URL Routing

When it comes to combining multiple controller or view functions (however you want to call them), you need a dispatcher. A simple way would be applying regular expression tests on PATH_INFO and call registered callback functions that return the value.

Werkzeug provides a much more powerful system, similar to Routes. All the objects mentioned on this page must be imported from werkzeug.routing, not from werkzeug!

Quickstart

Here is a simple example which could be the URL definition for a blog:

from werkzeug.routing import Map, Rule, NotFound, RequestRedirect

url_map = Map([
    Rule('/', endpoint='blog/index'),
    Rule('/<int:year>/', endpoint='blog/archive'),
    Rule('/<int:year>/<int:month>/', endpoint='blog/archive'),
    Rule('/<int:year>/<int:month>/<int:day>/', endpoint='blog/archive'),
    Rule('/<int:year>/<int:month>/<int:day>/<slug>',
         endpoint='blog/show_post'),
    Rule('/about', endpoint='blog/about_me'),
    Rule('/feeds/', endpoint='blog/feeds'),
    Rule('/feeds/<feed_name>.rss', endpoint='blog/show_feed')
])

def application(environ, start_response):
    urls = url_map.bind_to_environ(environ)
    try:
        endpoint, args = urls.match()
    except HTTPException, e:
        return e(environ, start_response)
    start_response('200 OK', [('Content-Type', 'text/plain')])
    return [f'Rule points to {endpoint!r} with arguments {args!r}']

So what does that do? First of all we create a new Map which stores a bunch of URL rules. Then we pass it a list of Rule objects.

Each Rule object is instantiated with a string that represents a rule and an endpoint which will be the alias for what view the rule represents. Multiple rules can have the same endpoint, but should have different arguments to allow URL construction.

The format for the URL rules is straightforward, but explained in detail below.

Inside the WSGI application we bind the url_map to the current request which will return a new MapAdapter. This url_map adapter can then be used to match or build domains for the current request.

The MapAdapter.match() method can then either return a tuple in the form (endpoint, args) or raise one of the three exceptions NotFound, MethodNotAllowed, or RequestRedirect. For more details about those exceptions have a look at the documentation of the MapAdapter.match() method.

Rule Format

Rule strings are URL paths with placeholders for variable parts in the format <converter(arguments):name>. converter and arguments (with parentheses) are optional. If no converter is given, the default converter is used (string by default). The available converters are discussed below.

Rules that end with a slash are “branches”, others are “leaves”. If strict_slashes is enabled (the default), visiting a branch URL without a trailing slash will redirect to the URL with a slash appended.

Many HTTP servers merge consecutive slashes into one when receiving requests. If merge_slashes is enabled (the default), rules will merge slashes in non-variable parts when matching and building. Visiting a URL with consecutive slashes will redirect to the URL with slashes merged. If you want to disable merge_slashes for a Rule or Map, you’ll also need to configure your web server appropriately.

Built-in Converters

Converters for common types of URL variables are built-in. The available converters can be overridden or extended through Map.converters.

class werkzeug.routing.UnicodeConverter(map, minlength=1, maxlength=None, length=None)

This converter is the default converter and accepts any string but only one path segment. Thus the string can not include a slash.

This is the default validator.

Example:

Rule('/pages/<page>'),
Rule('/<string(length=2):lang_code>')
Parameters
  • map (Map) – the Map.

  • minlength (int) – the minimum length of the string. Must be greater or equal 1.

  • maxlength (Optional[int]) – the maximum length of the string.

  • length (Optional[int]) – the exact length of the string.

Return type

None

class werkzeug.routing.PathConverter(map, *args, **kwargs)

Like the default UnicodeConverter, but it also matches slashes. This is useful for wikis and similar applications:

Rule('/<path:wikipage>')
Rule('/<path:wikipage>/edit')
Parameters
  • map (Map) – the Map.

  • args (Any) –

  • kwargs (Any) –

Return type

None

class werkzeug.routing.AnyConverter(map, *items)

Matches one of the items provided. Items can either be Python identifiers or strings:

Rule('/<any(about, help, imprint, class, "foo,bar"):page_name>')
Parameters
  • map (Map) – the Map.

  • items (str) – this function accepts the possible items as positional arguments.

Return type

None

class werkzeug.routing.IntegerConverter(map, fixed_digits=0, min=None, max=None, signed=False)

This converter only accepts integer values:

Rule("/page/<int:page>")

By default it only accepts unsigned, positive values. The signed parameter will enable signed, negative values.

Rule("/page/<int(signed=True):page>")
Parameters
  • map (Map) – The Map.

  • fixed_digits (int) – The number of fixed digits in the URL. If you set this to 4 for example, the rule will only match if the URL looks like /0001/. The default is variable length.

  • min (Optional[int]) – The minimal value.

  • max (Optional[int]) – The maximal value.

  • signed (bool) – Allow signed (negative) values.

Return type

None

Changelog

New in version 0.15: The signed parameter.

class werkzeug.routing.FloatConverter(map, min=None, max=None, signed=False)

This converter only accepts floating point values:

Rule("/probability/<float:probability>")

By default it only accepts unsigned, positive values. The signed parameter will enable signed, negative values.

Rule("/offset/<float(signed=True):offset>")
Parameters
  • map (Map) – The Map.

  • min (Optional[float]) – The minimal value.

  • max (Optional[float]) – The maximal value.

  • signed (bool) – Allow signed (negative) values.

Return type

None

Changelog

New in version 0.15: The signed parameter.

class werkzeug.routing.UUIDConverter(map, *args, **kwargs)

This converter only accepts UUID strings:

Rule('/object/<uuid:identifier>')
Changelog

New in version 0.10.

Parameters
  • map (Map) – the Map.

  • args (Any) –

  • kwargs (Any) –

Return type