Setti
                 return
 
             inviter_user_id = callback.from_user.id
-            referral_link = referral_service.generate_referral_link(bot_username, inviter_user_id)
+            referral_link = await referral_service.generate_referral_link(
+                session, bot_username, inviter_user_id)
+
+            if not referral_link:
+                logging.error(
+                    "Failed to generate referral link for user %s via inline button.",
+                    inviter_user_id,
+                )
+                await callback.answer(_("error_generating_referral_link"), show_alert=True)
+                return
             
             friend_message = _("referral_friend_message", referral_link=referral_link)
             

bot/handlers/user/start.py

@@ -302,7 +302,7 @@ async def ensure_required_channel_subscription(
 
 
 @router.message(CommandStart())
-@router.message(CommandStart(magic=F.args.regexp(r"^ref_(\d+)$").as_("ref_match")))
+@router.message(CommandStart(magic=F.args.regexp(r"^ref_((?:[uU][A-Za-z0-9]{9})|(?:[A-Za-z0-9]{9})|\d+)$").as_("ref_match")))
 @router.message(CommandStart(magic=F.args.regexp(r"^promo_(\w+)$").as_("promo_match")))
 @router.message(CommandStart(magic=F.args.regexp(r"^(?!ref_|promo_)([A-Za-z0-9_\-]{2,64})$").as_("ad_param_match")))
 async def start_command_handler(message: types.Message,
@@ -328,9 +328,23 @@ async def start_command_handler(message: types.Message,
     ad_start_param: Optional[str] = None
 
     if ref_match:
-        potential_referrer_id = int(ref_match.group(1))
+        raw_ref_value = ref_match.group(1)
-        if await user_dal.get_user_by_id(session, potential_referrer_id):
+        if raw_ref_value.isdigit():
-            referred_by_user_id = potential_referrer_id
+            if settings.LEGACY_REFS:
+                potential_referrer_id = int(raw_ref_value)
+                if potential_referrer_id != user_id and await user_dal.get_user_by_id(
+                        session, potential_referrer_id):
+                    referred_by_user_id = potential_referrer_id
+        else:
+            normalized_code = raw_ref_value.strip()
+            if normalized_code and normalized_code[0].lower() == "u":
+                normalized_code = normalized_code[1:]
+            ref_user = None
+            if normalized_code:
+                ref_user = await user_dal.get_user_by_referral_code(
+                    session, normalized_code)
+            if ref_user and ref_user.user_id != user_id:
+                referred_by_user_id = ref_user.user_id
     elif promo_match:
         promo_code_to_apply = promo_match.group(1)
         logging.info(f"User {user_id} started with promo code: {promo_code_to_apply}")

bot/services/referral_service.py

@@ -257,9 +257,35 @@ class ReferralService:
 
             raise
 
-    def generate_referral_link(self, bot_username: str,
+    async def generate_referral_link(self, session: AsyncSession,
-                               inviter_user_id: int) -> str:
+                                     bot_username: str,
-        return f"https://t.me/{bot_username}?start=ref_{inviter_user_id}"
+                                     inviter_user_id: int) -> Optional[str]:
+        try:
+            user = await user_dal.get_user_by_id(session, inviter_user_id)
+            if not user:
+                logging.warning(
+                    "Unable to generate referral link: user %s not found.",
+                    inviter_user_id,
+                )
+                return None
+
+            referral_code = await user_dal.ensure_referral_code(session, user)
+            if not referral_code:
+                logging.warning(
+                    "User %s has no referral code even after regeneration attempt.",
+                    inviter_user_id,
+                )
+                return None
+
+            return f"https://t.me/{bot_username}?start=ref_u{referral_code}"
+        except Exception as exc:
+            logging.error(
+                "Failed to generate referral link for user %s: %s",
+                inviter_user_id,
+                exc,
+                exc_info=True,
+            )
+            return None
 
     async def get_referral_stats(self, session: AsyncSession, user_id: int) -> dict:
         """Get referral statistics for a user"""

config/settings.py

@@ -118,7 +118,11 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     # Referral program configuration
     REFERRAL_ONE_BONUS_PER_REFEREE: bool = Field(
         default=True,
-        description="When true, referral bonuses (for inviter and referee) are applied only once per invited user – on their first successful payment."
+        description="When true, referral bonuses (for inviter and referee) are applied only once per invited user - on their first successful payment."
+    )
+    LEGACY_REFS: bool = Field(
+        default=True,
+        description="Allow legacy referral links like ref_<telegram_id> to continue working. Defaults to True when unset."
     )
 
     PANEL_API_URL: Optional[str] = None

db/dal/user_dal.py

@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 import logging
+import secrets
+import string
 from typing import Optional, List, Dict, Any, Tuple
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 from sqlalchemy.future import select
@@ -18,6 +20,53 @@ from ..models import (
     AdAttribution,
 )
 
