Next.js - Api Routes

API Routes is a way to create rest API using Next.js. Next.js maps any file present in /pages/api folder and will be treated as API end point. An example of API function −

export default (req, res) => {
   ...
}

Following are some important points to consider.

req − req is an instance of http.IncomingMessage and is used to get data from request.

res − res is an instance of http.ServerResponse and is used to send data as response.

Let s create an example to demonstrate the same.

In this example, we are going to create an user.js in pages/api directory.

Let s update the nextjs project used in Global CSS Support chapter.

Create user.js file in pages/api directory as following.

export default (req, res) => {
   res.statusCode = 200
   res.setHeader( Content-Type ,  apppcation/json )
   res.end(JSON.stringify({ name:  Robert  }))
}

Start Next.js Server

Run the following command to start the server −.

npm run dev

> nextjs@1.0.0 dev D:Node
extjs
> next

ready - started server on http://localhost:3000
info  - Loaded env from D:Node
extjs.env.local
event - compiled successfully
event - build page: /api/user
wait  - compipng...
event - compiled successfully
event - build page: /next/dist/pages/_error
wait  - compipng...
event - compiled successfully

Verify Output

Open localhost:3000/api/user in a browser and you will see the following output.

{"name":"Robert"}