Regex to Match URLs with Query Parameters

This regex specifically matches URLs that contain query parameters. Here is the token-by-token breakdown:

https? — Matches 'http' or 'https' as the protocol. The s is optional due to the ? quantifier.

:// — Matches the literal '://' separator between the protocol and domain.

[\w.-]+ — Matches the domain name including subdomains. Word characters, dots, and hyphens are allowed.

.[a-zA-Z]{2,} — Matches a dot followed by the top-level domain of at least two letters.

(?:/[\w./-]) — An optional non-capturing group repeated zero or more times for the URL path. Each segment starts with a slash and allows word characters, dots, slashes, and hyphens.

? — Matches a literal question mark that begins the query string. This is required (not optional), ensuring the URL must have query parameters to match.

[\w=&%.+-]+ — Matches the query string content. It allows word characters, equals signs (for key=value pairs), ampersands (parameter separators), percent signs (encoded characters), dots, plus signs, and hyphens. At least one character is required.

(?:#[\w-]*)? — An optional non-capturing group that matches a fragment identifier (hash). It starts with a literal # followed by zero or more word characters or hyphens.

The g flag enables global matching and the i flag makes it case-insensitive. This pattern is useful for identifying URLs that pass data via query strings, such as search result links or API endpoints.