Troubleshooting Apache .htaccess integration
To troubleshoot Apache .htaccess integration with Prerender, it’s essential that the Prerender RewriteRule is evaluated before any others. If a different rewrite rule appears earlier in the file and uses the [L] ("last") flag, it can prevent the Prerender rule from being executed entirely, resulting in integration issues.
Incorrect Rule Ordering
Here’s an example of a poorly ordered .htaccess configuration in which the rules before Prerender's block stop it from working:
❗ Example of a wrong configuration order:
RewriteEngine on
# Don't rewrite files or directories
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [R,L]
# Rewrite everything else to index.html to allow html5 state links
RewriteRule ^ index.html [L]
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
RequestHeader set X-Prerender-Token "YOURTOKEN"
RequestHeader set X-Prerender-Version "prerender-apache@2.0.0"
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
<IfModule mod_proxy_http.c>
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} googlebot|bingbot|yandex|baiduspider|facebookexternalhit|twitterbot|rogerbot|linkedinbot|embedly|quora\ link\ preview|showyoubot|outbrain|pinterest\/0\.|pinterestbot|slackbot|vkShare|W3C_Validator|whatsapp|redditbot|applebot|flipboard|tumblr|bitlybot|skypeuripreview|nuzzel|discordbot|google\ page\ speed|qwantify|bitrix\ link\ preview|xing-contenttabreceiver|chrome-lighthouse|telegrambot|Perplexity|OAI-SearchBot|ChatGPT|GPTBot|ClaudeBot|Amazonbot [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _escaped_fragment_
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^(?!.*?(\.js|\.css|\.xml|\.less|\.png|\.jpg|\.jpeg|\.gif|\.pdf|\.doc|\.txt|\.ico|\.rss|\.zip|\.mp3|\.rar|\.exe|\.wmv|\.doc|\.avi|\.ppt|\.mpg|\.mpeg|\.tif|\.wav|\.mov|\.psd|\.ai|\.xls|\.mp4|\.m4a|\.swf|\.dat|\.dmg|\.iso|\.flv|\.m4v|\.torrent|\.ttf|\.woff|\.svg))
RewriteRule ^(index\.html|index\.php)?(.*) https://service.prerender.io/%{REQUEST_SCHEME}://%{HTTP_HOST}/$2 [P,END]
</IfModule>
</IfModule>Correct Rule Ordering
This example shows Prerender-specific rules placed first, ensuring they are evaluated before any subsequent rewrite directives. This ordering allows the integration to function as intended:
✅ Example of a correct configuration order:
RewriteEngine on
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
RequestHeader set X-Prerender-Token "YOURTOKEN"
RequestHeader set X-Prerender-Version "prerender-apache@2.0.0"
</IfModule>
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
<IfModule mod_proxy_http.c>
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} googlebot|bingbot|yandex|baiduspider|facebookexternalhit|twitterbot|rogerbot|linkedinbot|embedly|quora\ link\ preview|showyoubot|outbrain|pinterest\/0\.|pinterestbot|slackbot|vkShare|W3C_Validator|whatsapp|redditbot|applebot|flipboard|tumblr|bitlybot|skypeuripreview|nuzzel|discordbot|google\ page\ speed|qwantify|bitrix\ link\ preview|xing-contenttabreceiver|chrome-lighthouse|telegrambot [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _escaped_fragment_
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^(?!.*?(\.js|\.css|\.xml|\.less|\.png|\.jpg|\.jpeg|\.gif|\.pdf|\.doc|\.txt|\.ico|\.rss|\.zip|\.mp3|\.rar|\.exe|\.wmv|\.doc|\.avi|\.ppt|\.mpg|\.mpeg|\.tif|\.wav|\.mov|\.psd|\.ai|\.xls|\.mp4|\.m4a|\.swf|\.dat|\.dmg|\.iso|\.flv|\.m4v|\.torrent|\.ttf|\.woff|\.svg))
RewriteRule ^(index\.html|index\.php)?(.*) https://service.prerender.io/%{REQUEST_SCHEME}://%{HTTP_HOST}/$2 [P,END]
</IfModule>
</IfModule>
# Don't rewrite files or directories
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{SERVER_PORT} 80
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [R,L]
# Rewrite everything else to index.html to allow html5 state links
RewriteRule ^ index.html [L]