How can I turn off QSA? (query string append)

Question

I'm using Apache2 and mod_rewrite to hide my query strings. These are the rules in question.

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING}                 ^query=(.*)$
RewriteRule (.*)                            /search/%1             [R=301,L]

RewriteRule ^search\/?$                     /search/?query=test    [R=301,L]

When I visit /search (or /search/) I am correctly redirected to /search/?query=test (as per the last rule)

From there, the RewriteCond and RewriteRule should kick in and redirect me to /search/test, right? From what I understand the %1 in my first RewriteRule corresponds to the (.*) in the RewriteCond which should contain test.

However, what actually happens is I'm redirected to /search/test/?query=test. So, the rule works, but for some reason the query string appended. Is it the QSA option being automatically added somehow/somewhere?

I'm then stuck in an infinite loop of redirecting to /search/test?query=test because the first RewriteCond and RewriteRule kick in again, and again, and again...

What am I doing wrong?!

Thanks!

Answer 1

You need to specify an empty query in the substitution to prevent the original requested query to be appended to the new URL:

Modifying the Query String

By default, the query string is passed through unchanged. You can, however, create URLs in the substitution string containing a query string part. Simply use a question mark inside the substitution string to indicate that the following text should be re-injected into the query string. When you want to erase an existing query string, end the substitution string with just a question mark. To combine new and old query strings, use the [QSA] flag.

So:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^query=(.*)$
RewriteRule (.*) /search/%1? [R=301,L]