diff --git a/src/http.c b/src/http.c
index dcefc3e0..947535d0 100644
--- a/src/http.c
+++ b/src/http.c
@@ -67,7 +67,6 @@ typedef struct _tf_http_connection_t
 typedef struct _tf_http_handler_t
 {
 	const char* pattern;
-	bool is_wildcard;
 	tf_http_callback_t* callback;
 	tf_http_cleanup_t* cleanup;
 	void* user_data;
@@ -129,9 +128,15 @@ static void _http_allocate_buffer(uv_handle_t* handle, size_t suggested_size, uv
 	*buf = uv_buf_init(connection->incoming, sizeof(connection->incoming));
 }
 
-static bool _http_pattern_matches(const char* pattern, const char* path, bool is_wildcard)
+bool tf_http_pattern_matches(const char* pattern, const char* path)
 {
-	if (!pattern || !*pattern || (!is_wildcard && strcmp(path, pattern) == 0))
+	if (!pattern || !*pattern)
+	{
+		return true;
+	}
+	const char* k_word = "{word}";
+	bool is_wildcard = strchr(pattern, '*') || strstr(pattern, k_word);
+	if (!is_wildcard && strcmp(path, pattern) == 0)
 	{
 		return true;
 	}
@@ -140,17 +145,34 @@ static bool _http_pattern_matches(const char* pattern, const char* path, bool is
 	{
 		int i = 0;
 		int j = 0;
-		while (pattern[i] && path[j] && pattern[i] != '*' && pattern[i] == path[j])
+		while (pattern[i] && path[j] && pattern[i] == path[j])
 		{
 			i++;
 			j++;
 		}
 
-		if (pattern[i] == '*')
+		size_t k_word_len = strlen(k_word);
+		if (strncmp(pattern + i, k_word, k_word_len) == 0 && ((path[j] >= 'a' && path[j] <= 'z') || (path[j] >= 'A' && path[j] <= 'Z')))
 		{
 			while (true)
 			{
-				if (_http_pattern_matches(pattern + i + 1, path + j, strchr(pattern + i + 1, '*') != NULL))
+				if (((path[j] >= 'a' && path[j] <= 'z') || (path[j] >= 'A' && path[j] <= 'Z') || (path[j] >= '0' && path[j] <= '9')) &&
+					tf_http_pattern_matches(pattern + i + k_word_len, path + j + 1))
+				{
+					return true;
+				}
+				if (!path[j])
+				{
+					break;
+				}
+				j++;
+			}
+		}
+		else if (pattern[i] == '*')
+		{
+			while (true)
+			{
+				if (tf_http_pattern_matches(pattern + i + 1, path + j))
 				{
 					return true;
 				}
@@ -170,7 +192,7 @@ static bool _http_find_handler(tf_http_t* http, const char* path, tf_http_callba
 {
 	for (int i = 0; i < http->handlers_count; i++)
 	{
-		if (_http_pattern_matches(http->handlers[i].pattern, path, http->handlers[i].is_wildcard))
+		if (tf_http_pattern_matches(http->handlers[i].pattern, path))
 		{
 			*out_callback = http->handlers[i].callback;
 			*out_trace_name = http->handlers[i].pattern;
@@ -741,7 +763,6 @@ void tf_http_add_handler(tf_http_t* http, const char* pattern, tf_http_callback_
 	http->handlers = tf_resize_vec(http->handlers, sizeof(tf_http_handler_t) * (http->handlers_count + 1));
 	http->handlers[http->handlers_count++] = (tf_http_handler_t) {
 		.pattern = tf_strdup(pattern),
-		.is_wildcard = pattern && strchr(pattern, '*') != NULL,
 		.callback = callback,
 		.cleanup = cleanup,
 		.user_data = user_data,
diff --git a/src/http.h b/src/http.h
index 64588c1e..6eaba0be 100644
--- a/src/http.h
+++ b/src/http.h
@@ -228,4 +228,12 @@ void tf_http_request_websocket_upgrade(tf_http_request_t* request);
 */
 const char* tf_http_status_text(int status);
 
+/**
+** Match URL patterns.  "*" matches anything, and "{word}" matches [a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9]*".
+** @param pattern The pattern to match.
+** @param path The path to test.
+** @return true if the path matches the pattern.
+*/
+bool tf_http_pattern_matches(const char* pattern, const char* path);
+
 /** @} */
diff --git a/src/tests.c b/src/tests.c
index cddc18a1..b7df802b 100644
--- a/src/tests.c
+++ b/src/tests.c
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 #include "http.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "mem.h"
-#include "ssb.h"
 #include "ssb.db.h"
+#include "ssb.h"
 #include "ssb.tests.h"
 #include "util.js.h"
 
@@ -850,16 +850,14 @@ static void _test_httpd(const tf_test_options_t* options)
 	char command[256];
 	snprintf(command, sizeof(command), "%s run -b 0 --db-path=out/test_db0.sqlite" TEST_ARGS, options->exe_path);
 
-	uv_stdio_container_t stdio[] =
-	{
+	uv_stdio_container_t stdio[] = {
 		[STDIN_FILENO] = { .flags = UV_IGNORE },
 		[STDOUT_FILENO] = { .flags = UV_INHERIT_FD },
 		[STDERR_FILENO] = { .flags = UV_INHERIT_FD },
 	};
 	uv_process_t process = { 0 };
 	uv_spawn(&loop, &process,
-		&(uv_process_options_t)
-		{
+		&(uv_process_options_t) {
 			.file = options->exe_path,
 			.args = (char*[]) { (char*)options->exe_path, "run", "-b0", "--db-path=out/test_db0.sqlite", "--http-port=8080", "--https-port=0", NULL },
 			.stdio_count = sizeof(stdio) / sizeof(*stdio),
@@ -906,6 +904,19 @@ static void _test_httpd(const tf_test_options_t* options)
 	uv_loop_close(&loop);
 }
 
+static void _test_pattern(const tf_test_options_t* options)
+{
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("/~core/test/", "/~core/test/"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("/~core/test/*", "/~core/test/"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("/~core/test/*", "/~core/test/blah"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("*/~core/test/", "/~core/test/"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("*/~core/test/", "blah/~core/test/"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("/~*/*/", "/~core/test/"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("/~{word}/*", "/~core/test"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("/~{word}/{word}/", "/~core/test/"));
+	assert(tf_http_pattern_matches("/~{word}/{word}", "/~core/test"));
+}
+
 static void _test_auto_process_exit(uv_process_t* process, int64_t status, int termination_signal)
 {
 	tf_printf("Process exit %d signal=%d.\n", (int)WEXITSTATUS(status), termination_signal);
@@ -1012,6 +1023,7 @@ void tf_tests(const tf_test_options_t* options)
 	_tf_test_run(options, "bip39", _test_bip39, false);
 	_tf_test_run(options, "http", _test_http, false);
 	_tf_test_run(options, "httpd", _test_httpd, false);
+	_tf_test_run(options, "pattern", _test_pattern, false);
 	_tf_test_run(options, "ssb", tf_ssb_test_ssb, false);
 	_tf_test_run(options, "ssb_id", tf_ssb_test_id_conversion, false);
 	_tf_test_run(options, "ssb_following", tf_ssb_test_following, false);