How add path to url if the url does not contain substring-CodePudding

I need to redirect all requests from https://example.com/* to https://example.com/test/* if the URL does not contain the test substring.

So far I have these rewrite rules

RewriteBase /

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} !^/test
RewriteRule ^/?$ /test/$1 [R=301,L] # if the url does not contain test, redirect to url with test

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST}% test
RewriteRule ^test?(.*)$ /$1 [L] # mask the fact that the url is not https://example.com/ and instead is https://example.com/test but apache serve the website like if it was on root

If I access https://example.com it redirects to https://example.com/test but gives infinite loop because of the second rule.

How can I combine it, so request to https://example.com/test* do not get redirected but those request at https://example.com/* do without having to change www root directory and so it will work for all URLs.

CodePudding user response：

UPDATE:

The test should be in url (for user experience), but the apache should route like if it was not in url and instead the request came to root url, so application routing is preserved internally without having to change the app itself.

Ah, Ok. However, you should be linking to the /test URLs within your app (so you do still need to "change the app", despite your last comment), otherwise /test isn't actually in the URLs that users and search engines see on the page (they will be redirected) and your users will experience an external redirect every time they click one of your links (bad for SEO and user experience).

The "redirect" implemented in .htaccess to prefix "old" URLs with /test is just for SEO - as with any "old" to "new" URL change. (It should not be required for your app to function - with /test in the URL-path - since your internal URLs should already include /test.)

Try it like this instead:

RewriteEngine On

# Insert "/test" at the start of the URL-path if absent in "direct" requests
RewriteRule %{ENV:REDIRECT_STATUS} ^$
RewriteRule !^test/ /test/$1 [R=301,L]

# Rewrite "/test" URLs back to root
RewriteRule ^test(?:$|/(.*)) /$1 [L]

The REDIRECT_STATUS environment variable is used to prevent a redirect loop. This is empty on the initial request from the client and set to the HTTP response status after the rewrite (below).

Test first with 302 (temporary) redirects and only change to 301 (permanent) when you are sure this is working as intended.

You will need to clear your browser cache before testing.