Hosting a Next.js Website on Square Cloud

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Introduction

• Before you begin, make sure you have Node.js and npm installed on your system. If you don’t have them yet, you can download them from the official Node.js website.
• Next, you will need to create an account on Square Cloud, which can be done through the sign up page. You can use your email to create an account.
• Finally, you need to have an active paid plan on your account. You can view our plans and purchase one according to your needs here.

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Creating a Next.js Project

To create a new Next.js project, run the following command:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app

In this command, my-app is the name of your new project. You can replace my-app with any name you want for your project. The npx command is a tool that comes with npm, the Node.js package manager. It is used to run Node.js packages that are installed locally in your project or are available remotely on the npm registry.

create-next-app is a package available on the npm registry that sets up a new Next.js project for you. It takes care of all the initial setup, such as creating the project directory, installing necessary dependencies, and configuring basic files.

@latest is a tag specifying that you want to use the latest version of the create-next-app package. This ensures you’re always using the most updated version and, consequently, have access to the latest features.

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Configuring Port 80

Port 80 is the default port for HTTP traffic. To host a Next.js website on Square Cloud, it’s crucial to configure the use of port 80. In Next.js, you can set the -p 80 parameter in the startup script to ensure your website runs correctly on this port.

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Creating the squarecloud config file

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Configuring the START Field

In the Square Cloud configuration file, the START field is essential for customizing the startup command. If you want to build and start your website on Square Cloud, configure the START field as follows:

START=npm run build && npm run start

This command will execute the “build” and “start” scripts defined in your package.json:

{
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "private": true,
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev",
    "build": "next build",
    "start": "next start -p 80",
    "lint": "next lint"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "react": "^18",
    "react-dom": "^18",
    "next": "14.1.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "autoprefixer": "^10.0.1",
    "postcss": "^8",
    "tailwindcss": "^3.3.0",
    "eslint": "^8",
    "eslint-config-next": "14.1.0"
  }
}

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Purchasing a Plan Before Uploading Your Project

Before you can upload your project to Square Cloud, it’s important to understand that you need to purchase a plan. The type of plan you choose will depend on the resources required by your application. You can view our plans here.

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Uploading Project to Square Cloud

After preparing your project files, you can now upload them to Square Cloud and host your project.

• Dashboard Upload
• CLI Upload

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Troubleshooting

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Additional Resources

For more information about Next.js and its tools, visit the official Next.js documentation. There, you’ll find detailed guides, tutorials, and API documentation to help you make the most of Next.js.

If you continue to experience any issues, please don’t hesitate to contact our support team.