How can I match query string variables with mod_rewrite?

regex apache mod-rewrite query-string

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RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} book=(\w+)&page=(\d+)  
RewriteRule ^index.php /%1/%2? [L,R=301]

Because RewriteRule only looks at the path (up to but not including the question mark), use RewriteCond to capture the values in the query string.

Note that the matches from RewriteCond are captured in %1, %2, etc., rather than $1, $2, etc.

Also note the ? at the end of RewriteRule. It tells mod_rewrite not to append the original query string to the new URL, so you end up with /DesignPatterns/151 intead of /DesignPatterns/151?book=DesignPatterns&page=151.

The [L,R=301] flags do two things:

L ensures that no other rules that might otherwise match will be processed (in other words, it ensures this is the "last" rule processed).
R=301 causes the server to send back a redirect response. Instead of rewriting, it tells the client to try again with the new URL. The =301 makes it a permanent redirect, so that, among other things, search engines will know to replace the old URL with the new URL in their indexes.

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Cédric Guillemette

At the stage in my career where I tend to focus more on people than code. I still use Stack Overflow every day, but I'm more likely to be active on Twitter (@patrick_mc) or GitHub. As moderator for its first year, I helped get ux.stackexchange.com off the ground. Favorite Books for Programmers Clean Code by Robert C. Martin The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt & Thomas Working Effectively With Legacy Code by Michael Feathers Refactoring by Martin Fowler The Inmates are Running the Asylum by Alan Cooper

Updated on April 10, 2020

Comments

Cédric Guillemette about 4 years
Suppose I have URLs with query string parameters like these:
```
/index.php?book=DesignPatterns&page=139
/index.php?book=Refactoring&page=285
```
Using mod_rewrite, how can I redirect them to SES URLs like these?
```
/DesignPatterns/139
/Refactoring/285
```
TheJosh almost 11 years

You probably also want the [L] flag when you have multiple rewrite rules. The [L] flag stops processing after the rule has matched, and the [R] flag DOES NOT implicitly include it.
keithwyland over 9 years

The $ vs % were killing me. I had no idea. Thank you!
Uzair Farooq over 8 years

To not append the original query string to the new url use [QSD] flag (httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/rewrite/flags.html#flag_qsd)
Luciano almost 8 years

Answers like this make me wish I could star them for later easy finding. Instead I end up starring the question.
ahnbizcad almost 8 years

@Luciano just recognize it by upvoting the answer on a question you starred.
ahnbizcad almost 8 years

isn't this invalid? you'd need to escape the dot in ^index.php with ^index\.php
fpilee over 6 years

I spend like 4 hours debugging :D until I googled and I discovered that mod rewrite doesn't match the query string