Static HTML Export ​

next export allows you to export your Next.js application to static HTML, which can be run standalone without the need of a Node.js server. It is recommended to only use next export if you don't need any of the unsupported features requiring a server.

If you're looking to build a hybrid site where only some pages are prerendered to static HTML, Next.js already does that automatically. Learn more about Automatic Static Optimization and Incremental Static Regeneration.

next export ​

Update your build script in package.json to use next export:

"scripts": {
  "build": "next build && next export"
}

Running npm run build will generate an out directory.

next export builds an HTML version of your app. During next build, getStaticProps and getStaticPaths will generate an HTML file for each page in your pages directory (or more for dynamic routes). Then, next export will copy the already exported files into the correct directory. getInitialProps will generate the HTML files during next export instead of next build.

For more advanced scenarios, you can define a parameter called exportPathMap in your next.config.js file to configure exactly which pages will be generated.

Supported Features ​

The majority of core Next.js features needed to build a static site are supported, including:

• Dynamic Routes when using getStaticPaths
• Prefetching with next/link
• Preloading JavaScript
• Dynamic Imports
• Any styling options (e.g. CSS Modules, styled-jsx)
• Client-side data fetching
• getStaticProps
• getStaticPaths
• Image Optimization using a custom loader

Unsupported Features ​

Features that require a Node.js server, or dynamic logic that cannot be computed during the build process, are not supported:

• Image Optimization (default loader)
• Internationalized Routing
• API Routes
• Rewrites
• Redirects
• Headers
• Middleware
• Incremental Static Regeneration
• fallback: true
• getServerSideProps

getInitialProps ​

It's possible to use the getInitialProps API instead of getStaticProps, but it comes with a few caveats:

• getInitialProps cannot be used alongside getStaticProps or getStaticPaths on any given page. If you have dynamic routes, instead of using getStaticPaths you'll need to configure the exportPathMap parameter in your next.config.js file to let the exporter know which HTML files it should output.
• When getInitialProps is called during export, the req and res fields of its context parameter will be empty objects, since during export there is no server running.
• getInitialProps will be called on every client-side navigation, if you'd like to only fetch data at build-time, switch to getStaticProps.
• getInitialProps should fetch from an API and cannot use Node.js-specific libraries or the file system like getStaticProps can.

We recommend migrating towards getStaticProps over getInitialProps whenever possible.