Next.js Deployment Guide#

This guide explains how to prepare your Next.js project for deployment using Atlas. Next.js applications are natively optimized for deployment to Vercel, though Atlas also supports deployment to Netlify and Render.

1. Project Detection#

Atlas detects Next.js projects by locating next within your package.json dependencies. Atlas supports both the App Router (app/) and the Pages Router (pages/).

2. Build and Start Scripts#

Atlas expects standard Next.js scripts to be present in your package.json:

"scripts": {
  "dev": "next dev",
  "build": "next build",
  "start": "next start",
  "lint": "next lint"
}

• For Server-Side Rendered (SSR) apps deployed to Render, Atlas will use the start script to boot your production server.
• For deployments to Vercel and Netlify, Atlas leverages the native build pipelines of those platforms, seamlessly handing off the build configuration.

3. Environment Variables#

Next.js separates environment variables into server-side (private) and client-side (public, prefixed with NEXT_PUBLIC_). When deploying via Atlas interactively, you will be prompted to supply necessary environment variables if Atlas detects .env.local or .env.example files in your repository. Atlas injects these securely into the provider's configuration.

4. Static Exports#

If you are using Next.js strictly as a Static Site Generator (SSG) by setting output: 'export' in your next.config.js or next.config.mjs, the build output will default to the out/ directory instead of .next/. Atlas will automatically detect static exports when deploying to static hosting providers and configure the publish directory accordingly.

5. Build Troubleshooting#

Next.js builds often fail during the static analysis phase due to ESLint or strict TypeScript checks (tsc). If a Next.js build fails, Atlas's auto-fix engine will identify the exact file causing the linting or typing error, patch the file using LLM intelligence, and rebuild the project.