JSS layout api returns 404 when item requested by display name

Question

We are trying to use display names for URLs and it doesn't work with JSS. E.g. we have a page "search" which has a display name in NL: zoeken.

• when I request http://localhost:3000/en/search , the JSS api call is http://local.sc/sitecore/api/layout/render/jss?item=%2Fsearch&sc_lang=en (I've omitted api key), and it returns page data -> OK
• when I request http://localhost:3000/nl/zoeken, the JSS api call is http://local.sc/sitecore/api/layout/render/jss?item=%2Fzoeken&sc_lang=nl, and it returns 404 -> NOK

We use Sitecore 9.1 initial release. Looks like a bug, but can I maybe there's a workaround? Thanks in advance!

UPDATE Actually, the problem happens not only in connected mode but also in integrated.

E.g. if I request http://local.sc/nl/zoeken - the page will be rendered, because in that case Item resolution pipeline runs and sets item correctly based on the display name.

However, if I request http://local.sc/en/search and then using the language switcher will try to navigate to /nl/zoeken, this will fail, because React router takes over the navigation and instead of requesting the whole page from the server, it only tries to retrieve /sitecore/api/layout/render/jss?item=%2Fzoeken&sc_lang=nl which return 404.

Concluding the above, I think this is a bug in Sitecore, particularly in the item resolution pipeline of the Layout Service.

Answer 1

This is indeed a bug in pre-9.2 versions of Sitecore JSS. So you have 3 options:

• Upgrade to 9.2 and use newer JSS version which has this bug fixed
• Ask Sitecore Support to provide a fix for your version of Sitecore

• As a do-it-yourself workaround, compare the implementation of the Sitecore.LayoutService.Mvc.ItemResolving.ItemResolver class from 9.2 version of JSS with the one from your version of Sitecore and implement a custom resolver based on the differences. After that you can replace the default implementation with your custom one in Sitecore DI configuration code:

  serviceCollection.Remove(ServiceDescriptor.Transient<IItemResolver, ItemResolver>()); serviceCollection.AddTransient<IItemResolver, YourFixedResolver>();