Install Next.js

Create a new Next.js app and run it locally.

Quick start

  1. Create a new Next.js app named my-app
  2. cd my-app and start the dev server
  3. Visit http://localhost:3000
npx create-next-app@latest my-app --yes
cd my-app
npm run dev

--yes skips prompts using saved preferences or defaults. The default setup enables TypeScript, Tailwind, ESLint, App Router, and Turbopack, with import alias @/*.

System requirements

Before you begin, make sure your development environment meets the following requirements:

  • Minimum Node.js version: 20.9
  • Operating systems: macOS, Windows (including WSL), and Linux

Supported browsers

Next.js supports modern browsers with zero configuration:

  • Chrome 111+
  • Edge 111+
  • Firefox 111+
  • Safari 16.4+

Create with the CLI

The quickest way to create a new Next.js app is using create-next-app, which sets up everything automatically for you. To create a project, run:

npx create-next-app@latest

On installation, you'll see the following prompts:

What is your project named? my-app
Would you like to use the recommended Next.js defaults?
    Yes, use recommended defaults - TypeScript, ESLint, Tailwind CSS, App Router, Turbopack
    No, reuse previous settings
    No, customize settings - Choose your own preferences

If you choose to customize settings, you'll see the following prompts:

Would you like to use TypeScript? No / Yes
Which linter would you like to use? ESLint / Biome / None
Would you like to use React Compiler? No / Yes
Would you like to use Tailwind CSS? No / Yes
Would you like your code inside a `src/` directory? No / Yes
Would you like to use App Router? (recommended) No / Yes
Would you like to customize the import alias (`@/*` by default)? No / Yes
What import alias would you like configured? @/*

After the prompts, create-next-app will create a folder with your project name and install the required dependencies.

Manual installation

To manually create a new Next.js app, install the required packages:

npm i next@latest react@latest react-dom@latest

Then, add the following scripts to your package.json file:

{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev",
    "build": "next build",
    "start": "next start",
    "lint": "eslint",
    "lint:fix": "eslint --fix"
  }
}

These scripts refer to the different stages of developing an application:

  • next dev: Starts the development server using Turbopack (default bundler)
  • next build: Builds the application for production
  • next start: Starts the production server
  • eslint: Runs ESLint

Create the app directory

Next.js uses file-system routing, which means the routes in your application are determined by how you structure your files.

Create an app folder. Then, inside app, create a layout.tsx file. This file is the root layout. It's required and must contain the <html> and <body> tags.

export default function RootLayout({
  children,
}: {
  children: React.ReactNode
}) {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <body>{children}</body>
    </html>
  )
}

Create a home page app/page.tsx with some initial content:

export default function Page() {
  return <h1>Hello, Next.js!</h1>
}

Both layout.tsx and page.tsx will be rendered when the user visits the root of your application (/).

Good to know: If you forget to create the root layout, Next.js will automatically create this file when running the development server with next dev.

Create the public folder (optional)

Create a public folder at the root of your project to store static assets such as images, fonts, etc. Files inside public can then be referenced by your code starting from the base URL (/).

import Image from 'next/image'

export default function Page() {
  return <Image src="/profile.png" alt="Profile" width={100} height={100} />
}

Run the development server

  1. Run npm run dev to start the development server
  2. Visit http://localhost:3000 to view your application
  3. Edit the app/page.tsx file and save it to see the updated result in your browser

Set up TypeScript

Minimum TypeScript version: v5.1.0

Next.js comes with built-in TypeScript support. To add TypeScript to your project, rename a file to .ts / .tsx and run next dev. Next.js will automatically install the necessary dependencies and add a tsconfig.json file with the recommended config options.

IDE Plugin

Next.js includes a custom TypeScript plugin and type checker, which VSCode and other code editors can use for advanced type-checking and auto-completion.

You can enable the plugin in VS Code by:

  1. Opening the command palette (Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + P)
  2. Searching for "TypeScript: Select TypeScript Version"
  3. Selecting "Use Workspace Version"

Set up Absolute Imports and Module Path Aliases

Next.js has in-built support for the "paths" and "baseUrl" options of tsconfig.json and jsconfig.json files.

These options allow you to alias project directories to absolute paths, making it easier and cleaner to import modules. For example:

// Before
import { Button } from '../../../components/button'

// After
import { Button } from '@/components/button'

To configure absolute imports, add the baseUrl configuration option to your tsconfig.json or jsconfig.json file:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": "src/"
  }
}

In addition to configuring the baseUrl path, you can use the "paths" option to "alias" module paths.

For example, the following configuration maps @/components/* to components/*:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "baseUrl": "src/",
    "paths": {
      "@/styles/*": ["styles/*"],
      "@/components/*": ["components/*"]
    }
  }
}

Each of the "paths" are relative to the baseUrl location.

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