layout.js
The layout
file is used to define a layout in your Next.js application.
export default function DashboardLayout({
children,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
}) {
return <section>{children}</section>
}
A root layout is the top-most layout in the root app
directory. It is used to define the <html>
and <body>
tags and other globally shared UI.
export default function RootLayout({
children,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
}) {
return (
<html lang="en">
<body>{children}</body>
</html>
)
}
Reference
Props
children
(required)
Layout components should accept and use a children
prop. During rendering, children
will be populated with the route segments the layout is wrapping. These will primarily be the component of a child Layout (if it exists) or Page, but could also be other special files like Loading or Error when applicable.
params
(optional)
A promise that resolves to an object containing the dynamic route parameters object from the root segment down to that layout.
export default async function Layout({
params,
}: {
params: Promise<{ team: string }>
}) {
const team = (await params).team
}
Example Route | URL | params |
---|---|---|
app/dashboard/[team]/layout.js | /dashboard/1 | Promise<{ team: '1' }> |
app/shop/[tag]/[item]/layout.js | /shop/1/2 | Promise<{ tag: '1', item: '2' }> |
app/blog/[...slug]/layout.js | /blog/1/2 | Promise<{ slug: ['1', '2'] }> |
- Since the
params
prop is a promise. You must useasync/await
or React'suse
function to access the values.- In version 14 and earlier,
params
was a synchronous prop. To help with backwards compatability, you can still access it synchronously in Next.js 15, but this behavior will be deprecated in the future.
- In version 14 and earlier,
Root Layouts
The app
directory must include a root app/layout.js
.
export default function RootLayout({
children,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
}) {
return (
<html>
<body>{children}</body>
</html>
)
}
- The root layout must define
<html>
and<body>
tags.- You should not manually add
<head>
tags such as<title>
and<meta>
to root layouts. Instead, you should use the Metadata API which automatically handles advanced requirements such as streaming and de-duplicating<head>
elements.
- You should not manually add
- You can use route groups to create multiple root layouts.
- Navigating across multiple root layouts will cause a full page load (as opposed to a client-side navigation). For example, navigating from
/cart
that usesapp/(shop)/layout.js
to/blog
that usesapp/(marketing)/layout.js
will cause a full page load. This only applies to multiple root layouts.
- Navigating across multiple root layouts will cause a full page load (as opposed to a client-side navigation). For example, navigating from
Caveats
Layouts do not receive searchParams
Unlike Pages, Layout components do not receive the searchParams
prop. This is because a shared layout is not re-rendered during navigation which could lead to stale searchParams
between navigations.
When using client-side navigation, Next.js automatically only renders the part of the page below the common layout between two routes.
For example, in the following directory structure, dashboard/layout.tsx
is the common layout for both /dashboard/settings
and /dashboard/analytics
:
When navigating from /dashboard/settings
to /dashboard/analytics
, page.tsx
in /dashboard/analytics
will rerender on the server, while dashboard/layout.tsx
will not rerender because it's a common UI shared between the two routes.
This performance optimization allows navigation between pages that share a layout to be quicker as only the data fetching and rendering for the page has to run, instead of the entire route that could include shared layouts that fetch their own data.
Because dashboard/layout.tsx
doesn't re-render, the searchParams
prop in the layout Server Component might become stale after navigation.
Instead, use the Page searchParams
prop or the useSearchParams
hook in a Client Component within the layout, which is rerendered on the client with the latest searchParams
.
Layouts cannot access pathname
Layouts cannot access pathname
. This is because layouts are Server Components by default, and don't rerender during client-side navigation, which could lead to pathname
becoming stale between navigations. To prevent staleness, Next.js would need to refetch all segments of a route, losing the benefits of caching and increasing the RSC payload size on navigation.
Instead, you can extract the logic that depends on pathname into a Client Component and import it into your layouts. Since Client Components rerender (but are not refetched) during navigation, you can use Next.js hooks such as usePathname
to access the current pathname and prevent staleness.
import { ClientComponent } from '@/app/ui/ClientComponent'
export default function Layout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
return (
<>
<ClientComponent />
{/* Other Layout UI */}
<main>{children}</main>
<>
)
}
Common pathname
patterns can also be implemented with params
prop.
See the examples section for more information.
Examples
Displaying content based on params
Using dynamic route segments, you can display or fetch specific content based on the params
prop.
export default async function DashboardLayout({
children,
params,
}: {
children: React.ReactNode
params: Promise<{ team: string }>
}) {
const { team } = await params
return (
<section>
<header>
<h1>Welcome to {team}'s Dashboard</h1>
</header>
<main>{children}</main>
</section>
)
}
Reading params
in Client Components
To use params
in a Client Component (which cannot be async
), you can use React's use
function to read the promise:
'use client'
import { use } from 'react'
export function Page({ params }: { params: Promise<{ slug: string }> }) {
const { slug } = use(params)
}
Version History
Version | Changes |
---|---|
v15.0.0-RC | params is now a promise. A codemod is available. |
v13.0.0 | layout introduced. |
Was this helpful?