.. _-pathPrefix-:

pathPrefix
==========

Matches and consumes a prefix of the unmatched path of the ``RequestContext`` against the given ``PathMatcher``,
potentially extracts one or more values (depending on the type of the argument).


Signature
---------

.. includecode2:: /../../akka-http-scala/src/main/scala/akka/http/scaladsl/server/directives/PathDirectives.scala
   :snippet: pathPrefix


Description
-----------

This directive filters incoming requests based on the part of their URI that hasn't been matched yet by other
potentially existing ``pathPrefix`` or :ref:`-rawPathPrefix-` directives on higher levels of the routing structure.
Its one parameter is usually an expression evaluating to a ``PathMatcher`` instance (see also: :ref:`pathmatcher-dsl`).

As opposed to its :ref:`-rawPathPrefix-` counterpart ``pathPrefix`` automatically adds a leading slash to its
``PathMatcher`` argument, you therefore don't have to start your matching expression with an explicit slash.

Depending on the type of its ``PathMatcher`` argument the ``pathPrefix`` directive extracts zero or more values from
the URI. If the match fails the request is rejected with an :ref:`empty rejection set <empty rejections>`.


Example
-------

.. includecode2:: ../../../../code/docs/http/scaladsl/server/directives/PathDirectivesExamplesSpec.scala
   :snippet: pathPrefix-