Export fails when image file URLs are used in <a href>

[bridgeyuwa]

Description

When using Spatie’s export/crawler on a Blade template, if gallery images are wrapped in <a href="{{ asset(...) }}">, the crawler attempts to fetch each URL over HTTP. If the live server cannot serve the file (e.g., filenames contain spaces, parentheses, or the file is missing), it returns a 500 error, causing the export to fail.

Example of problematic code:

    <a href="{{ asset('images/path/' . $image->getFilename()) }}" class="glightbox">
        <img src="{{ asset('images/path/' . $image->getFilename()) }}">
    </a>

Expected behavior

During local export, the crawler should:

• Use local filesystem paths for <a href> instead of HTTP URLs.
• Or provide an option to ignore external/internal URLs so the export doesn’t fail.

Observed behavior

• The crawler requests the live URL of each linked image.
• URLs with spaces, parentheses, or inaccessible files return 500.
• Export fails with a RuntimeException, e.g.:

URL [https://example.com/images/projects/filename.jpg] found on [...] returned status code [500]

Proposed solution / workaround

• Use $image->getPathname() for <a href> during local exports:

<a href="{{ $isExport ? $image->getPathname() : asset('images/projects/' . $image->getFilename()) }}">

Additional context

• Works fine when <img src> points to the local filesystem.
• Only fails when <a href> points to a URL the crawler tries to fetch.
• Filenames with spaces or parentheses are more prone to trigger 500 errors.

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a Blade template with a gallery where each image is wrapped in <a href="{{ asset(...) }}">.
2. Add the Spatie export/crawler to export the page locally.
3. Use image filenames with spaces or parentheses.
4. Run the crawler/export — observe the 500 errors for those image URLs.

[rambii]

Another workaround where you won't need to adjust each link:

Route::get('images/{file}', function ($file) {
    $path = public_path("images/{$file}");
    if (file_exists($path)) {
        return response()->file($path);
    }
    abort(404);
})->where('file', '.*');

[freekmurze]

This isn't really a bug in the package. The crawler discovers all internal <a href> links and tries to fetch them through the Laravel kernel. Since Laravel doesn't have routes for static files like images, those requests return a 500.

The static files from your public directory are already included in the export via the include_files config, so the crawler doesn't need to fetch them.

The easiest fix is the workaround @rambii suggested: add a catch-all route that serves the static files:

Route::get('images/{file}', function ($file) {
    $path = public_path("images/{$file}");
    if (file_exists($path)) {
        return response()->file($path);
    }
    abort(404);
})->where('file', '.*');

Alternatively, you can disable crawling and specify the paths to export manually:

// config/export.php
'crawl' => false,
'paths' => ['/', '/about', '/gallery'],