Report this

What is the reason for this report?

Issue with client side routes in React

Posted on September 10, 2023

Hi, I’m deploying a React app as a Single Page Application (SPA) in DigitalOcean Apps. React Router works only if the user navigates through the application. If the user enters a specific URL in the browser, the app shows an 404 error.

Is there any way to fix this? Thank you!



This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.

You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!

These answers are provided by our Community. If you find them useful, show some love by clicking the heart. If you run into issues leave a comment, or add your own answer to help others.

Heya,

Yes, what you’re experiencing is a common issue with Single Page Applications (SPAs) like those built with React Router. When a user tries to navigate directly to a specific URL, the server doesn’t have that route defined, so it returns a 404 error. However, when navigating through the app using React Router, the routing is handled client-side without involving the server.

To fix this on DigitalOcean Apps or most static server configurations, you need to redirect all routes to your index.html file, letting the React app and React Router handle the routing from there.

In the “Routes” section, you will see a list of routes. Add a catch-all route at the bottom:

  • Source: /
  • Target: /index.html
  • Type: SPAs

It’s pretty simple. I also faced the same issue and this is how I managed to make it work.

  1. Go to your SPA App which is hosted as a static site.
  2. Click Settings and then look for a button with the name of your app on it. Click on this button.
  3. Scroll down and look for Custom Pages.
  4. Click Edit and select Catchall.
  5. Input the Page Name as index.html and hit save.

Hi, I had the same issue on Angular, and this DOCS worked for me. You configure Custom Page to level on components in App Platform.

The developer cloud

Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.

Get started for free

Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*

*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.