---
title: 'Deploy Next.js on AWS'
description: 'Deploy Next.js applications on AWS using static export with S3 and CloudFront, or full-stack SSR with ECS Fargate and Application Load Balancer.'
---

import { Tabs, TabItem, Aside } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';
import PatternList from '../../../components/docs/PatternList.astro';
import FrameworkHero from '../../../components/docs/FrameworkHero.astro';

<FrameworkHero name="Next.js" title={frontmatter.title} />
Deploy your [Next.js](https://nextjs.org/) applications to AWS using Thunder. Choose the pattern that fits your app's needs.

## Available Patterns

<PatternList patterns={["static", "fargate"]} />

## Prerequisites

<Aside type="note" title="Before you begin">
- [AWS CDK](https://aws.amazon.com/cdk/) installed globally: `npm install -g aws-cdk`
- Node.js 20 or higher
- [AWS credentials](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/userguide/cli-configure-files.html) configured
- AWS environment bootstrapped: `cdk bootstrap aws://YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID/us-east-1`
</Aside>

## Getting Started

### Create Project

Scaffold a new Next.js project using your preferred package manager. This sets up the project structure, installs dependencies, and prepares you for development.

<Tabs syncKey="package-manager">
  <TabItem label="bun" icon="bun">
```sh
bunx create-next-app@latest my-nextjs-app
cd my-nextjs-app
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="npm" icon="seti:npm">
```sh
npm create next-app@latest my-nextjs-app
cd my-nextjs-app
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="pnpm" icon="pnpm">
```sh
pnpm create next-app my-nextjs-app
cd my-nextjs-app
```
  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

### Install Thunder

Add Thunder as a development dependency. It provides the CDK constructs you'll use to define your AWS infrastructure.

<Tabs syncKey="package-manager">
  <TabItem label="bun" icon="bun">
```sh
bun add @thunder-so/thunder --development
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="npm" icon="seti:npm">
```sh
npm install @thunder-so/thunder --save-dev
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="pnpm" icon="pnpm">
```sh
pnpm add -D @thunder-so/thunder
```
  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

---

## Next.js Static Export Deployment

Deploy Next.js as a fully static site to [S3](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/) with [CloudFront](https://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/) as the CDN. In [static export mode](https://nextjs.org/docs/pages/guides/static-exports), Next.js pre-renders all pages at build time and outputs plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — no server required.

<Aside type="caution" title="Static export limitations">
Static export does not support server-side rendering, API routes, image optimization, or Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR). For those features, use the Fargate pattern below.
</Aside>

### Configure

Set `output: 'export'` in your Next.js config to enable static export mode. Setting `distDir` to `dist` keeps the output directory consistent with other frameworks.

```ts title="next.config.ts"
import type { NextConfig } from 'next';

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  output: 'export',
  distDir: 'dist',
};

export default nextConfig;
```

### Stack

The `Static` construct provisions an S3 bucket, a CloudFront distribution, and optionally a Route53 DNS record.

```ts title="stack/prod.ts"
import { Cdk, Static, type StaticProps } from '@thunder-so/thunder';

const config: StaticProps = {
  env: { account: 'YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID', region: 'us-east-1' },
  application: 'myapp',
  service: 'web',
  environment: 'prod',
  rootDir: '.',
  outputDir: 'dist',
};

new Static(new Cdk.App(), `${config.application}-${config.service}-${config.environment}-stack`, config);
```

### Deploy

Build your Next.js app first to generate the static export, then deploy with CDK. CDK uploads the files to S3 and provisions the CloudFront distribution.

<Tabs syncKey="package-manager">
  <TabItem label="bun" icon="bun">
```sh
bun run build
npx cdk deploy --app "bunx tsx stack/prod.ts" --profile default
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="npm" icon="seti:npm">
```sh
npm run build
npx cdk deploy --app "npx tsx stack/prod.ts" --profile default
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="pnpm" icon="pnpm">
```sh
pnpm run build
pnpm exec cdk deploy --app "pnpm exec tsx stack/prod.ts" --profile default
```
  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

After deployment, CDK outputs a **CloudFront URL** where your static site is live.

