Route Handlers
Route Handlers allow you to create custom request handlers for a given route using the Web Request and Response APIs.
Good to know: Route Handlers are only available inside the
app
directory. They are the equivalent of API Routes inside thepages
directory meaning you do not need to use API Routes and Route Handlers together.
Convention
Route Handlers are defined in a route.js|ts
file inside the app
directory:
export async function GET(request: Request) {}
Route Handlers can be nested anywhere inside the app
directory, similar to page.js
and layout.js
. But there cannot be a route.js
file at the same route segment level as page.js
.
Supported HTTP Methods
The following HTTP methods are supported: GET
, POST
, PUT
, PATCH
, DELETE
, HEAD
, and OPTIONS
. If an unsupported method is called, Next.js will return a 405 Method Not Allowed
response.
Extended NextRequest
and NextResponse
APIs
In addition to supporting the native Request and Response APIs, Next.js extends them with NextRequest
and NextResponse
to provide convenient helpers for advanced use cases.
Behavior
Caching
Route Handlers are not cached by default. You can, however, opt into caching for GET
methods. Other supported HTTP methods are not cached. To cache a GET
method, use a route config option such as export const dynamic = 'force-static'
in your Route Handler file.
export const dynamic = 'force-static'
export async function GET() {
const res = await fetch('https://data.mongodb-api.com/...', {
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
'API-Key': process.env.DATA_API_KEY,
},
})
const data = await res.json()
return Response.json({ data })
}
Good to know: Other supported HTTP methods are not cached, even if they are placed alongside a
GET
method that is cached, in the same file.
Special Route Handlers
Special Route Handlers like sitemap.ts
, opengraph-image.tsx
, and icon.tsx
, and other metadata files remain static by default unless they use Dynamic APIs or dynamic config options.
Route Resolution
You can consider a route
the lowest level routing primitive.
- They do not participate in layouts or client-side navigations like
page
. - There cannot be a
route.js
file at the same route aspage.js
.
Page | Route | Result |
---|---|---|
app/page.js | app/route.js | Conflict |
app/page.js | app/api/route.js | Valid |
app/[user]/page.js | app/api/route.js | Valid |
Each route.js
or page.js
file takes over all HTTP verbs for that route.
export default function Page() {
return <h1>Hello, Next.js!</h1>
}
// ❌ Conflict
// `app/route.js`
export async function POST(request) {}
Examples
The following examples show how to combine Route Handlers with other Next.js APIs and features.
Revalidating Cached Data
You can revalidate cached data using Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR):
export const revalidate = 60
export async function GET() {
const data = await fetch('https://api.vercel.app/blog')
const posts = await data.json()
return Response.json(posts)
}
Cookies
You can read or set cookies with cookies
from next/headers
. This server function can be called directly in a Route Handler, or nested inside of another function.
Alternatively, you can return a new Response
using the Set-Cookie
header.
import { cookies } from 'next/headers'
export async function GET(request: Request) {
const cookieStore = await cookies()
const token = cookieStore.get('token')
return new Response('Hello, Next.js!', {
status: 200,
headers: { 'Set-Cookie': `token=${token.value}` },
})
}
You can also use the underlying Web APIs to read cookies from the request (NextRequest
):
import { type NextRequest } from 'next/server'
export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
const token = request.cookies.get('token')
}
Headers
You can read headers with headers
from next/headers
. This server function can be called directly in a Route Handler, or nested inside of another function.
This headers
instance is read-only. To set headers, you need to return a new Response
with new headers
.
import { headers } from 'next/headers'
export async function GET(request: Request) {
const headersList = await headers()
const referer = headersList.get('referer')
return new Response('Hello, Next.js!', {
status: 200,
headers: { referer: referer },
})
}
You can also use the underlying Web APIs to read headers from the request (NextRequest
):
import { type NextRequest } from 'next/server'
export async function GET(request: NextRequest) {
const requestHeaders = new Headers(request.headers)
}
Redirects
import { redirect } from 'next/navigation'
export async function GET(request: Request) {
redirect('https://nextjs.org/')
}
Dynamic Route Segments
We recommend reading the Defining Routes page before continuing.
