Glossary · Edge

Prefix route

A prefix route is a gateway route of type "prefix" that serves a bucket — usually a built frontend or published content — under a path, with default_key for the index document, optional prefix restriction, CDN delivery, canonical redirects, and a declared fallback for unknown paths.

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Definition: Prefix route

What a prefix route declares

The route names its bucket target and how the bucket becomes a site: default_key (index.html) answers /, prefix can expose only part of the bucket, key can alias a single object. Without type "prefix" a bucket route is a single-object alias — a distinction worth knowing before wondering why the site does not behave like a site.

The three policy decisions on the route

cdn_enabled puts cached delivery in front. canonical_redirects (default on) collapses .html and slash variants onto the canonical URL. fallback_mode chooses between "spa" (serve the app shell for unknown paths) and "not_found" (a truthful 404). Those three booleans are a site’s entire URL policy, declared in the open, identical in preview and production.

Example — Prefix route on KERNSTACK plan · deploy

{
  "gateway": { "routes": [{ "name": "site", "type": "prefix",
    "target": { "kind": "bucket", "name": "site" },
    "default_key": "index.html",
    "fallback_mode": "not_found",
    "block_alias_url": true,
    "domains": [{ "hostname": "www.example.com" }] }] }
}

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How is a custom domain attached?

The apex is registered and verified in the console (Settings → Domains), hostnames are then bound in the route’s domains, and deploy prints the CNAME target (dmns.kernstack.com) to point DNS at.

SPA or hard 404 — how should fallback_mode be set?

Client-side apps that own routing use "spa". Everything else — marketing sites, docs, shops — should use "not_found", so crawlers and analytics see truthful statuses instead of soft 404s.

Can a route serve only part of a bucket?

Yes. The prefix field restricts exposure to a key prefix (published/ versus draft/ is the classic split), and block_alias_url can confine traffic to the custom domain. Publishing then becomes a file move between prefixes.

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