# Migrating from Create React App
This guide will help you understand how to transition from an existing non-ejected Create React App project to Next.js. Migrating to Next.js will allow you to:
- Choose which
data fetching
strategy you want on a per-page basis. - Use
Incremental Static Regeneration
to update existingpages by re-rendering them in the background as traffic comes in. - Use
API Routes
.
And more! Let’s walk through a series of steps to complete the migration.
# Updating package.json and dependencies
The first step towards migrating to Next.js is to update package.json
and dependencies. You should:
- Remove
react-scripts
(but keepreact
andreact-dom
). If you're using React Router, you can also removereact-router-dom
. - Install
next
. - Add Next.js related commands to
scripts
. One isnext dev
, which runs a development server atlocalhost:3000
. You should also addnext build
andnext start
for creating and starting a production build.
Here's an example package.json
:
{
"scripts": {
"dev": "next dev",
"build": "next build",
"start": "next start"
},
"dependencies": {
"next": "latest",
"react": "latest",
"react-dom": "latest"
}
}
# Static Assets and Compiled Output
Create React App uses the public
directory for the entry HTML file
, whereas Next.js uses it for static assets. It's possible to add static assets here, but Create React App recommends importing them directly from JavaScript files.
- Move any images, fonts, or other static assets to
public
. - Convert
index.html
(the entry point of your application) to Next.js. Any<head>
code should be moved to acustom _document.js
. Any shared layout between all pages should be moved to acustom _app.js
. - See
Styling
for CSS/Sass files. - Add
.next
to.gitignore
.
# Creating Routes & Linking
With Create React App, you're likely using React Router. Instead of using a third-party library, Next.js includes its own file-system based routing
.
- Convert all
Route
components to new files in thepages
directory. - For routes that require dynamic content (e.g.
/blog/:slug
), you can useDynamic Routes
with Next.js (e.g.pages/blog/
slug].js). The value of
slugis accessible through a
query parameter. For example, the route
/blog/first-postwould forward the query object
{ 'slug': 'first-post' }to
pages/blog/[slug].js([learn more here
).
For more information, see Migrating from React Router
.
# Styling
Next.js has built-in support for CSS
, Sass
and CSS-in-JS
.
With Create React App, you can import .css
files directly inside React components. Next.js allows you to do the same, but requires these files to be CSS Modules
. For global styles, you'll need a custom _app.js
to add a global stylesheet
.
# Safely Accessing Web APIs
With client-side rendered applications (like Create React App), you can access window
, localStorage
, navigator
, and other Web APIs
out of the box.
Since Next.js uses pre-rendering
, you'll need to safely access those Web APIs only when you're on the client-side. For example, the following code snippet will allow access to window
only on the client-side.
if (typeof window !== 'undefined') {
// You now have access to `window`
}
A recommended way of accessing Web APIs safely is by using the useEffect
hook, which only executes client-side:
import { useEffect } from 'react'
useEffect(() => {
// You now have access to `window`
}, [])
# Image Component and Image Optimization
Since version 10.0.0, Next.js has a built-in Image Component and Automatic Image Optimization
.
The Next.js Image Component, next/image
, is an extension of the HTML <img>
element, evolved for the modern web.
The Automatic Image Optimization allows for resizing, optimizing, and serving images in modern formats like WebP
when the browser supports it. This avoids shipping large images to devices with a smaller viewport. It also allows Next.js to automatically adopt future image formats and serve them to browsers that support those formats.
Instead of optimizing images at build time, Next.js optimizes images on-demand, as users request them. Your build times aren't increased, whether shipping 10 images or 10 million images.
import Image from 'next/image'
export default function Home() {
return (
<>
<h1>My Homepage</h1>
<Image
src="/me.png"
alt="Picture of the author"
width={500}
height={500}
/>
<p>Welcome to my homepage!</p>
</>
)
}
# Environment Variables
Next.js has support for .env
Environment Variables
similar to Create React App. The main different is the prefix used to expose environment variables on the client-side.
- Change all environment variables with the
REACT_APP_
prefix toNEXT_PUBLIC_
. - Server-side environment variables will be available at build-time and in
API Routes
.
# Search Engine Optimization
Most Create React App examples use react-helmet
to assist with adding meta
tags for proper SEO. With Next.js, we use next/head
to add meta
tags to your <head />
element. For example, here's an SEO component with Create React App:
// src/components/seo.js
import { Helmet } from 'react-helmet'
export default function SEO({ description, title, siteTitle }) {
return (
<Helmet
title={title}
titleTemplate={siteTitle ? `%s | ${siteTitle}` : null}
meta={[
{
name: `description`,
content: description,
},
{
property: `og:title`,
content: title,
},
{
property: `og:description`,
content: description,
},
{
property: `og:type`,
content: `website`,
},
{
name: `twitter:card`,
content: `summary`,
},
{
name: `twitter:creator`,
content: twitter,
},
{
name: `twitter:title`,
content: title,
},
{
name: `twitter:description`,
content: description,
},
]}
/>
)
}
And here's the same example using Next.js.
// src/components/seo.js
import Head from 'next/head'
export default function SEO({ description, title, siteTitle }) {
return (
<Head>
<title>{`${title} | ${siteTitle}`}</title>
<meta name="description" content={description} />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<meta property="og:title" content={title} />
<meta property="og:description" content={description} />
<meta property="og:site_name" content={siteTitle} />
<meta property="twitter:card" content="summary" />
<meta property="twitter:creator" content={config.social.twitter} />
<meta property="twitter:title" content={title} />
<meta property="twitter:description" content={description} />
</Head>
)
}
# Single-Page App (SPA)
If you want to move your existing Create React App to Next.js and keep a Single-Page App, you can move your old application's entry point to an Optional Catch-All Route
named pages/[[...app]].js
.
// pages/[[...app]].js
import { useState, useEffect } from 'react'
import CreateReactAppEntryPoint from '../components/app'
function App() {
const [isMounted, setIsMounted] = useState(false)
useEffect(() => {
setIsMounted(true)
}, [])
if (!isMounted) {
return null
}
return <CreateReactAppEntryPoint />
}
export default App
# Ejected Create React App
If you've ejected Create React App, here are some things to consider:
- If you have custom file loaders set up for CSS, Sass, or other assets, this is all built-in with Next.js.
- If you've manually added
new JavaScript features
(e.g. Optional Chaining) orPolyfills
, check to see what's included by default with Next.js. - If you have a custom code splitting setup, you can remove that. Next.js has automatic code splitting on a
per-page basis
. - You can
customize your PostCSS setup
with Next.js without ejecting from the framework. - You should reference the default
Babel config
andWebpack config
of Next.js to see what's included by default.
# Learn More
You can learn more about Next.js by completing our starter tutorial](/learn/basics/create-nextjs-app) . If you have questions or if this guide didn't work for you, feel free to reach out to our community on [GitHub Discussions
.