but will result in a 404 error when trying to interact with the application files in the site root directory. If i point path mappings to the site root with my application files, my API calls will work in postman but it wont serve my static files and gives me a 404 error when trying to access the static files.
Is this an ASP.NET Core application? If so, it sounds like the static file handler is not configured correctly or does not exist. The Web API Core template does not add a static file handler by default. Make sure the static file handler is registered.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/static-files?view=aspnetcore-8.0