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

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'})

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

The page component receives the matched URL parameters merged into query

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