> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://madewithlove.com/blog/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Ten years of testing htaccess rewrite rules
- URL: https://madewithlove.com/blog/ten-years-of-testing-htaccess-rewrite-rules/
- Published: 2021-07-08T07:30:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-02T12:20:40.000Z
- Author: Andreas Creten
- Tags: madewithlove, Testing

A little [over ten years ago](https://madewithlove.com/blog/simple-htaccess-tester/), I felt so annoyed with testing Apache’s mod\_rewrite RewriteRules that I started looking for a tool to test them. The search was unsuccessful— no such tool to be found.

https://htaccess.madewithlove.com/ 

![07at14](https://madewithlove.com/blog/content/images/2026/05/Screenshot2021-07-07at14_17_44_1596e940ed712c564f181573a9a6af92_800.png)

Out of my frustration, I decided to write something myself. I hacked together a PHP script that could parse the most basic rewrite rules and emulate the output Apache would generate. Basically, faking it. I spent a lot of time on the [mod\_rewrite documentation page](https://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.4/mod/mod%5Frewrite.html), finding many inconsistencies in how the whole system works. I had a nice tool to work with after adding exceptions and support for rewrite conditions (RewriteCond).

Instead of keeping it for myself, I decided to make it public at [htaccess.madewithlove.com](https://htaccess.madewithlove.com/). Since then, it has been used over 7.5 million times by developers from all over the world, helping them write htaccess rules.

Over time, we [added things](https://madewithlove.com/blog/our-htaccess-tester-tool-has-new-features/) like sharing, command-line interface tools, and even an API. The sharing allows you to easily link to a rule you are testing when discussing it with someone else. The CLI and API allow for continuous integration, for example, by running the rules in a [Github Action](https://madewithlove.com/blog/our-htaccess-tester-tool-has-new-features/).

A couple of years ago, we decided to completely rewrite the tester (still by faking it in PHP). To back ourselves up, we created a test suite using Docker to check the behaviour against a real Apache instance.

As with some other little tools I made out frustration, I really enjoy seeing them survive after such a long time. This makes me proud and grateful. Thanks for all the love!

## More about our Htaccess tester tool

- [Referrer support on htaccess](https://madewithlove.com/blog/updated-htaccess-tester-referrer-support/)
- [New features of htaccess](https://madewithlove.com/blog/our-htaccess-tester-tool-has-new-features/)
- [Simple htaccess tester](https://madewithlove.com/blog/simple-htaccess-tester/)