I have a NextJS middleware where I need to check if a category exists. If not, go to a 404 page.
The directory looks like this

pages/
├──[category_code].jsx
└── ...(other pages)
middleware.jsx

The middleware is being executed but how do I match this path in the matcher config?

Here’s my middlware

import { NextResponse } from "next/server";

export async function middleware(request) {
    // this is executed
}

// I need this middleware to target [category_code].jsx
export const config = {
    matcher: "/pages/:path",
};

I need this middleware to target [category_code].jsx but it doesn’t.
Ive tried

/:path
/:path*
/:category_code
/[category_code]

What should I do?