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Fix SEO: www base URL + skip middleware for tool rewrites #832

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Fix SEO: www base URL + skip middleware for tool rewrites #832

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200faaf
Fix SEO: www base URL + skip middleware for rewritten tool paths
PavelMakarchuk Mar 13, 2026
49d879a
Remove WATCA from bypass list, fix hardcoded non-www image URL
PavelMakarchuk Mar 13, 2026
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19 changes: 17 additions & 2 deletions middleware.ts
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -24,7 +24,15 @@ type OgMetadata = {
};

// Constants
const BASE_URL = "https://policyengine.org";
const BASE_URL = "https://www.policyengine.org";

// Paths that Vercel rewrites to external apps with their own SSR + meta tags.
// Let all user agents (including bots) pass through to the actual app.
const REWRITE_PREFIXES = [
"/us/keep-your-pay-act",
"/us/taxsim",
"/us/api",
];

export const CRAWLER_USER_AGENTS = [
"facebookexternalhit",
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -87,7 +95,7 @@ const DEFAULT_OG = {
title: "PolicyEngine",
description:
"Free, open-source tools to understand tax and benefit policies. Calculate your taxes and benefits, or analyze policy reforms.",
image: "https://policyengine.org/assets/logos/policyengine/teal.png",
image: "https://www.policyengine.org/assets/logos/policyengine/teal.png",
};

const STATIC_PAGES: Record<string, { title: string; description: string }> = {
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -414,6 +422,13 @@ export default async function middleware(request: Request) {
return;
}

// Let rewritten tool paths pass through — the external apps have their own
// SSR, meta tags, OG images, and JSON-LD, so the middleware stub would be
// strictly less content than what the actual app serves.
if (REWRITE_PREFIXES.some((p) => url.pathname.startsWith(p))) {
return;
}

// Let static files (sitemap, robots, etc.) pass through to Vercel's file serving
if (url.pathname === "/sitemap.xml" || url.pathname === "/robots.txt") {
return;
Expand Down
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