URL Redirects

The Ellemment Stack implements redirects using Express middleware, processing incoming requests before they reach Remix for optimal performance.

Security Redirects

HTTP to HTTPS Redirection

Automatic HTTPS enforcement improves security by preventing request interception:

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  const proto = req.get('X-Forwarded-Proto')
  const host = getHost(req)
  if (proto === 'http') {
    res.set('X-Forwarded-Proto', 'https')
    res.redirect(`https://${host}${req.originalUrl}`)
    return
  }
  next()
})

Note: Local development (localhost) is unaffected, using Fly's request headers for redirect decisions.

URL Normalization

Trailing Slash Removal

Automatically redirect URLs with trailing slashes to their canonical form:

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  if (req.path.endsWith('/') && req.path.length > 1) {
    const query = req.url.slice(req.path.length)
    const safepath = req.path.slice(0, -1).replace(/\/+/g, '/')
    res.redirect(301, safepath + query)
  } else {
    next()
  }
})

Benefits:

• Improves SEO
• Prevents duplicate content issues
• Maintains consistent URLs
• Helps search engine crawlers

Domain Management

Subdomain Configuration

Prerequisites

1. Register SSL certificates for both domains:

   • Root domain certificate
   • WWW subdomain certificate
   • Configure via Fly.io dashboard or CLI

2. Set up DNS records:

   • A records
   • CNAME records
   • SSL verification records

Implementation Options

Option 1: WWW Redirection

Redirect root domain to www subdomain:

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  const host = getHost(req)
  if (!host.startsWith('www.')) {
    return res.redirect(301, `https://www.${host}${req.url}`)
  } else {
    next()
  }
})

Option 2: Root Domain Redirection

Redirect www to root domain:

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  const host = getHost(req)
  if (host.startsWith('www.')) {
    return res.redirect(301, `https://${host.slice(4)}${req.url}`)
  } else {
    next()
  }
})

Best Practices

Performance

1. Early redirection
2. Proper status codes
3. Cache headers
4. Minimal middleware

SEO

1. Consistent URLs
2. Proper redirects
3. Canonical URLs
4. Sitemap updates

Security

1. HTTPS enforcement
2. Secure headers
3. SSL certificates
4. Domain validation

Implementation Guide

Express Setup

import express from 'express'
import { getHost } from './utils'
,[object Object],
,[object Object],
,[object Object],
// Domain management
app.use(wwwRedirect)

Middleware Functions

function httpsRedirect(req, res, next) {
  // HTTPS enforcement implementation
}
,[object Object],
function wwwRedirect(req, res, next) {
// Domain redirection implementation
}

Configuration

// config.ts
export const redirectConfig = {
  enforceHttps: true,
  removeTrailingSlash: true,
  preferWww: true,
  statusCode: 301
}

For more information about security configuration, see the security documentation. For deployment details, refer to the deployment documentation.