Dynamic Routes for Next.js

Easy to use universal dynamic routes for Next.js

• Express-style route and parameters matching
• Request handler middleware for express & co
• Link and Router that generate URLs by route definition

NOTE: This project was forked from next-routes on version 1.0.40.

How to use

Install:

npm install next-routes --save

Create routes.js inside your project:

const routes = module.exports = require('next-routes')()

routes
  .add('about')
  .add('blog', '/blog/:slug')
  .add('user', '/user/:id', 'profile')
  .add('/:noname/:lang(en|es)/:wow+', 'complex')
  .add({name: 'beta', pattern: '/v3', page: 'v3'})
  .add({name: 'beta', pattern: '/:noname/:lang', page: 'v3', params: {type: 2}})

This file is used both on the server and the client.

API:

• routes.add(name, pattern = /name, page = name)
• routes.add(pattern, page)
• routes.add(object)

Arguments:

• name - Route name
• pattern - Route pattern (like express, see path-to-regexp)
• page - Page inside ./pages to be rendered
• object - Contains properties name, pattern and page in addition to params that is an object with extra properties that will be added to the query object. It can be used to set default value or to attach new properties.

The page component receives the matched URL parameters merged into query. The query will receive:

• Matched properties on the pattern
• Extra properties specified in the params object
• A routeName property with the value of the name param.

export default class Blog extends React.Component {
  static async getInitialProps ({query}) {
    // query.slug
  }
  render () {
    // this.props.url.query.slug
  }
}

On the server

// server.js
const next = require('next')
const routes = require('./routes')
const app = next({dev: process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production'})
const handler = routes.getRequestHandler(app)

// With express
const express = require('express')
app.prepare().then(() => {
  express().use(handler).listen(3000)
})

// Without express
const {createServer} = require('http')
app.prepare().then(() => {
  createServer(handler).listen(3000)
})

Optionally you can pass a custom handler, for example:

const handler = routes.getRequestHandler(app, ({req, res, route, query}) => {
  app.render(req, res, route.page, query)
})

Make sure to use server.js in your package.json scripts:

"scripts": {
  "dev": "node server.js",
  "build": "next build",
  "start": "NODE_ENV=production node server.js"
}

On the client

Import Link and Router from your routes.js file to generate URLs based on route definition:

Link example

// pages/index.js
import {Link} from '../routes'

export default () => (
  <div>
    <div>Welcome to Next.js!</div>
    <Link route='blog' params={{slug: 'hello-world'}}>
      <a>Hello world</a>
    </Link>
    or
    <Link route='/blog/hello-world'>
      <a>Hello world</a>
    </Link>
  </div>
)

API:

• <Link route='name'>...</Link>
• <Link route='name' params={params}> ... </Link>
• <Link route='/path/to/match'> ... </Link>

Props:

• route - Route name or URL to match (alias: to)
• params - Optional parameters for named routes

It generates the URLs for href and as and renders next/link. Other props like prefetch will work as well.

Router example

// pages/blog.js
import React from 'react'
import {Router} from '../routes'

export default class Blog extends React.Component {
  handleClick () {
    // With route name and params
    Router.pushRoute('blog', {slug: 'hello-world'})
    // With route URL
    Router.pushRoute('/blog/hello-world')
  }
  render () {
    return (
      <div>
        <div>{this.props.url.query.slug}</div>
        <button onClick={this.handleClick}>Home</button>
      </div>
    )
  }
}

API:

• Router.pushRoute(route)
• Router.pushRoute(route, params)
• Router.pushRoute(route, params, options)

Arguments:

• route - Route name or URL to match
• params - Optional parameters for named routes
• options - Passed to Next.js

The same works with .replaceRoute() and .prefetchRoute()

It generates the URLs and calls next/router

Optionally you can provide custom Link and Router objects, for example:

const routes = module.exports = require('next-routes')({
  Link: require('./my/link')
  Router: require('./my/router')
})

Related links

• zeit/next.js - Framework for server-rendered React applications
• path-to-regexp - Express-style path to regexp