Deploying Next.js to GitHub Pages

Deploying a Next.js application to GitHub Pages can be a straightforward process if you follow these steps. GitHub Pages is a static site hosting service designed to host your project pages directly from a GitHub repository.

Configure Your Next.js Application

First, you need to configure your Next.js application for static export. In your next.config.js, add the following configuration:

If you are deploying to https://<your-username>.github.io:

module.exports = {
    output: 'export',
    images: {
        unoptimized: true,
    },
    assetPrefix: './',
};

If you are deploying to https://<your-username>.github.io/<your-repo>:

module.exports = {
    output: 'export',
    images: {
        unoptimized: true,
    },
    basePath: '/<your-repo>',
    assetPrefix: '/<your-repo>/',
};

This configuration ensures that your application can be exported as static HTML, and the asset paths are correctly prefixed.

GitHub Actions Workflow

Create a .github/workflows/deploy.yml file in your repository with the following content:

# Sample workflow for building and deploying a Next.js site to GitHub Pages
#
# To get started with Next.js see: https://nextjs.org/docs/getting-started
#
name: Deploy Next.js site to Pages

on:
  # Runs on pushes targeting the default branch
  push:
    branches: ["main"]

  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:

# Sets permissions of the GITHUB_TOKEN to allow deployment to GitHub Pages
permissions:
  contents: read
  pages: write
  id-token: write

# Allow only one concurrent deployment, skipping runs queued between the run in-progress and latest queued.
# However, do NOT cancel in-progress runs as we want to allow these production deployments to complete.
concurrency:
  group: "pages"
  cancel-in-progress: false

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Detect package manager
        id: detect-package-manager
        run: |
          if [ -f "${{ github.workspace }}/yarn.lock" ]; then
            echo "manager=yarn" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            echo "command=install" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            echo "runner=yarn" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            exit 0
          elif [ -f "${{ github.workspace }}/package.json" ]; then
            echo "manager=npm" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            echo "command=ci" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            echo "runner=npx --no-install" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            exit 0
          else
            echo "Unable to determine package manager"
            exit 1
          fi

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "lts/*"
          cache: ${{ steps.detect-package-manager.outputs.manager }}

      - name: Setup Pages
        uses: actions/configure-pages@v4

      - name: Restore cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: |
            .next/cache
          # Generate a new cache whenever packages or source files change.
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-nextjs-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json', '**/yarn.lock') }}-${{ hashFiles('**.[jt]s', '**.[jt]sx') }}
          # If source files changed but packages didn't, rebuild from a prior cache.
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-nextjs-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json', '**/yarn.lock') }}-

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: ${{ steps.detect-package-manager.outputs.manager }} ${{ steps.detect-package-manager.outputs.command }}

      - name: Build with Next.js
        run: ${{ steps.detect-package-manager.outputs.runner }} next build

      - name: Upload artifact
        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: ./out

  deploy:
    environment:
      name: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        id: deployment
        uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

Access Your Deployed Site

Your site should now be live at:

https://your-username.github.io/ or https://your-username.github.io/your-repo/

It might take a few minutes for the changes to take effect.

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Ensure that your paths are correctly prefixed. You might need to adjust the assetPrefix in next.config.js.
  • Check the GitHub Pages settings to ensure that the correct branch is selected.
  • Verify that the exported files are correctly pushed to the gh-pages branch.

By following these steps, you can easily deploy your Next.js application to GitHub Pages and share it with the world.