AI blog · DotApp PHP Framework 2.0

How URL {not:} selectors work in DotApp PHP Framework

Kernel update 26 August 2026: Router::match_url() understands {not:mask|mask} on any URL selector. The exclude runs first, before the positive pattern. /admin/login against /{path*}{not:/admin*} dies on a prefix test, not on a greedy regex. The same grammar works on Router::get, Router::before, Router::onPath, Module::initializeRoutes(), and Listeners::initializeRoutes() — every caller goes through match_url. Write {not:/admin*}, not CSS :not(). A public catch-all must carry the exclude on the wake string itself. Cutting /admin only inside initializeCondition is too late: the optimizer already woke the module. This article is the exact syntax, a match table, a CMS catch-all, and a wake-map example.

Common mistakes

Exclude first, then the positive match

match_url() looks for the substring {not:. If it finds one, it splits every {not:…} token off the string, then tests the request path against each mask. The first hit returns false immediately. Only then does the remaining positive route run — exact compare, /prefix/* starts-with, or the usual {id:i} regex.

1. Split /{path*}{not:/admin*|/api/v1*} → positive /{path*}, masks /admin* and /api/v1*.
2. If the URL starts with /admin or /api/v1, return false.
3. Otherwise match /{path*} as usual.

Several {not:} tokens on one selector are collected. Pipes inside one token are the same list: {not:/admin*}{not:/api/v1*} equals {not:/admin*|/api/v1*}. Nested {not:} inside a mask is ignored.

Syntax

A mask that ends in * and has no { : ? is a starts-with test (the trailing star is stripped). A mask with no special characters is an exact path. Any other mask is sent back through match_url (for example /item/{id:i}).

Exact outcomes

Selector: /{path*}{not:/admin*|/api/v1*|/assets*}

Public catch-all route

File: app/modules/CMS/module.init.php. Register the catch-all last. Do not pass Router::STATIC_ROUTE.

Router::get(
    '/{path*}{not:/admin*|/api/v1*|/assets*|/dacore*}',
    'CMS:Page@show!'
);
    

/about reaches CMS:Page@show. /admin/users does not. DACore keeps those URLs. Read the captured path from $request->matchData()['path'].

Wake maps must carry the same text

php dotapper.php --optimize-modules stores the strings from initializeRoutes() and later calls match_url on each one. A public CMS that also owns / must exclude admin on those strings. After the list changes, re-run the optimizer.

public function initializeRoutes()
{
    $this->defaultSettings();

    return [
        '/',
        '/{path*}{not:/admin*|/api/v1*|/assets*|/dacore*}',
        '/api/v1/auth/CMS',
        '/api/v1/auth/CMS/*',
        '/api/v1/noauth/CMS',
        '/api/v1/noauth/CMS/*',
    ];
}
    

Loyalty that extends Shop still lists Shop prefixes. It does not need {not:} unless it also uses a catch-all. A listener that must run everywhere except admin:

public function initializeRoutes()
{
    return [
        '/{path*}{not:/admin*}',
    ];
}
    

That is tighter than ['*']. Prefer known prefixes when you have them. Independent listener routes.

before hooks and onPath

Router::before binds only when the current request already matches the pattern. Put {not:} on that pattern so the hook never attaches on admin URLs.

Router::before(
    '/{path*}{not:/admin*|/api/v1*}',
    'CMS:PublicCache@before!'
);

Router::onPath('/Shop*{not:/Shop/admin*}', function () {
    Router::get('/Shop/sale', 'Shop:Sale@index!', Router::STATIC_ROUTE);
});