+REFERRAL_CODE_ALPHABET = string.ascii_uppercase + string.digits
+REFERRAL_CODE_LENGTH = 9
+MAX_REFERRAL_CODE_ATTEMPTS = 25
+
+
+def _generate_referral_code_candidate() -> str:
+    return "".join(
+        secrets.choice(REFERRAL_CODE_ALPHABET) for _ in range(REFERRAL_CODE_LENGTH)
+    )
+
+
+async def _referral_code_exists(session: AsyncSession, code: str) -> bool:
+    stmt = select(User.user_id).where(User.referral_code == code)
+    result = await session.execute(stmt)
+    return result.scalar_one_or_none() is not None
+
+
+async def generate_unique_referral_code(session: AsyncSession) -> str:
+    """
+    Generate a unique referral code consisting of uppercase alphanumeric characters.
+    Retries until a free code is found or raises RuntimeError after exceeding attempts.
+    """
+    for _ in range(MAX_REFERRAL_CODE_ATTEMPTS):
+        candidate = _generate_referral_code_candidate()
+        if not await _referral_code_exists(session, candidate):
+            return candidate
+    raise RuntimeError("Failed to generate a unique referral code after several attempts.")
+
+
+async def ensure_referral_code(session: AsyncSession, user: User) -> str:
+    """
+    Ensure the provided user has a referral code, generating and persisting it if missing.
+    Returns the existing or newly generated code.
+    """
+    if user.referral_code:
+        normalized = user.referral_code.strip().upper()
+        if normalized != user.referral_code:
+            user.referral_code = normalized
+            await session.flush()
+            await session.refresh(user)
+        return user.referral_code
+
+    user.referral_code = await generate_unique_referral_code(session)
+    await session.flush()
+    await session.refresh(user)
+    return user.referral_code
+
 
 async def get_user_by_id(session: AsyncSession, user_id: int) -> Optional[User]:
     stmt = select(User).where(User.user_id == user_id)
@@ -52,6 +101,11 @@ async def create_user(session: AsyncSession, user_data: Dict[str, Any]) -> Tuple
     if "registration_date" not in user_data:
         user_data["registration_date"] = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
 
+    if not user_data.get("referral_code"):
+        user_data["referral_code"] = await generate_unique_referral_code(session)
+    else:
+        user_data["referral_code"] = user_data["referral_code"].strip().upper()
+
     # Use PostgreSQL upsert to avoid IntegrityError on concurrent inserts
     stmt = (
         pg_insert(User)
@@ -80,6 +134,15 @@ async def create_user(session: AsyncSession, user_data: Dict[str, Any]) -> Tuple
     return user, created
 
 
+async def get_user_by_referral_code(session: AsyncSession, referral_code: str) -> Optional[User]:
+    normalized = referral_code.strip().upper()
+    if not normalized:
+        return None
+    stmt = select(User).where(User.referral_code == normalized)
+    result = await session.execute(stmt)
+    return result.scalar_one_or_none()
+
+
 async def update_user(
     session: AsyncSession, user_id: int, update_data: Dict[str, Any]
 ) -> Optional[User]:

db/migrator.py

@@ -48,12 +48,86 @@ def _migration_0001_add_channel_subscription_fields(connection: Connection) -> N
         connection.execute(text(stmt))
 
 
+def _migration_0002_add_referral_code(connection: Connection) -> None:
+    inspector = inspect(connection)
+    columns: Set[str] = {col["name"] for col in inspector.get_columns("users")}
+
+    if "referral_code" not in columns:
+        connection.execute(
+            text("ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN referral_code VARCHAR(16)")
+        )
+
+    connection.execute(
+        text(
+            """
+            WITH generated_codes AS (
+                SELECT
+                    user_id,
+                    UPPER(
+                        SUBSTRING(
+                            md5(
+                                user_id::text
+                                || clock_timestamp()::text
+                                || random()::text
+                            )
+                            FROM 1 FOR 9
+                        )
+                    ) AS referral_code
+                FROM users
+                WHERE referral_code IS NULL OR referral_code = ''
+            )
+            UPDATE users AS u
+            SET referral_code = g.referral_code
+            FROM generated_codes AS g
+            WHERE u.user_id = g.user_id
+            """
+        )
+    )
+
+    connection.execute(
+        text(
+            """
+            CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS uq_users_referral_code
+            ON users (referral_code)
+            WHERE referral_code IS NOT NULL
+            """
+        )
+    )
+
+
+def _migration_0003_normalize_referral_codes(connection: Connection) -> None:
+    inspector = inspect(connection)
+    columns: Set[str] = {col["name"] for col in inspector.get_columns("users")}
+    if "referral_code" not in columns:
+        return
+
+    connection.execute(
+        text(
+            """
+            UPDATE users
+            SET referral_code = UPPER(referral_code)
+            WHERE referral_code IS NOT NULL
+              AND referral_code <> UPPER(referral_code)
+            """
+        )
+    )
+
 MIGRATIONS: List[Migration] = [
     Migration(
         id="0001_add_channel_subscription_fields",
         description="Add columns to track required channel subscription verification",
         upgrade=_migration_0001_add_channel_subscription_fields,
     ),
+    Migration(
+        id="0002_add_referral_code",
+        description="Store short referral codes for users and backfill existing rows",
+        upgrade=_migration_0002_add_referral_code,
+    ),
+    Migration(
+        id="0003_normalize_referral_codes",
+        description="Normalize referral codes to uppercase for consistent lookups",
+        upgrade=_migration_0003_normalize_referral_codes,
+    ),
 ]
 
 

db/models.py

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ class User(Base):
                                server_default=func.now())
     is_banned = Column(Boolean, default=False)
     panel_user_uuid = Column(String, nullable=True, unique=True, index=True)
+    referral_code = Column(String(16), nullable=True, unique=True, index=True)
     referred_by_id = Column(BigInteger,
                             ForeignKey("users.user_id"),
                             nullable=True)