Why Do 404 URLs Bypass My Laravel 11 Redirection Middleware?

When a URL doesn’t match any defined route, Laravel never gets to run your route's middleware because it directly throws a 404 exception. In other words, unmatched URLs never reach your middleware since no route is matched to trigger it.

To make your redirection table work for 404s, you have two main options:

1. Use the Exception Handler

Modify the render (or report) method in your App\Exceptions\Handler to intercept 404 not found exceptions (NotFoundHttpException). Then, before showing a 404 page you can look up the current path in your redirection table and issue a redirect if one is found.

For example, update your Handler like this:

PHPCopied
// app/Exceptions/Handler.php

use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;

public function render($request, Throwable $exception)
{
    // Intercept 404 errors
    if ($exception instanceof NotFoundHttpException) {
        // Look up a redirection from your Redirection module table based on $request->path()
        $redirectUrl = \App\Models\Redirection::lookup($request->path());
        if ($redirectUrl) {
            return redirect($redirectUrl);
        }
    }

    return parent::render($request, $exception);
}

This ensures that even for 404 errors, your logic to check for redirections is applied.

2. Fallback Route with Caution

While you attempted registering a fallback route, keep in mind that route fallbacks only work if no other route is matched. In some cases Laravel might throw a NotFoundHttpException before reaching the fallback route based on your route registration order or other behaviors. Therefore, the exception handler method is typically more reliable.

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Summary

• Unmatched paths result in a NotFoundHttpException, so they bypass your middleware.
• To apply the redirection check for non-existent routes, catch the exception in your exception handler and inject your redirection logic.
• This way, you can redirect users even when the requested URL would normally yield a 404.

Choose the approach that best fits your application structure. If your redirection logic is complex, handling it directly in the Exception Handler might be the cleanest solution.