Deploy Next.js to AWS Amplify: A Step-by-Step Guide

In this guide, you will learn how to deploy an Next.js SSR project to AWS Amplify. You will go through the process of setting up a new Next.js project, enabling server-side rendering using AWS Amplify adapter, and finally deploying it to AWS Amplify.

Prerequisites

You’ll need the following:

Node.js 18 or later
An AWS account

Create a new Next.js application

Let’s get started by creating a new Next.js project. Open your terminal and run the following command:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app

When prompted, choose:

Yes when prompted to use TypeScript.
No when prompted to use ESLint.
Yes when prompted to use Tailwind CSS.
No when prompted to use src/ directory.
Yes when prompted to use App Router.
No when prompted to customize the default import alias (@/*).

Once that is done, move into the project directory and start the app in development mode by executing the following command:

cd my-app
npm run dev

The app should be running on localhost:3000.

Then, you’ll need to make the following change to your next.config.js file. Open the file and add the following code:

module.exports = {
    output: 'standalone', 
}

Then, create a amplify.mjs file at the root of repository with the following code:

// File: amplify.mjs

import { join } from 'node:path';
import { writeFileSync, mkdirSync, existsSync, cpSync, rmSync } from 'node:fs';

// Define all the Amplify related directories
const amplifyDirectories = [
    join(process.cwd(), '.amplify-hosting'),
    join(process.cwd(), '.amplify-hosting', 'static'),
    join(process.cwd(), '.amplify-hosting', 'static', '_next'),
    join(process.cwd(), '.amplify-hosting', 'compute'),
    join(process.cwd(), '.amplify-hosting', 'compute', 'default'),
    join(process.cwd(), '.amplify-hosting', 'compute', 'default', 'node_modules'),
]

// Create directories if they do no exist already
if (existsSync(amplifyDirectories[0])) rmSync(amplifyDirectories[0], { force: true, recursive: true })

// Create directories if they do no exist already
amplifyDirectories.forEach((i => mkdirSync(i)))

// A general default configuration to fallback to compute if no matching static assets found
const deployManifestConfig = {
    version: 1,
    routes: [
        {
            path: `/assets/*`,
            target: {
                kind: "Static",
            },
        },
        {
            path: `/*.*`,
            target: {
                kind: "Static",
            },
            fallback: {
                kind: "Compute",
                src: "default",
            },
        },
        {
            path: "/*",
            target: {
                kind: "Compute",
                src: "default",
            },
        },
    ],
    computeResources: [
        {
            name: "default",
            entrypoint: "server.js",
            runtime: "nodejs18.x",
        },
    ],
    framework: {
        name: "next",
        version: "13.5.6",
    },
};

// Write the config to .amplify-hosting/deploy-manifest.json
writeFileSync(
    join(process.cwd(), ".amplify-hosting", "deploy-manifest.json"),
    JSON.stringify(deployManifestConfig),
);

// Copy the static assets generated in .next/static and public to .amplify-hosting/static directory
cpSync(join(process.cwd(), 'public'), amplifyDirectories[1], { recursive: true })
cpSync(join(process.cwd(), '.next', 'static'), amplifyDirectories[2], { recursive: true })

// Copy the static assets generated in .next/standalone to .amplify-hosting/compute directory
cpSync(join(process.cwd(), '.next', 'standalone'), amplifyDirectories[4], { recursive: true })

// Remove .next/static and public from .amplify-hosting/compute/default
rmSync(join(amplifyDirectories[4], '.next', 'static'), { force: true, recursive: true })
rmSync(join(amplifyDirectories[4], 'public'), { force: true, recursive: true })

Then, create a amplify.yml file at the root of repository with the following code:

version: 1
frontend:
  phases:
    preBuild:
      commands:
        - npm ci
    build:
      commands:
        - env >> .env
        - npm run build
        - node amplify.mjs
  artifacts:
    baseDirectory: .next
    files:
      - '**/*'
  cache:
    paths:
      - node_modules/**/*

The code above does the following:

Uses preBuild commands to install the dependencies of your Next.js project.
Uses build commands to:
- Store all the environment variables into .env file at the root of the project.
- Build your Next.js application.
- Move the node_modules directory and .env file to Amplify’s compute directory.

Deploy to AWS Amplify

The code is now ready to deploy to AWS Amplify. Use the following steps to deploy:

Start by creating a GitHub repository containing your app’s code.
Then, navigate to the AWS Amplify Dashboard and click on Get Started under Host your web app section.

Select GitHub as the source of your Git repository.

Link the new project to the GitHub repository you just created.

Give a name to your project, and click on Advanced Settings.

In Advanced Settings, update the Environment Variables to match those in your local .env file, and PORT as 3000. Click Next to proceed.

Add Environment Variables in AWS Amplify

Click Save and Deploy to deploy your website.

Grab the deployment URL under the Domain title in the succesful build information.

Conclusion

Yay! You’ve now an Next.js project that automatically deploys to AWS Amplify upon Git push.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter.