Next.js Best Practices

Apply these rules when writing or reviewing Next.js code.

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 15+ async API changes.

See async-patterns.md for:

• Async params and searchParams
• Async cookies() and headers()
• Migration codemod

Runtime Selection

See runtime-selection.md for:

• Default to Node.js runtime
• When Edge runtime is appropriate

Directives

See directives.md for:

• 'use client', 'use server' (React)
• 'use cache' (Next.js)

Functions

See functions.md for:

• Navigation hooks: useRouter, usePathname, useSearchParams, useParams
• Server functions: cookies, headers, draftMode, after
• Generate functions: generateStaticParams, generateMetadata

Error Handling

See error-handling.md for:

• error.tsx, global-error.tsx, not-found.tsx
• redirect, permanentRedirect, notFound
• forbidden, unauthorized (auth errors)
• unstable_rethrow for catch blocks

Data Patterns

See data-patterns.md for:

• Server Components vs Server Actions vs Route Handlers
• Avoiding data waterfalls (Promise.all, Suspense, preload)
• Client component data fetching

Route Handlers

See route-handlers.md for:

• route.ts basics
• GET handler conflicts with page.tsx
• Environment behavior (no React DOM)
• When to use vs Server Actions

Metadata & OG Images