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How Prepend Path Works

Prepend Path allows you to automatically add a path prefix to every request before it is forwarded to your upstream.

This is useful when multiple websites or applications share the same upstream but are served from different routes. Instead of creating separate upstreams, each custom domain can forward requests to a different path within the same application.

For example, a request to:

customer.com/about

can be forwarded to:

app.example.com/customers/acme/about

The visitor continues browsing customer.com, while your upstream receives the request with the additional path.

How Prepend Path works

Section titled “How Prepend Path works”

By default, Hostgrid forwards requests to the upstream without changing the request path.

customer.com/about
        │
        ▼
app.example.com/about

When a Prepend Path is configured, Hostgrid inserts the configured prefix before forwarding the request.

For example:

  • Upstream: app.example.com
  • Custom Domain: customer.com
  • Prepend Path: /customers/acme

A request to:

https://customer.com/about

is forwarded to:

https://app.example.com/customers/acme/about

The browser URL remains unchanged. Only the request sent to your upstream is modified.

Request flow

Section titled “Request flow”

Prepend Path is applied as part of Hostgrid’s normal request routing.

Incoming Request
        │
        ▼
customer.com/about
        │
        ▼
Hostgrid
        │
        ▼
Prepend "/customers/acme"
        │
        ▼
app.example.com/customers/acme/about

The request is then forwarded to your upstream, which processes it normally.

Configuring a Prepend Path

Section titled “Configuring a Prepend Path”

When creating or editing a custom domain, you’ll find the Prepend Path field in the domain configuration, under Advanced Settings.

Prepend Path Field

Enter the path you want Hostgrid to prepend to every request.

Examples:

/dashboard
/sites/client1
/customers/acme
/v2

The path should begin with /.

Once the domain has been verified and activated, Hostgrid automatically applies the configured path prefix to every incoming request.

Common use cases

Section titled “Common use cases”

Multi-tenant applications

Section titled “Multi-tenant applications”

Many SaaS applications organize customer data under unique paths.

Example:

Upstream
app.example.com


customer-a.com
Prepend Path: /sites/customer-a


customer-b.com
Prepend Path: /sites/customer-b

Requests become:

customer-a.com/products
→ app.example.com/sites/customer-a/products


customer-b.com/products
→ app.example.com/sites/customer-b/products

This allows multiple customer domains to share the same application while serving different content.

Website builders

Section titled “Website builders”

Website builders often store customer websites under separate directories.

Example:

app.builder.com/sites/client1
app.builder.com/sites/client2
app.builder.com/sites/client3

Each custom domain can automatically route to the appropriate directory without requiring multiple upstreams.

Bubble applications

Section titled “Bubble applications”

Bubble applications frequently host multiple projects, client portals, or landing pages within a single application.

Using Prepend Path allows each custom domain to route to a different section of the same Bubble application.

Examples include:

  • Client-specific portals
  • Marketing microsites
  • White-labeled applications
  • Separate customer dashboards

Development and staging

Section titled “Development and staging”

Prepend Path can also separate different versions of an application.

Example:

staging.company.com
Prepend Path: /v2

A request to:

staging.company.com/login

is forwarded to:

app.example.com/v2/login

This allows production and staging environments to share the same upstream.

Example architecture

Section titled “Example architecture”
                     Upstream
                app.example.com
                         │
      ┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐
      │                  │                  │
      ▼                  ▼                  ▼
 customer-a.com     customer-b.com     staging.company.com
      │                  │                  │
      ▼                  ▼                  ▼
 /sites/a          /sites/b             /v2
      │                  │                  │
      └──────────────────┴──────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
                Forwarded to upstream

Each domain points to the same upstream while using a different path prefix.

Best practices

Section titled “Best practices”
  • Use descriptive and consistent path prefixes.
  • Match your path structure to your application’s routing.
  • Avoid changing path prefixes after a domain is live unless your upstream has also been updated.
  • Verify that your upstream serves content from the configured path.
  • Keep customer or application directories organized using predictable naming conventions.

Things to know

Section titled “Things to know”
  • Prepend Path modifies the request sent to your upstream.
  • It does not change the URL shown in the visitor’s browser.
  • Every custom domain can have its own Prepend Path.
  • Multiple domains can point to the same upstream while using different path prefixes.
  • Hostgrid does not modify your upstream application or its content—it only forwards requests to the configured path.
Section titled “Related articles”