Skip to main content

​
Overview

URL pattern matching is a powerful feature in Usertour that helps you control exactly where your content appears. You can use it to:
  • Auto-start onboarding flows or product tours
  • Progress to the next step based on URL changes
  • Mark checklist tasks as completed when users reach certain pages
  • Control where specific content appears in your application
Note: These URL pattern rules apply to Current page conditions only. For Navigate to page actions, you’ll need to use the full URL and can insert user attributes for dynamic values.

​
Quick Reference

Here are the key rules to remember:
  • Only specify the URL parts you care about - omit the rest
  • Use - as a wildcard to match anything
  • Use :segment to match a single dynamic segment
  • You can specify multiple patterns to include or exclude

​
Common Patterns

​
1. Exact Path Matching

/app/dashboard
This matches any domain with exactly this path. ✅ Matches:
  • https://example.com/app/dashboard
  • http://example.com/app/dashboard
  • https://other-example.com/app/dashboard
❌ Does not match:
  • https://example.com/app
  • https://example.com/app/dashboard/sub
  • https://example.com/app/dashboard/sub/page

​
2. Including Subpaths

/app*
The * matches everything (including nothing). ✅ Matches:
  • https://example.com/app
  • https://example.com/app/projects
  • https://example.com/app/projects/1
  • https://other-example.com/app
  • https://example.com/applications
❌ Does not match:
  • https://example.com/settings

​
3. Only Subpaths

/app/*
Note the / before the *. ✅ Matches:
  • https://example.com/app/projects
  • https://example.com/app/projects/1
  • https://other-example.com/app/projects
❌ Does not match:
  • https://example.com/app
  • https://example.com/applications

​
4. Dynamic Path Segments

/projects/:project/details
:project matches any single path segment (anything except /). ✅ Matches:
  • https://example.com/projects/1/details
  • https://example.com/projects/2/details
❌ Does not match:
  • https://example.com/projects/1/details/edit
  • https://example.com/projects/1/history

​
5. Mixing Dynamic Segments and Subpaths

/app/:company/projects/*
✅ Matches:
  • https://example.com/app/apple/projects/1
  • https://example.com/app/banana/projects/1
  • https://example.com/app/banana/projects/1/details
❌ Does not match:
  • https://example.com/app/apple/projects

​
6. Specific Domain

app.com
✅ Matches:
  • https://app.com/
  • https://app.com/any/path
❌ Does not match:
  • https://www.app.com/
  • https://not-app.com/

​
7. Dynamic Subdomain

:subdomain.app.com
✅ Matches:
  • https://www.app.com/
  • https://www.app.com/any/path
  • https://dashboard.app.com/
❌ Does not match:
  • https://app.com/
  • https://multiple.levels.app.com/
  • https://www.not-app.com/

​
8. Mix Domain and Path

:subdomain.example.com/app/:company/projects\*
✅ Matches:
  • https://dashboard.example.com/app/apple/projects
  • https://dashboard.example.com/app/apple/projects/1

​
URL Structure

Let’s break down a URL into its components: 
https://my.app.com/acme-inc/dashboard?tab=analytics#charts
\___/   \________/\_________________/ \___________/ \____/
  |         |              |                |          |
scheme    domain          path            query     fragment

​
Scheme

The part before :// (usually http or https).
  • Usually optional in patterns
  • Only specify if you need to match a specific scheme
https://my.app.com/acme-inc/dashboard?tab=analytics#charts
\___/
  |
scheme

​
Domain

The part between :// and the first /. 
https://my.app.com/acme-inc/dashboard?tab=analytics#charts
        \________/
            |
          domain

​
Dynamic Subdomains

To match dynamic subdomains (e.g. apple.app.com and banana.app.com), use a colon and an arbitrary name such as :company.app.com. :company will match a non-empty subdomain, meaning it will not include .. The name after : does not matter and is currently not used for anything. :company.app.com and :subdomain.app.com are equivalent and will match:
  • apple.app.com
  • banana.app.com
They will not match:
  • app.com (missing subdomain)
  • more.apple.app.com (more subdomains)

​
Wildcard Domains

You can also use * as a wildcard character to match any number of subdomains. *.app.com will match both one.app.com and one.two.app.com, but not app.com. *app.com will match app.com, but will also match myapp.com.

​
Path

In a URL, the path is the part that comes after the domain and before either the query parameters (starting with ?) or the fragment (starting with #). 
https://my.app.com/acme-inc/dashboard?tab=analytics#charts
                  \_________________/
                           |
                          path

​
Basic Rules

  1. Paths MUST start with a forward slash /
  2. If you omit the leading / (e.g. app/projects), the system will treat app as a domain
  3. The correct pattern should be /app/projects

​
Dynamic Path Segments

Use :paramName to match dynamic path segments: 
// Example: /app/:company/projects
// :company matches any non-empty string without /
✅ Will match:
  • /app/apple/projects
  • /app/banana/projects
❌ Won’t match:
  • /app/projects (missing company segment)
  • /app/apple/projects/1 (path too deep)
Tip: Parameter names like :company or :slug are just identifiers - you can name them anything, they don’t affect the matching logic

​
Wildcard Matching

Use * to match any path:
  1. /app/*
    • ✅ Matches /app/one, /app/one/two
    • ❌ Does not match /app
    • Note: Requires at least one segment after /app/
  2. /app*
    • ✅ Matches /app, /applications
    • Note: Matches anything that starts with app
  3. /*/projects
    • ✅ Matches /app/projects, /app/one/two/three/projects
    • Note: Matches projects at any depth

​
Combining Patterns

You can mix dynamic segments and wildcards in the same pattern: 
/*/customers/:customer/invoices/:invoice/*
This pattern will:
  • Match any path at the start
  • Capture a specific customer
  • Capture a specific invoice
  • Match any remaining path

​
Query

The part that comes after ? and before # in a URL. 
https://my.app.com/acme-inc/dashboard?tab=analytics#charts
                                      \___________/
                                            |
                                          query

​
Basic Rules

  • Query parameters are key-value pairs (e.g. key=value)
  • Multiple parameters are separated by &
  • Order doesn’t matter
  • Extra parameters are ignored
  • Parameter values are optional

​
Examples

?fruit=apple&tab=analytics will match:
  • ?fruit=apple&tab=analytics
  • ?tab=analytics&fruit=apple (different order, same result)
  • ?other=test&fruit=apple&tab=analytics (extra params ignored)

​
Wildcard Matching

  1. Match values starting with specific text:
// ?param=a* matches:
- ?param=apple
- ?param=admin
// But won't match:
- ?param=banana (doesn't start with 'a')
- ?param (no value)
- ?param2=apple (wrong parameter name)
  1. Match any value:
// ?param=* matches:
- ?param=anything
- ?param (empty value is OK)
// But won't match:
- ?param2=value (wrong parameter)

​
Fragment

The part that comes after # in a URL. 
https://my.app.com/acme-inc/dashboard?tab=analytics#charts
                                                    \____/
                                                       |
                                                    fragment

​
Fragment Patterns

Fragments follow the same rules as paths:
  1. Dynamic segments:
#/projects/:project/dashboard
  1. Wildcards:
#/projects/:project/dashboard/*
Tip: In single-page applications (SPAs), fragments often act like paths and can be matched using the same patterns