Configure Netlify redirects, rewrites, and SPA fallbacks via _redirects and netlify.toml [[redirects]]
domain: netlify.com · 9 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Auth: None required for local config; a connected Netlify site is needed to see them take effect on deploy
Create a plain-text _redirects file inside your publish directory with one rule per line: from_path to_path [status], e.g. /home / 301
For a single-page app, add the SPA fallback rule as the LAST line: /* /index.html 200 (status 200 = rewrite, URL stays the same)
Alternatively, define the same rules in netlify.toml using TOML array-of-tables syntax: [[redirects]] with from = "/*", to = "/index.html", status = 200
Use force = true (or the shorthand 200! in _redirects) to force a rewrite/redirect to override an existing file at that path, e.g. /* /index.html 200!
Place API-route or function proxy rules (e.g. /api/* to a function or external service) BEFORE the catch-all SPA rule so they aren't shadowed by it
Add extra matching controls as needed: query = {path = ":path"}, conditions = {Country = ["US"]}, headers = {X-From = "Netlify"}, signed = "TOKEN_ENV_VAR"
Deploy the site (git push or netlify deploy) and verify via the Deploys > deploy summary Redirects panel that rules parsed correctly
Official docs: https://docs.netlify.com/manage/routing/redirects/overview/ ; https://docs.netlify.com/manage/routing/redirects/rewrites-proxies/ ; https://docs.netlify.com/build/configure-builds/javascript-spas/
Known gotchas
Rules in _redirects are always processed before rules in netlify.toml, and within each source, rules are evaluated top to bottom; the engine stops at the FIRST matching rule, so duplicate/overlapping later rules are silently ignored
By default a /* catch-all rewrite will NOT shadow an existing file at the requested path (the real file still serves); use force = true or the 200! status to force shadowing
Redirects and headers defined inside a netlify.toml [context.*] block are still GLOBAL — they are not scoped to that deploy context, unlike build settings
For SPAs, relative-path static assets can load incorrectly under the rewrite; use absolute paths or a <base> tag
Paths handled by proxies/functions may not redirect HTTP to HTTPS as expected — only publish HTTPS URLs when working with proxy/function redirects
Very large redirect rule sets (10,000+) can cause deploy failures or need wildcards/Edge Functions instead
The _redirects file must live in the publish directory, and Jekyll users must add include: [_redirects] to _config.yml or it gets excluded from the build
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