x-default matching the default language

[jorgemasta]

With next-13-rsc, the localePrefix is by default always. This force to having URLs like:

• mysite.com/en (English version)
• mysite.com/es (Spanish version)

And the app redirects from / to the defined default language. E.g. from / to /en.

The problem came with the x-default version added in the header as alternate pages, since it doesn't include the prefix.

• <link rel="alternate" href="https://mysite.com/en" hreflang="en" />
• <link rel="alternate" href="https://mysite.com/es" hreflang="es" />
• <link rel="alternate" href="https://mysite.com" hreflang="x-default" />

This adds an innecesary redirect when using the unmatched language.

Should we add the default prefix to the x-default value?

• <link rel="alternate" href="https://mysite.com/en" hreflang="x-default" />

[amannn]

Note that x-default is used to express where a language can be picked (in this case automatically via accept-language). This is different from the default locale, which is used as a fallback when no other locale matches. The redirect is therefore expected.

Hope this helps!

[jorgemasta]

I'm still struggling to find the best approach for this. Ahref doesn't recommend redirects and says x-default should be a screen where users select their locale.

I also found this example in the Google Developer Page:

<link
  rel="alternate"
  hreflang="en"
  href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data"
/>
<link
  rel="alternate"
  hreflang="x-default"
  href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data"
/>
<link
  rel="alternate"
  hreflang="ar"
  href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data?hl=ar"
/>
<link
  rel="alternate"
  hreflang="fr"
  href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data?hl=fr"
/>
<link
  rel="alternate"
  hreflang="de"
  href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/intro-structured-data?hl=de"
/>

They use the English version for the x-default.