Web UI does not support subpath deployment (absolute asset paths ignore EXTERNAL_URL path)

[MiroRavaProj]

I’m trying to deploy DroneDB behind a reverse proxy using a subpath (e.g. /gis-viewer) instead of the domain root, but the Web UI does not load correctly.

Setup

• DroneDB running in Docker

• Accessed via reverse proxy (Synology DSM / nginx-based)

• Public URL intended as:

  https://app.example.com/gis-viewer
  

• Environment variable set:

  EXTERNAL_URL=https://app.example.com/gis-viewer
  

Expected behavior

The frontend should load assets relative to the configured subpath, e.g.:

/gis-viewer/main.js
/gis-viewer/assets/...

Actual behavior

The frontend tries to load assets from the domain root:

/main.js
/assets/...

This results in 404 errors when DroneDB is served under a subpath.
Example browser error:

https://app.example.com/main.js 404 (Not Found)

Notes

• This makes it impossible to host DroneDB under a shared domain with path-based routing.
• Other applications that rely on relative URLs work fine in the same reverse-proxy setup.
• A dedicated subdomain (e.g. https://gis.example.com) works, but subpath deployment currently does not.

Question / Request

Is subpath deployment officially unsupported, or is this a bug?

If unsupported, it might be helpful to:

• document this limitation clearly, or
• allow proper subpath support by honoring EXTERNAL_URL (including path) when generating frontend asset URLs.

Thanks for the great project!

[HeDo88TH]

Thanks for the feedback Miro. Currently publishing on a subpath is not supported. If you own a domain you can easily take a subdomain like hub.youdomain.com and deploy it there.

I will add it to our internal roadmap.

[MiroRavaProj]

Thanks for the clarification!
I’d be happy to help with this if you’re open to external contributions.
I’ve already built DroneDB locally and experimented with adding subpath support by honoring EXTERNAL_URL (including the path) when resolving app wide.
The approach works for most cases, but there are still a few edge cases/bugs I’m ironing out (mainly around asset paths and some internal routing). Before I go further, I wanted to ask:

• Would you be open to a PR adding experimental subpath support?
• Are there any architectural constraints or preferred approaches I should be aware of before continuing?

If it makes sense, I’m happy to align the implementation with your expectations or start with a draft PR for discussion.
Thanks!

[HeDo88TH]

I tried some internal testing and it's a bit tricky to deploy on a subpath, but feel free to code it and open a PR on both https://github.com/DroneDB/Registry and https://github.com/DroneDB/Hub . I will be happy to test and review it.