Routing Patterns

Overview

Astro uses file-based routing, where files in src/pages/ automatically become routes on your site. This guide covers common routing patterns and advanced techniques.

File-Based Routing

The structure of your src/pages/ directory determines your site’s URL structure.

Basic Routes

src/pages/
├── index.astro          → /
├── about.astro          → /about
├── contact.astro        → /contact
└── blog/
    ├── index.astro      → /blog
    └── first-post.astro → /blog/first-post

Nested Routes

Create nested directories for organized URL structures:

src/pages/
└── products/
    ├── index.astro           → /products
    ├── categories/
    │   └── [category].astro  → /products/categories/electronics
    └── [id].astro            → /products/123

Dynamic Routes

Use square brackets [param] to create dynamic route parameters.

Single Parameter

src/pages/products/[id].astro

---
import { getProduct } from '../../api';

const { id } = Astro.params;
const product = await getProduct(Number(id));
---

<html>
  <head>
    <title>{product.name} | Online Store</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>{product.name}</h1>
    <p>${product.price}</p>
    <img src={product.image} alt={product.name} />
  </body>
</html>

Static Path Generation

For static sites, generate all possible paths at build time:

src/pages/products/[id].astro

---
export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const products = [
    { id: 1, name: 'Laptop', price: 999 },
    { id: 2, name: 'Mouse', price: 29 },
    { id: 3, name: 'Keyboard', price: 79 },
  ];

  return products.map((product) => ({
    params: { id: String(product.id) },
    props: { product },
  }));
}

const { product } = Astro.props;
---

<h1>{product.name}</h1>
<p>${product.price}</p>

Multiple Parameters

src/pages/blog/[year]/[month]/[slug].astro

---
export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const posts = [
    { year: '2024', month: '01', slug: 'getting-started', title: 'Getting Started' },
    { year: '2024', month: '02', slug: 'advanced-tips', title: 'Advanced Tips' },
  ];

  return posts.map((post) => ({
    params: { 
      year: post.year, 
      month: post.month, 
      slug: post.slug 
    },
    props: { post },
  }));
}

const { year, month, slug } = Astro.params;
const { post } = Astro.props;
---

<article>
  <h1>{post.title}</h1>
  <p>Published: {month}/{year}</p>
</article>

Catch-All Routes

Use [...path] to match any number of path segments.

Basic Catch-All

src/pages/[...path].astro

---
const { path } = Astro.params;
// path could be: "docs", "docs/guide", "docs/guide/routing", etc.

const segments = path ? path.split('/') : [];
---

<h1>Path: /{path}</h1>
<ul>
  {segments.map((segment) => (
    <li>{segment}</li>
  ))}
</ul>

Documentation Site Pattern

src/pages/docs/[...slug].astro

---
import { getCollection } from 'astro:content';

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const docs = await getCollection('docs');
  
  return docs.map((doc) => ({
    params: { slug: doc.id },
    props: { doc },
  }));
}

const { doc } = Astro.props;
const { Content } = await doc.render();
---

<article>
  <h1>{doc.data.title}</h1>
  <Content />
</article>

Named Catch-All with Fallback

src/pages/blog/[...slug].astro

---
import { getCollection, render } from 'astro:content';

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const posts = await getCollection('blog');
  
  return posts.map((post) => ({
    params: { slug: post.id },
    props: post,
  }));
}

const post = Astro.props;

if (!post) {
  return Astro.redirect('/404');
}

const { Content } = await render(post);
---

<article>
  <h1>{post.data.title}</h1>
  <Content />
</article>

Redirects

Handle redirects for moved content, aliases, and legacy URLs.

Static Redirects

Define redirects in your Astro config:

astro.config.mjs

import { defineConfig } from 'astro/config';

export default defineConfig({
  redirects: {
    '/old-page': '/new-page',
    '/blog/[...slug]': '/articles/[...slug]',
    '/temporary': {
      status: 302,
      destination: '/new-location',
    },
  },
});

Dynamic Redirects

Handle redirects programmatically:

src/pages/legacy/[id].astro

---
const { id } = Astro.params;

// Redirect to new URL structure
return Astro.redirect(`/products/${id}`, 301);
---

Conditional Redirects

src/pages/dashboard.astro

---
const session = Astro.cookies.get('session');

if (!session) {
  return Astro.redirect('/login');
}
---

<h1>Dashboard</h1>
<p>Welcome back!</p>

API Routes

Create API endpoints that return JSON or other data formats.

Basic API Route

src/pages/api/products.ts

import type { APIRoute } from 'astro';

export const GET: APIRoute = async ({ request }) => {
  const products = [
    { id: 1, name: 'Laptop', price: 999 },
    { id: 2, name: 'Mouse', price: 29 },
  ];

  return new Response(JSON.stringify(products), {
    status: 200,
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
  });
};

Dynamic API Routes

src/pages/api/products/[id].ts

import type { APIRoute } from 'astro';

export const GET: APIRoute = async ({ params }) => {
  const { id } = params;
  
  const product = await fetchProduct(id);
  
  if (!product) {
    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ error: 'Not found' }), {
      status: 404,
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    });
  }

  return new Response(JSON.stringify(product), {
    status: 200,
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  });
};

function fetchProduct(id: string) {
  // Fetch from database
  return { id, name: 'Product', price: 99 };
}

POST Requests

src/pages/api/contact.ts

import type { APIRoute } from 'astro';

export const POST: APIRoute = async ({ request }) => {
  const data = await request.json();
  
  // Validate data
  if (!data.email || !data.message) {
    return new Response(JSON.stringify({ 
      error: 'Email and message are required' 
    }), {
      status: 400,
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
    });
  }

  // Process contact form
  await sendEmail(data);

  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ 
    success: true,
    message: 'Message sent successfully'
  }), {
    status: 200,
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  });
};

async function sendEmail(data: any) {
  // Email sending logic
}

Priority and Route Matching

Astro resolves routes with this priority order:

Static routes

Exact file matches like /about.astro have highest priority.

