---
url: https://docs.w3id.org/rules/htaccess/rewrite-engine-required.md
---

# `htaccess/rewrite-engine-required`

**Severity:** error · **Status:** enforced · **Applies to:** `ids/**/.htaccess`

## What

A file containing `RewriteRule` directives must switch the rewrite engine on
first:

```apache
RewriteEngine on
```

## Why

Without it, Apache ignores every rewrite rule in the file. There is no error and
no warning — the rules are simply never consulted, and every request to the
identifier falls through to a **404**.

The file looks completely reasonable. It contains rules, the rules are correct,
and none of them run.

`RewriteEngine off` has the same effect and is reported the same way.

## Wrong

```apache
RewriteRule ^$ https://example.org/ [R=302,L]
```

## Right

```apache
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^$ https://example.org/ [R=302,L]
```

## How to fix

Add `RewriteEngine on` above the first rule. It goes once per file, not once
per rule.

Files using only `Redirect` or `RedirectMatch` do not need it — those come from
a different Apache module — and are not reported.

## How to check

Run `w3id-check` with `--rule htaccess/rewrite-engine-required` to check this
rule on its own; without it the tool runs every rule, as the pull request
checks do.

```sh
node tools/check/bin/w3id-check.js --rule htaccess/rewrite-engine-required ids/my-project
```

[Testing your changes](/guides/testing) covers installing the tool, and what
else is worth checking by hand.

## See also

* [`files/no-empty-htaccess`](../files/no-empty-htaccess)
* [`htaccess/pattern-relative-to-dir`](./pattern-relative-to-dir)
* [Report a false positive or a missing check](https://github.com/perma-id/w3id.org/issues)