next-flat-routes

Enabling flat routes for Next.js

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Usage
• About flat routes
• Index route files
• Supported file extensions
• License

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Introduction

With the introduction of Next.js 13, a new folder-based routing mechanism was unveiled. While this approach offers powerful and flexible routing capabilities, it brings with it the challenge of managing deeply nested route files. In large projects with a myriad of routes, locating a specific route or deciphering the intricate structure of the application becomes increasingly complex.

Enter next-flat-routes.

Designed specifically for Next.js 13, next-flat-routes is a CLI tool that allows developers to work with a flat route file structure that is easier to manage and understand. With next-flat-routes your routes can be structured like this:

app/
|-- shop/
    |-- routes/
        |-- basket.(page).tsx
        |-- product.(page).tsx
        |-- product.[id].(page).tsx

... and next-flat-routes will ensure that these routes are transformed into the nested format that Next.js expects.

app/
|-- shop/
    |-- (.routes)/
    |   |-- basket/
    |   |   |-- page.tsx
    |   |-- product/
    |       |-- page.tsx
    |       |-- [id]/
    |           |-- page.tsx
    |-- routes/
        |-- basket.(page).tsx
        |-- product.(page).tsx
        |-- product.[id].(page).tsx

Usage

To start using the next-flat-routes, run the following command in the Next.js project root:

npx @ifyio/next-flat-routes@latest

This will initiate the next-flat-routes CLI in watch mode.

Then add flat route files within any /routes/ folder located within the app directory. As you add, rename, or remove these flat route files, the equivalent nested route file will be generated or updated within a parallel /(.routes)/ directory.

Note: The /(.routes)/ directory should be considered as "private", similar to the .next directory that Next.js uses for its build output. Files within this directory are auto-generated and should not be manually edited.

About flat routes

Flat routes can be created for page.tsx, layout.tsx, loading.tsx, error.tsx and route.tsx files. All that is required is for their flat route equivalent filenames to end with .(page).tsx, .(layout).tsx, .(loading).tsx, .(error).tsx and .(route).tsx .

Example:

/app/shop/routes/basket.(page).tsx
/app/shop/routes/product.(layout).tsx
/app/shop/routes/product.[productId].(page).tsx
/app/admin/routes/settings.(page).tsx

Additionally, each route segment should be delimited by a period (.), as seen in the example above.

Index route files

For flat index route files, there's no need to prefix the route filename. For instance, the admin homepage will be:

/app/admin/(page).tsx
/app/admin/(error).tsx
/app/admin/(layout).tsx
/app/admin/(loading).tsx

Supported file extensions

next-flat-routes supports .ts, .tsx, .jsx, and .js file extensions for flat route files.

License

MIT