Redirect responses in NestJS

Introduction

Redirect responses send users to a different URL automatically. This helps guide users to the right page without them clicking links.

After a user logs in, send them to their dashboard page.

When a page is moved, redirect visitors to the new location.

Send users to a login page if they try to access a protected route.

After submitting a form, redirect to a confirmation page.

Redirect from a root URL to a main homepage.

Syntax

NestJS

import { Controller, Get, Res } from '@nestjs/common';
import { Response } from 'express';

@Controller()
export class AppController {
  @Get('old-path')
  redirectToNew(@Res() res: Response) {
    return res.redirect('/new-path');
  }
}

Use the @Res() decorator to access the response object.

Call res.redirect() with the URL to send a redirect response.

Examples

Redirects the user to the '/home' URL.

NestJS

res.redirect('/home');

Redirects with status code 301 (permanent redirect) to '/new-location'.

NestJS

res.redirect(301, '/new-location');

Redirects to an external website URL.

NestJS

res.redirect('https://example.com');

Sample Program

This controller has two routes. Visiting '/old-page' sends a redirect response to '/new-page'. Visiting '/new-page' shows a welcome message.

NestJS

import { Controller, Get, Res } from '@nestjs/common';
import { Response } from 'express';

@Controller()
export class RedirectController {
  @Get('old-page')
  redirectToNewPage(@Res() res: Response) {
    return res.redirect('/new-page');
  }

  @Get('new-page')
  newPage() {
    return 'Welcome to the new page!';
  }
}

Important Notes

Using @Res() disables automatic response handling, so you must send the response yourself.

Redirect status codes like 301 (permanent) or 302 (temporary) can be specified as the first argument.

Always test redirects in a browser or with tools like curl to confirm behavior.

Summary

Redirect responses send users to a different URL automatically.

Use res.redirect() inside a controller method with @Res().

You can specify the redirect URL and optionally the status code.