---
id: ck-ops-1
title: "Extensionless page goes dark after creating a same-named directory (Apache DirectorySlash)"
type: issue-resolution
applies_to:
  plan: [apache-httpd]
  region: all
  version: "2.4 · mod_dir + mod_rewrite, .htaccess context"
owner: j-odonnell
lifecycle: current
verified: "2026-09-08"
sections:
  - id: "ck-ops-1#environment"
    self_contained: true
  - id: "ck-ops-1#issue"
    self_contained: true
  - id: "ck-ops-1#cause"
    self_contained: true
  - id: "ck-ops-1#resolution"
    self_contained: true
  - id: "ck-ops-1#verify"
    self_contained: true
---

## Environment {#environment}
Apache 2.4 on shared hosting, serving a static site. Clean extensionless
URLs (`/page` serving `page.html`) come from mod_rewrite rules in the
docroot `.htaccess`. mod_dir is active with its default `DirectorySlash On`;
directory listings are disabled.

## Issue {#issue}
On an Apache site that serves extensionless clean URLs, creating a
subdirectory with the same name as a page (`page/` next to `page.html`)
makes the bare URL `/page` stop serving. It returns a 301 redirect to
`/page/`, which returns 403. URLs deeper inside the new directory keep
working, so the breakage is easy to miss. A plain fetch of the bare URL can
look like a stale page, because the response body is the redirect stub —
check the HTTP status line before diagnosing content.

## Cause {#cause}
mod_dir's trailing-slash redirect (`DirectorySlash On`, the Apache default)
fires for any request URL that maps to an existing directory, and it wins
before the per-directory mod_rewrite rule that would serve `page.html`. The
slash-redirected URL then returns 403 because directory listings are
disabled and the directory has no index document.

## Resolution {#resolution}
In the docroot `.htaccess` of an Apache site whose extensionless page is
shadowed by a same-named directory:

1. Set `DirectorySlash Off` so the trailing-slash redirect no longer
   preempts the rewrite to `page.html`.
2. Keep `Options -Indexes` set explicitly. With `DirectorySlash Off`, a
   bare directory URL is otherwise eligible for a listing wherever
   autoindex is enabled.
3. Add a one-hop 301 from the slashed form back to the canonical
   extensionless URL. The rule from the incident this article records
   (the page `/field-notes` on contextkeeping.com, shadowed by a new
   `field-notes/` directory):
   `RewriteRule ^field-notes/$ https://contextkeeping.com/field-notes [R=301,L]`
4. Add the verification probes below to the deployment checklist, so the
   next same-named directory cannot ship the regression silently.

## Verify {#verify}
Run three probes against the live Apache site after uploading the
`.htaccess` that resolves a directory-shadowed extensionless page. These
are the probes from the recorded incident, and they pass against the live
site today:

    curl -sI https://contextkeeping.com/field-notes | head -1
                              # expect: HTTP/1.1 200 OK
    curl -sI https://contextkeeping.com/field-notes/ | grep -i "^location"
                              # expect: one hop to /field-notes
    curl -sI https://contextkeeping.com/field-notes/system-of-record | head -1
                              # expect: HTTP/1.1 200 OK

All three passing means the page serves, the slashed form canonicalizes in
one hop, and the directory's real children are unaffected.