diff --git a/src/dev-server.ts b/src/dev-server.ts
index 7e5ef8c..6bf1f0f 100644
--- a/src/dev-server.ts
+++ b/src/dev-server.ts
@@ -8,10 +8,17 @@ export interface DevServerOptions {
 	exclude?: (string | RegExp)[];
 	injectClientScript?: boolean;
 	loadModule?: (server: ViteDevServer, entry: string) => Promise<any>;
+	/**
+	 * Routes that should be forwarded to the server.
+	 * All other routes will serve index.html for SPA support.
+	 * Set to undefined or empty array to forward all routes to server (old behavior).
+	 */
+	serverRoutes?: string[];
 }
 
 export const defaultOptions: Partial<DevServerOptions> = {
 	entry: "./src/server.ts",
+	serverRoutes: ["/api/*"],
 	exclude: [
 		/.*\.tsx?$/,
 		/.*\.ts$/,
@@ -38,6 +45,48 @@ interface SrvxApp {
 	fetch: (request: Request) => Response | Promise<Response>;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Check if a URL matches a route pattern.
+ * Supports wildcard (*) at the end of patterns.
+ */
+function matchesRoute(url: string, pattern: string): boolean {
+	if (pattern.endsWith("*")) {
+		const prefix = pattern.slice(0, -1);
+		return url.startsWith(prefix);
+	}
+	return url === pattern;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Check if a URL matches any of the server routes.
+ */
+function isServerRoute(url: string, serverRoutes: string[]): boolean {
+	return serverRoutes.some((pattern) => matchesRoute(url, pattern));
+}
+
+/**
+ * Serve index.html with Vite transformations applied.
+ */
+async function serveIndexHtml(
+	server: ViteDevServer,
+	req: IncomingMessage,
+	res: ServerResponse,
+): Promise<boolean> {
+	const indexPath = path.join(server.config.root, "index.html");
+	if (fs.existsSync(indexPath)) {
+		const html = await server.transformIndexHtml(
+			req.url!,
+			fs.readFileSync(indexPath, "utf-8"),
+		);
+		res.statusCode = 200;
+		res.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/html");
+		res.setHeader("Content-Length", Buffer.byteLength(html));
+		res.end(html);
+		return true;
+	}
+	return false;
+}
+
 function createMiddleware(server: ViteDevServer, options: DevServerOptions) {
 	return async (
 		req: IncomingMessage,
@@ -46,39 +95,35 @@ function createMiddleware(server: ViteDevServer, options: DevServerOptions) {
 	) => {
 		const config = server.config;
 		const base = config.base === "/" ? "" : config.base;
+		const serverRoutes = options.serverRoutes;
 
-		if (req.url === "/" || req.url === base || req.url === `${base}/`) {
-			const indexPath = path.join(config.root, "index.html");
-			if (fs.existsSync(indexPath)) {
-				const html = await server.transformIndexHtml(
-					req.url,
-					fs.readFileSync(indexPath, "utf-8"),
-				);
-				res.statusCode = 200;
-				res.setHeader("Content-Type", "text/html");
-				res.setHeader("Content-Length", Buffer.byteLength(html));
-				res.end(html);
-				return;
-			}
-		}
+		// Strip query string for pattern matching
+		const urlPath = req.url?.split("?")[0] || "/";
 
-		const exclude = options.exclude ?? defaultOptions.exclude ?? [];
+		// Check serverRoutes FIRST - these always go to the server regardless of exclude patterns
+		const isServerRouteMatch = serverRoutes && serverRoutes.length > 0 && isServerRoute(req.url || "/", serverRoutes);
 
-		for (const pattern of exclude) {
-			if (req.url) {
+		// Check excluded patterns (vite assets, source files, etc) - pass to Vite
+		// But skip this check if the URL matches a server route
+		if (!isServerRouteMatch) {
+			const exclude = options.exclude ?? defaultOptions.exclude ?? [];
+			for (const pattern of exclude) {
 				if (pattern instanceof RegExp) {
-					if (pattern.test(req.url)) {
+					// Test both with and without query string for regex patterns
+					if (pattern.test(urlPath) || pattern.test(req.url || "")) {
 						return next();
 					}
 				} else if (typeof pattern === "string") {
-					if (req.url.startsWith(pattern)) {
+					if (urlPath.startsWith(pattern) || req.url?.startsWith(pattern)) {
 						return next();
 					}
 				}
 			}
 		}
 
-		if (req.url?.startsWith(base)) {
+		// Check if file exists in public dir - pass to Vite
+		// But skip this check if the URL matches a server route
+		if (!isServerRouteMatch && req.url?.startsWith(base)) {
 			const publicDir = config.publicDir;
 			if (publicDir && fs.existsSync(publicDir)) {
 				const filePath = path.join(publicDir, req.url.replace(base, ""));
@@ -88,6 +133,27 @@ function createMiddleware(server: ViteDevServer, options: DevServerOptions) {
 			}
 		}
 
+		// If serverRoutes is defined, check if this URL should go to the server
+		// If not a server route, serve index.html for SPA support
+		if (serverRoutes && serverRoutes.length > 0) {
+			if (!isServerRouteMatch) {
+				// Not a server route - serve index.html for SPA
+				if (await serveIndexHtml(server, req, res)) {
+					return;
+				}
+				// No index.html found, fall through to next middleware
+				return next();
+			}
+		} else {
+			// No serverRoutes defined - old behavior: serve index.html for root
+			if (req.url === "/" || req.url === base || req.url === `${base}/`) {
+				if (await serveIndexHtml(server, req, res)) {
+					return;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Forward to server app
 		let app: SrvxApp | undefined;
 
 		try {
diff --git a/src/srvx.ts b/src/srvx.ts
index 62b1f11..6ea1d4f 100644
--- a/src/srvx.ts
+++ b/src/srvx.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ export function srvx(options?: SrvxOptions): Plugin[] {
 			exclude: mergedOptions.exclude,
 			injectClientScript: mergedOptions.injectClientScript,
 			loadModule: mergedOptions.loadModule,
+			serverRoutes: mergedOptions.serverRoutes,
 		}),
 
 		// Client build plugin