# Node .htaccess Generator

This project simplifies the process of creating an `.htaccess` file for Apache web servers using Node.js. It is specifically designed for Next.js projects but can be adapted for other static site generators as well. The `.htaccess` file generated by this tool enables clean and SEO-friendly URLs for your static website.

## Installation

To install the package as a development dependency, run the following command in your terminal:

```bash
npm install next-htaccess-generator --save-dev
```

## Configuration

Before using the generator, you need to configure it by creating a `jay.config.json` file at the root of your project folder. This file should contain the following properties:

```json
{
  "buildPath": "./out",
  "include404": false,
  "outputPath": "out"
}
```

- `buildPath`: Specifies the directory where your Next.js static build is located (e.g., `./out`).
- `include404`: A boolean value indicating whether to include rewrite rules for 404 pages. Set it to `false` if you want to exclude 404 pages.
- `outputPath`: Defines the path where the generated `.htaccess` file should be saved.

## Usage

After configuring the `jay.config.json` file, you can add a script to your `package.json` to generate the `.htaccess` file:

```json
"scripts": {
  "build-htaccess": "next-htaccess-generator build"
}
```

To generate the `.htaccess` file, run the following command:

```bash
npm run build-htaccess
```

This command scans the directory specified in `buildPath` for HTML files, generates URL rewrite rules for each file, and saves them to the `outputPath` directory.

## How it Works

The generator script follows these steps:

1. Reads the configuration from the `jay.config.json` file.
2. Recursively scans the specified `buildPath` directory and collects all HTML file paths.
3. Generates Apache URL rewrite rules for each HTML file.
4. Optionally adds a catch-all rule to redirect unmatched URLs (unless `include404` is set to `true`).
5. Writes the generated rules to an `.htaccess` file in the specified `outputPath` directory.

The resulting `.htaccess` file can be placed in the root directory of your Apache web server, enabling clean and SEO-friendly URLs for your Next.js static build.