/:

Syntax

https://name.rt.ht/:
https://name.rt.ht/:api/users
https://name.rt.ht/:/api/users
https://name.rt.ht/docs/:api

The text before the first : selects the route, and the text after it is the pathname the worker sees. A relative form works in a page: on https://name.rt.ht/docs/, the URL :api means https://name.rt.ht/docs/:api.

Behavior

The first colon

The first : in the path splits it. The text before it selects the route. The text after it becomes the worker's pathname: an empty remainder becomes /, and api/x becomes /api/x. The query string is kept.

URL	Route	Worker pathname
https://name.rt.ht/:	name	/
https://name.rt.ht/:1.json	name	/1.json
https://name.rt.ht/:/api/users	name	/api/users
https://name.rt.ht/docs/:api	name/docs	/api

Write the slash

<route>: is redirected (307) to <route>/:. A path such as /docs:x belongs to the parent route name, so on a path route write /docs/:x.

Dispatched before the gates

RTEdge.net sends the request to the worker before it reads the deployment. No KV read happens, and edge:user is not applied. A worker that must authenticate checks request.rt.user itself.

The request

request.url keeps the visitor's scheme, host and query string, with the pathname described above. The method, headers and body are preserved.

Other :: names

A ::name that no platform handler claims, and that is not exactly ::kv, ::meta or ::owner at the end of the path, is an ordinary worker path: /::zz reaches the worker as /:zz.

Reserved text

The reserved sequences apply inside worker paths too: ::s, ::i, ::e, ::c, ::u, ::t, ::v, /::edge, and a trailing ::clear or ::qr. Keep them out of worker paths. See Reserved text in paths.

Response

A deployed worker answers its own CORS preflights. Preflights sent from RTCode.io pages are answered by the platform and never reach the worker; preflights from other sites do.

Access

Anyone can call the worker. edge:user is not applied to /: URLs, so the worker decides who may use it. See Protect a worker API.

In the playground

The playground output splits : paths the same way, so fetch(':api') and <iframe src=:1.json> behave as they do on RTEdge.net. A playground worker that returns nothing lets the request fall through to the network, where RTEdge.net would answer with the 501 page. See Playground and edge differences.

Examples

Call the worker from the page

<output id=out></output>
<script type=module>
  out.value = JSON.stringify(await fetch(':api/items?limit=5').then(r => r.json()))
</script>
<script type=worker edge io:guest>
  export default { fetch: r => Response.json({ path: new URL(r.url).pathname, query: new URL(r.url).search }) }
</script>

On https://name.rt.ht/docs/, :api/items?limit=5 goes straight to the worker of the route name/docs, with the pathname /api/items and the query ?limit=5. The same code works in the playground.

Show a worker page in a frame

<iframe src=:hello></iframe>
<script type=worker edge io:guest>
  export default { fetch: r => new Response('Hello from ' + new URL(r.url).pathname) }
</script>

The frame loads the worker's answer for /hello.

Specifications

Not part of any specification. /: is an RTEdge.net feature. The worker uses these standards and runtimes:

Availability

See also

• Edge worker runtime
• Request.rt
• <script type=worker>
• Using workers
• URL suffixes
• Request routing
• Error pages