RegexRoutes - bounded, allocation-free regex routes

Layer: L7 Application · Build flags: none (core features only)

What this example teaches

on_regex() matches the whole request path against a small regular-expression subset, for routing rules that :param segments cannot express (numeric-only ids, specific file extensions). The matcher is allocation-free and bounded by RE_MAX_STEPS so it stays deterministic - no catastrophic backtracking.

The supported subset. ., the quantifiers * + ?, character classes [...] / [^...] with a-z ranges, the shorthands \d \w \s, and \ escapes. It is non-capturing (use :name path params if you need to capture):

server.on_regex("/sensor/[0-9]+", HttpMethod::HTTP_GET, handle_sensor); // only numeric ids
server.on_regex("/img/.+\\.png", HttpMethod::HTTP_GET, handle_png);     // only *.png paths

/sensor/42 matches but /sensor/abc does not (404); /img/cat.png matches but /img/cat.gif does not. The whole path must match (it is anchored), and the match cost is capped by RE_MAX_STEPS, which is why this is safe to expose to untrusted input.

Build and run

pio ci --board=esp32dev --project-option="framework=arduino" \
  --lib="." examples/L7-Application/RegexRoutes/RegexRoutes.ino

curl http://<ip>/sensor/42     # 200 (digits)
curl http://<ip>/sensor/abc    # 404
curl http://<ip>/img/cat.png   # 200
curl http://<ip>/img/cat.gif   # 404

Annotated source

The complete sketch (RegexRoutes.ino), reproduced verbatim with added explanatory comments:

// Copyright (C) 2026 Douglas Quigg (dstroy0) <dquigg123@gmail.com>
// SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
 
#include "protocore.h"
#include "network_drivers/physical/physical/physical.h"
 
static const char *SSID = "YOUR_SSID";
static const char *PASSWORD = "YOUR_PASSWORD";
 
PC server;
 
void handle_sensor(uint8_t slot_id, HttpReq *req)
{
    char body[96];
    snprintf(body, sizeof(body), "{\"path\":\"%s\",\"matched\":\"numeric sensor id\"}", req->path);
    server.send(slot_id, 200, "application/json", body);
}
 
void handle_png(uint8_t slot_id, HttpReq *req)
{
    char body[96];
    snprintf(body, sizeof(body), "{\"path\":\"%s\",\"matched\":\"png image\"}", req->path);
    server.send(slot_id, 200, "application/json", body);
}
 
void setup()
{
    Serial.begin(115200);
 
    Physical.wifi->init(SSID, PASSWORD);
    Serial.print("Connecting to WiFi");
    while (!Physical.wifi->ready())
    {
        delay(250);
        Serial.print('.');
    }
    uint32_t ip = Physical.link->egress_ip(); // library egress IP (network byte order), no Arduino WiFi
    Serial.printf("IP: %u.%u.%u.%u\n", (unsigned)(ip & 0xFF), (unsigned)((ip >> 8) & 0xFF),
                  (unsigned)((ip >> 16) & 0xFF), (unsigned)((ip >> 24) & 0xFF));
 
 
    server.on_regex("/sensor/[0-9]+", HttpMethod::HTTP_GET, handle_sensor); // only numeric ids
    server.on_regex("/img/.+\\.png", HttpMethod::HTTP_GET, handle_png);     // only *.png paths
 
    int32_t result = server.begin(80);
    if (result < 0)
    {
        Serial.printf("begin() failed (error %d)\n", result);
        return;
    }
    Serial.println("Server started on port 80");
}
 
void loop()
{
    server.handle();
}