SERVERREQUESTURI

SERVERREQUESTURI is a term used in web server and application contexts to refer to the request target as reported by the client. It denotes the absolute path and query part of the URL used to access a resource, excluding the scheme, host, and port. The exact representation can vary by server and language, leading to occasional variations in identifiers such as SERVER_REQUEST_URI or REQUEST_URI.

In PHP, the standard variable holding this information is $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']; the value typically starts with a slash and includes the path and query string, e.g., /store/item?id=42. It may reflect the original request or the rewritten path depending on server configuration and routing. In other languages and environments, equivalent properties exist (for example, req.url in Node.js Express, environ['PATH_INFO'] in WSGI, or SCRIPT_NAME in CGI). Some frameworks store a normalized or decoded version for convenience.

Usage of the request URI is common in routing decisions, redirection logic, logging, and analytics. It is a client-provided value and can be manipulated, so it should not be trusted for security decisions without proper validation and sanitization. Differences between the raw request URI and the final resource served can arise due to URL rewriting, proxying, or routing configurations.

Limitations can include encoding variations (percent-encoding), potential normalization by servers, and discrepancies across environments. Developers should consult their specific server or framework documentation to understand how the value is populated and any transformations that may apply.

See also: REQUEST_URI, SCRIPT_NAME, PATH_INFO, QUERY_STRING.