Getting started with Next.js

What you’ll do

In this guide you will set up a clean, reproducible Next.js workflow from the official documentation, verify your local configuration, and run a minimal working check so you can build with confidence.

Prerequisites

• Access to the official documentation at Next.js (https://nextjs.org).
• A terminal and a modern code editor such as VS Code or Neovim.
• Basic familiarity with command-line navigation and version control with Git.

Step-by-step setup

1. Verify the official source and release channel. Open Next.js App Router Documentation and confirm you are reading the current stable release notes rather than outdated third-party blog posts.

2. Initialize a minimal workspace. Create a dedicated directory for testing Next.js in isolation before integrating it into a larger repository:

mkdir -p ~/projects/nextjs-starter
cd ~/projects/nextjs-starter
git init

3. Configure strict defaults early. Create your baseline configuration file and commit it before adding optional plugins or third-party dependencies:

{
  "resource": "nextjs",
  "type": "framework",
  "strict": true,
  "verified": "2026-10-28"
}

4. Run a smoke check. Execute the minimal build, query, or verification step described in Next.js App Router Documentation and confirm zero warnings in your terminal output.

Common mistakes

Next steps

• Bookmark Next.js App Router Documentation for daily API lookups.
• Return to the Next.js resource page to watch the curated explainers or explore paired tools.