Dynamic routes

Single parameter routes like /[id].astro are checked next.

Catch-all routes

Catch-all routes like /[...path].astro have lowest priority.

Example Routing Order

src/pages/
├── blog.astro              → /blog (1st priority)
├── [page].astro            → /about, /contact (2nd priority)
└── [...slug].astro         → /anything/else (3rd priority)

Advanced Patterns

Pagination

Create paginated routes for large datasets:

src/pages/blog/[page].astro

---
import { getCollection } from 'astro:content';

export async function getStaticPaths({ paginate }) {
  const posts = await getCollection('blog');
  const sortedPosts = posts.sort(
    (a, b) => b.data.pubDate.valueOf() - a.data.pubDate.valueOf()
  );

  return paginate(sortedPosts, { pageSize: 10 });
}

const { page } = Astro.props;
---

<h1>Blog - Page {page.currentPage}</h1>

{page.data.map((post) => (
  <article>
    <h2>{post.data.title}</h2>
  </article>
))}

{page.url.prev && <a href={page.url.prev}>Previous</a>}
{page.url.next && <a href={page.url.next}>Next</a>}

Internationalization (i18n)

Structure routes for multiple languages:

src/pages/
├── en/
│   ├── index.astro       → /en
│   └── about.astro       → /en/about
└── es/
    ├── index.astro       → /es
    └── about.astro       → /es/about

Or use dynamic routing:

src/pages/[lang]/[...slug].astro

---
const { lang, slug } = Astro.params;
const validLangs = ['en', 'es', 'fr'];

if (!validLangs.includes(lang)) {
  return Astro.redirect('/en');
}
---

Custom 404 Pages

Create a custom 404 page:

src/pages/404.astro

---
const currentPath = Astro.url.pathname;
---

<html>
  <head>
    <title>404 - Page Not Found</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>404 - Page Not Found</h1>
    <p>The page <code>{currentPath}</code> doesn't exist.</p>
    <a href="/">Go home</a>
  </body>
</html>

Best Practices

Organize by Feature

Group related pages in directories for better maintainability.

Use Named Parameters

Choose descriptive parameter names like [slug] or [id] instead of generic names.

Handle Edge Cases

Always validate parameters and handle missing data gracefully.

Leverage TypeScript

Use TypeScript for type-safe routing and API routes.

Troubleshooting

Route conflicts

If routes conflict, check the priority order. More specific routes should be in separate files.

Dynamic routes not generating

Ensure getStaticPaths() is exported and returns the correct format.

Redirects not working

Verify your adapter supports redirects. Some static hosts require additional configuration.

Get Started

Core Concepts

Features

Integrations

Configuration

Guides

Routing Patterns

Overview

File-Based Routing

Basic Routes

Nested Routes

Dynamic Routes

Single Parameter

Static Path Generation

Multiple Parameters

Catch-All Routes

Basic Catch-All

Documentation Site Pattern

Named Catch-All with Fallback

Redirects

Static Redirects

Dynamic Redirects

Conditional Redirects

API Routes

Basic API Route

Dynamic API Routes

POST Requests

Priority and Route Matching

Example Routing Order

Advanced Patterns

Best Practices

Organize by Feature

Use Named Parameters

Handle Edge Cases

Leverage TypeScript

Troubleshooting

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Features

Integrations

Configuration

Guides

Documentation Index

​Overview

​File-Based Routing

​Basic Routes

​Nested Routes

​Dynamic Routes

​Single Parameter

​Static Path Generation

​Multiple Parameters

​Catch-All Routes

​Basic Catch-All

​Documentation Site Pattern

​Named Catch-All with Fallback

​Redirects

​Static Redirects

​Dynamic Redirects

​Conditional Redirects

​API Routes

​Basic API Route

​Dynamic API Routes

​POST Requests

​Priority and Route Matching

​Example Routing Order

​Advanced Patterns

​Best Practices

Organize by Feature

Use Named Parameters

Handle Edge Cases

Leverage TypeScript

​Troubleshooting

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

File-Based Routing

Basic Routes

Nested Routes

Dynamic Routes

Single Parameter

Static Path Generation

Multiple Parameters

Catch-All Routes

Basic Catch-All

Documentation Site Pattern

Named Catch-All with Fallback

Redirects

Static Redirects

Dynamic Redirects

Conditional Redirects

API Routes

Basic API Route

Dynamic API Routes

POST Requests

Priority and Route Matching

Example Routing Order

Advanced Patterns

Best Practices

Troubleshooting