Next.js Best Practices
Apply these rules when writing or reviewing Next.js code.
Note: Next.js 16 renamed
to
. Verify
support in your version;
remains the stable API.
Table of Contents
File Conventions
See file-conventions.md for:
- Project structure and special files
- Route segments (dynamic, catch-all, groups)
- Parallel and intercepting routes
- Middleware rename in v16 (middleware → proxy)
RSC Boundaries
Detect invalid React Server Component patterns.
See rsc-boundaries.md for:
- Async client component detection (invalid)
- Non-serializable props detection
- Server Action exceptions
Async Patterns
Next.js 16.1.6+ async API changes.
See async-patterns.md for:
- Async and
- Async and
- Migration codemod
Runtime Selection
See runtime-selection.md for:
- Default to Node.js runtime
- When Edge runtime is appropriate
Directives
See directives.md for:
Functions
See functions.md for:
- Navigation hooks: , , ,
- Server functions: , , ,
- Generate functions: ,
Error Handling
See error-handling.md for:
- , ,
- , ,
- , (auth errors)
- for catch blocks
Data Patterns
See data-patterns.md for:
- Server Components vs Server Actions vs Route Handlers
- Avoiding data waterfalls (, Suspense, preload)
- Client component data fetching
Route Handlers
See route-handlers.md for:
- basics
- GET handler conflicts with
- Environment behavior (no React DOM)
- When to use vs Server Actions
Metadata & OG Images
See metadata.md for:
- Static and dynamic metadata
- function
- OG image generation with
- File-based metadata conventions
Image Optimization
See image.md for:
- Always use over
- Remote images configuration
- Responsive attribute
- Blur placeholders
- Priority loading for LCP
Font Optimization
See font.md for:
- setup
- Google Fonts, local fonts
- Tailwind CSS integration
- Preloading subsets
Bundling
See bundling.md for:
- Server-incompatible packages
- CSS imports (not link tags)
- Polyfills (already included)
- ESM/CommonJS issues
- Bundle analysis
Scripts
See scripts.md for:
- vs native script tags
- Inline scripts need
- Loading strategies
- Google Analytics with
Hydration Errors
See hydration-error.md for:
- Common causes (browser APIs, dates, invalid HTML)
- Debugging with error overlay
- Fixes for each cause
Suspense Boundaries
See suspense-boundaries.md for:
- CSR bailout with and
- Which hooks require Suspense boundaries
Parallel & Intercepting Routes
See parallel-routes.md for:
- Modal patterns with and interceptors
- for fallbacks
- Closing modals correctly with
Self-Hosting
See self-hosting.md for:
- for Docker
- Cache handlers for multi-instance ISR
- What works vs needs extra setup
Debug Tricks
See debug-tricks.md for:
- MCP endpoint for AI-assisted debugging
- Rebuild specific routes with