Route Handlers can use Dynamic Segments to create request handlers from dynamic data.
export async function GET(
request: Request,
{ params }: { params: Promise<{ slug: string }> }
) {
const slug = (await params).slug // 'a', 'b', or 'c'
}
Route | Example URL | params |
---|---|---|
app/items/[slug]/route.js | /items/a | Promise<{ slug: 'a' }> |
app/items/[slug]/route.js | /items/b | Promise<{ slug: 'b' }> |
app/items/[slug]/route.js | /items/c | Promise<{ slug: 'c' }> |
URL Query Parameters
The request object passed to the Route Handler is a NextRequest
instance, which has some additional convenience methods, including for more easily handling query parameters.
import { type NextRequest } from 'next/server'
export function GET(request: NextRequest) {
const searchParams = request.nextUrl.searchParams
const query = searchParams.get('query')
// query is "hello" for /api/search?query=hello
}
Streaming
Streaming is commonly used in combination with Large Language Models (LLMs), such as OpenAI, for AI-generated content. Learn more about the AI SDK.
import { openai } from '@ai-sdk/openai'
import { StreamingTextResponse, streamText } from 'ai'
export async function POST(req: Request) {
const { messages } = await req.json()
const result = await streamText({
model: openai('gpt-4-turbo'),
messages,
})
return new StreamingTextResponse(result.toAIStream())
}
These abstractions use the Web APIs to create a stream. You can also use the underlying Web APIs directly.
// https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/API/ReadableStream#convert_async_iterator_to_stream
function iteratorToStream(iterator: any) {
return new ReadableStream({
async pull(controller) {
const { value, done } = await iterator.next()
if (done) {
controller.close()
} else {
controller.enqueue(value)
}
},
})
}
function sleep(time: number) {
return new Promise((resolve) => {
setTimeout(resolve, time)
})
}
const encoder = new TextEncoder()
async function* makeIterator() {
yield encoder.encode('<p>One</p>')
await sleep(200)
yield encoder.encode('<p>Two</p>')
await sleep(200)
yield encoder.encode('<p>Three</p>')
}
export async function GET() {
const iterator = makeIterator()
const stream = iteratorToStream(iterator)
return new Response(stream)
}
Request Body
You can read the Request
body using the standard Web API methods:
export async function POST(request: Request) {
const res = await request.json()
return Response.json({ res })
}
Request Body FormData
You can read the FormData
using the request.formData()
function:
export async function POST(request: Request) {
const formData = await request.formData()
const name = formData.get('name')
const email = formData.get('email')
return Response.json({ name, email })
}
Since formData
data are all strings, you may want to use zod-form-data
to validate the request and retrieve data in the format you prefer (e.g. number
).
CORS
You can set CORS headers for a specific Route Handler using the standard Web API methods:
export async function GET(request: Request) {
return new Response('Hello, Next.js!', {
status: 200,
headers: {
'Access-Control-Allow-Origin': '*',
'Access-Control-Allow-Methods': 'GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS',
'Access-Control-Allow-Headers': 'Content-Type, Authorization',
},
})
}
Good to know:
- To add CORS headers to multiple Route Handlers, you can use Middleware or the
next.config.js
file.- Alternatively, see our CORS example package.
Webhooks
You can use a Route Handler to receive webhooks from third-party services:
export async function POST(request: Request) {
try {
const text = await request.text()
// Process the webhook payload
} catch (error) {
return new Response(`Webhook error: ${error.message}`, {
status: 400,
})
}
return new Response('Success!', {
status: 200,
})
}
Notably, unlike API Routes with the Pages Router, you do not need to use bodyParser
to use any additional configuration.
Non-UI Responses
You can use Route Handlers to return non-UI content. Note that sitemap.xml
, robots.txt
, app icons
, and open graph images all have built-in support.
export async function GET() {
return new Response(
`<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Next.js Documentation</title>
<link>https://nextjs.org/docs</link>
<description>The React Framework for the Web</description>
</channel>
</rss>`,
{
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'text/xml',
},
}
)
}
Segment Config Options
Route Handlers use the same route segment configuration as pages and layouts.
export const dynamic = 'auto'
export const dynamicParams = true
export const revalidate = false
export const fetchCache = 'auto'
export const runtime = 'nodejs'
export const preferredRegion = 'auto'
See the API reference for more details.
API Reference
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