Supercharge Your Web App: Integrating Next.js with Strapi CMS

Are you looking to build high performance web applications that can be updated and maintained with ease? If so, then integrating Next.js with Strapi CMS is an excellent solution for you. In this article, we will explore the power of a headless CMS by integrating Next.js with Strapi, and learn how to build dynamic, high-performance web applications with ease.

What is Next.js?

Next.js is a popular React framework that allows you to build static and server-rendered applications with ease. It provides features like automatic code splitting, server-side rendering, and built-in CSS and Sass support, which make building web applications faster and easier.

What is Strapi CMS?

Strapi is a headless CMS that lets you build APIs and content management systems in minutes. It provides a powerful API that allows you to easily manage and deliver content to multiple applications and devices. Strapi also offers a user-friendly admin panel that makes it easy to manage content, users, and permissions.

Getting Started with Next.js and Strapi

Before we dive into integrating Next.js with Strapi, let's first set up our environment and get started with building a simple application using Next.js.

Installing Next.js

The first step to getting started with Next.js is to install it on your machine. To do so, you will need to have Node.js and npm installed. Once you have Node.js and npm installed, run the following command in your terminal:

npx create-next-app

This will create a new Next.js application with all the necessary files and folders. Once the installation is complete, you can start the development server by running the following command:

npm run dev

This will start the development server on http://localhost:3000. You should now see the default Next.js landing page when you navigate to that URL.

Installing Strapi CMS

Now that we have our Next.js application set up, let's install and set up Strapi CMS. To do so, we will use the Strapi CLI. If you don't have the Strapi CLI installed, you can install it by running the following command:

npm install -g strapi

Once the Strapi CLI is installed, run the following command to create a new Strapi project:

strapi new my-project

This will create a new Strapi project in a folder called my-project. Navigate to this folder and run the following command to start the Strapi server:

npm run develop

This will start the Strapi server on http://localhost:1337. You should now see the Strapi admin panel when you navigate to that URL.

Integrating Next.js with Strapi

Now that we have our Next.js application and Strapi CMS set up, let's integrate the two together. To do so, we will use the Strapi API to fetch data from Strapi and render it in our Next.js application.

Creating a Strapi API Endpoint

The first step to integrating Next.js with Strapi is to create a Strapi API endpoint. To do so, we will use Strapi's built-in API builder. In the Strapi admin panel, navigate to the Content Types Builder and create a new content type called article. Add the following fields to the content type:

  • title - text field
  • description - text field
  • content - rich text field

Now that we have our content type set up, let's create an API endpoint for it. In the Strapi admin panel, navigate to the API Builder and create a new API endpoint called articles. Set the Model to article, and make sure the GET method is enabled.

When you navigate to http://localhost:1337/articles, you should now see a JSON representation of the data you added to the article content type.

Fetching Strapi Data in Next.js

With our Strapi API endpoint set up, we can now fetch data from it in our Next.js application. To do so, we will use the Fetch API to make a GET request to the Strapi articles endpoint and render the data in our application.

In your Next.js project, create a new page called articles.js. In this file, add the following code:

import React from 'react';

function Articles({ articles }) {
    return (
        <div>
            <h1>Articles</h1>
            <ul>
                {articles.map(article => (
                 <li key={article.id}>
                    <h2>{article.title}</h2>
                    <p>{article.description}</p>
                 </li>
            ))}
            </ul>
        </div>
    );
}

export async function getStaticProps() {
    const res = await fetch('http://localhost:1337/articles');
    const articles = await res.json();

    return {
        props: { articles }
    };
}

This code fetches the articles data from the Strapi API using the Fetch API, and returns it as a prop to our Articles component using the getStaticProps method. The Articles component then renders the data as a list.

Conclusion

Integrating Next.js with Strapi is a powerful solution for building dynamic, high-performance web applications. With Next.js, you can build static and server-rendered applications with ease, while Strapi provides a powerful API and content management system that lets you manage and deliver content to multiple applications and devices. By integrating these two technologies, you can build web applications that are fast, scalable, and easy to manage.