Route All Paths to index.html on S3 Static Website Hosting Using CloudFront

If you’re using AWS S3 to host a static website and need to handle routing in Single Page Applications (SPAs), the default S3 behavior will fall short. This issue often arises with JavaScript apps using HTML5 pushState for cleaner URLs. If a user bookmarks or directly visits a nested route, S3 returns a 403 or 404 error because it can’t find the specific path.

But there’s a straightforward solution using Amazon CloudFront, AWS’s content delivery network. CloudFront can be configured to serve the root index.html for any missing pages, ensuring smooth navigation in your SPAs.

Step-by-Step Guide to Configure CloudFront for SPA Hosting

1. Create or Configure Your S3 Bucket

First, ensure that your S3 bucket is properly set up to host a static website. This includes:

• Enabling static website hosting on your bucket.
• Uploading your index.html and other application assets.

Note: It’s often recommended to make sure your bucket policies allow public read access for the objects when hosting a public frontend.

2. Create a CloudFront Distribution

CloudFront acts as a distribution network, allowing for caching and improved delivery speeds. Here’s how to set it up:

• Default Root Object: Set this to index.html. This tells CloudFront to default to serving this file.
• Origin Domain Name: Use the S3 bucket’s domain name, typically something like your-bucket-name.s3.amazonaws.com.

3. Customize Error Responses

The trick for SPA routing is handling errors such as 403 or 404, which occur when a path can’t be found. Here’s how to configure CloudFront to intercept these errors:

1. Go to the CloudFront distribution settings and click on the Error Pages tab.
2. Create a custom error response:
   • HTTP Error Code: Set to 403 (or 404 if you’re using S3’s static website endpoint).
   • Customize Error Response: Yes.
   • Response Page Path: /index.html.
   • HTTP Response Code: Set this to 200. This tells the browser that everything is fine, and the index should be loaded.

4. Deploy and Test

Once configured, deploy your CloudFront distribution and test it by accessing various nested URLs. Your SPA should now load index.html and handle routes using your JavaScript application’s routing logic.

Note on Performance: CloudFront offers numerous features that can further enhance your static website, such as caching policies, viewer protocols policies, and more. Take advantage of them according to your security and performance requirements.

Remember, the power of CloudFront in this setup is its ability to cache and deliver your static resources globally, improving load times and handling SPA routes efficiently without running a separate server.