Set up Prismic
This article explains how to install and configure Prismic in a Next.js project. By the end of this page, you will have Prismic utilities installed in your app.
Versions
This guide uses Next.js v13, @prismicio/client v7, @prismicio/react v2, @prismicio/next v1, and slice-machine-ui v1.
If you already have a project that uses older packages, see the @prismicio/client v7 Migration Guide, @prismicio/client v6 Migration Guide, @prismicio/react v2 Migration Guide, next-slicezone Deprecation Guide, and slice-machine-ui v1 Migration Guide.
This guide assumes basic knowledge of React and Next.js. If you are new to development with either, see the official introductions for React and Next.js.
Before proceeding, you will need a Next.js project. You can quickly create a brand new project using the following create-next-app command. (Read the official documentation to learn more):
- npx
- npm
- Yarn
npx create-next-app@latestnpm create next-appyarn create next-appThis command will prompt an option to name your project. After that you'll be able to open your newly created Next.js app.
Once it's finished, you'll have a brand new Next.js project where you can install Slice Machine.
npx @slicemachine/init@latestWhat happens when you run @slicemachine/init
The command executes the following actions in your codebase:
- Creates a new Prismic repository (or lets you specify an existing one).
- Adds a start-slicemachine script to package.json.
- Creates a slicemachine.config.json configuration file containing the name of your Prismic repository and the location of your Slice library.
- Creates a prismicio.js|ts file at the root of your project to configure Prismic.
- Detects your framework (Next.js).
- Installs dependencies: @prismicio/client, @prismicio/react, @prismicio/next, slice-machine-ui, and @slicemachine/adapter-next.
- Creates a pages/slice-simulator.js|jsx|tsx file to simulate Slices.
That might seem like a lot of dependencies. Don't worry, they each perform an important function:
- @prismicio/client is responsible for fetching data from the Prismic API
- @prismicio/react renders data from Prismic as React components
- @prismicio/next enables previewing drafts
- slice-machine-ui is a local development tool for building Slices
- @slicemachine/adapter-next is the Next.js adapter for Slice Machine
We also mentioned that the init command creates a slice-simulator.js file. What does that file do? The Slice simulator is a mini-app that simulates what your Slices will look like in production. The Slice simulator uses an iframe, which runs locally, to simulate your Slices. The mock data is provided by Slice Machine and is customizable (see What Is Slice Machine? for more information).
The init script creates a file called prismicio.js at the root of your project. This file contains configurations for your project.
The most important configuration is the routes array, which is your route resolver. Update the route resolver to match the routing structure of your Next.js app. To learn more about how to add configurations, see the documentation for the route resolver and @prismicio/client.
The prismicio.js file is prefilled with an example routes array:
const routes = [
{
type: 'homepage',
path: '/',
},
{
type: 'page',
path: '/:uid',
},
]In prismicio.js, customize the routes array to match the routing of your project. For each page type, add an object that describes the route for that page. Learn more about how the route resolver works.
- Pages Router
- App Router
import { PrismicPreview } from '@prismicio/next'
import { repositoryName } from '@/prismicio'
export default function App({ Component, pageProps }) {
return (
<PrismicPreview repositoryName={repositoryName}>
<Component {...pageProps} />
</PrismicPreview>
)
}import { PrismicPreview } from '@prismicio/next'
import { repositoryName } from '@/prismicio'
export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
return (
<html lang="en">
<body>
{children}
<PrismicPreview repositoryName={repositoryName} />
</body>
</html>
)
}Previews in the App Router
Prismic Previews in the App Router are currently experimental and only supported using dynamic rendering. All Prismic API requests are cached at request time, resulting in performance similar to static rendering.
If you prefer static rendering, remove Prismic Preview support or use the Pages Router.
You now have Prismic utilities available throughout your project, and your project is set up to handle previews (which you will finish configuring in a later step).
Now you can start creating Slices and custom types to model your project.
Was this article helpful?
Can't find what you're looking for? Spot an error in the documentation? Get in touch with us on our Community Forum or using the feedback form above.