---

## Next.js Containerized Deployment with Fargate

Run your Next.js app as a Node.js server inside a Docker container on [ECS Fargate](https://aws.amazon.com/fargate/). Traffic is routed through an [Application Load Balancer](https://aws.amazon.com/elasticloadbalancing/application-load-balancer/). This pattern supports full SSR, API routes, image optimization, and all Next.js features.

### Configure for Node Server

Set `output: 'standalone'` in your Next.js config. This tells Next.js to produce a minimal, self-contained server bundle in `.next/standalone/` that includes only the files needed to run the app — ideal for Docker.

```ts title="next.config.ts"
import type { NextConfig } from 'next';

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  output: 'standalone',
};

export default nextConfig;
```

### Stack

The `Fargate` construct creates an ECS cluster, a Fargate task definition, and an Application Load Balancer.

```ts title="stack/prod.ts"
import { Cdk, Fargate, type FargateProps } from '@thunder-so/thunder';

const config: FargateProps = {
  env: { account: 'YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID', region: 'us-east-1' },
  application: 'myapp',
  service: 'web',
  environment: 'prod',
  rootDir: '.',
  serviceProps: {
    dockerFile: 'Dockerfile',
    architecture: Cdk.aws_ecs.CpuArchitecture.ARM64,
    cpu: 512,
    memorySize: 1024,
    port: 3000,
    desiredCount: 1,
    healthCheckPath: '/',
  },
};

new Fargate(new Cdk.App(), `${config.application}-${config.service}-${config.environment}-stack`, config);
```

### Dockerfile

Create a `Dockerfile` in your project root. The multi-stage build uses Bun to install dependencies and build the app, then copies only the standalone output into a minimal Node.js runtime image.

```dockerfile title="Dockerfile"
FROM public.ecr.aws/docker/library/node:22-alpine AS builder
WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json bun.lockb ./
RUN curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash && export PATH="$HOME/.bun/bin:$PATH"
RUN bun install --frozen-lockfile
COPY . .
RUN bun run build

FROM public.ecr.aws/docker/library/node:22-alpine AS runner
WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
ENV HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0
ENV PORT=3000
RUN addgroup --system --gid 1001 nodejs
RUN adduser --system --uid 1001 nextjs
COPY --from=builder /app/public ./public
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=builder --chown=nextjs:nodejs /app/.next/static ./.next/static
USER nextjs
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["node", "server.js"]
```

<Aside type="tip" title="No Dockerfile?">
If you omit `dockerFile` from `serviceProps`, Thunder will use [Nixpacks](https://nixpacks.com/) to automatically generate a container image from your project. This is a good option for getting started quickly without writing a Dockerfile.
</Aside>

### Environment Variables and Secrets

Runtime environment variables are injected into the Fargate task at deploy time. For sensitive values, store them in [AWS Secrets Manager](https://aws.amazon.com/secrets-manager/) and reference them by ARN — Thunder fetches and injects them automatically.

```ts title="stack/prod.ts"
const config: FargateProps = {
  // ...
  serviceProps: {
    // ...
    variables: [
      { NODE_ENV: 'production' },
      { NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL: 'https://api.example.com' },
    ],
    secrets: [
      {
        key: 'DATABASE_URL',
        resource: 'arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-east-1:123456789012:secret:/myapp/DATABASE_URL-abc123',
      },
    ],
  },
};
```

### Deploy

CDK builds the Docker image, pushes it to [ECR](https://aws.amazon.com/ecr/), and deploys it to Fargate. No manual Docker commands needed.

<Tabs syncKey="package-manager">
  <TabItem label="bun" icon="bun">
```sh
npx cdk deploy --app "bunx tsx stack/prod.ts" --profile default
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="npm" icon="seti:npm">
```sh
npx cdk deploy --app "npx tsx stack/prod.ts" --profile default
```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="pnpm" icon="pnpm">
```sh
pnpm exec cdk deploy --app "pnpm exec tsx stack/prod.ts" --profile default
```
  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

After deployment, CDK outputs the **Load Balancer DNS** for your application.