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What is the output: 'standalone' build in Next.js and when do you use it?

Q: What is the output: 'standalone' build in Next.js and when do you use it?

**TL;DR.** output: 'standalone' produces a **minimal folder** with the server and **only the node_modules it needs**, so Docker images are **small** and don't require installing all dependencies. Use it for **self-hosted/containerized** deployments to cut image size and cold starts. full app + deps large trace standalone/ <text class='d-sub' x='347' y='

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Minimal self-contained server bundle for containers.

nextjsstandalonedockerdeployment

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Standalone in a Dockerfile

# next.config.js → { output: 'standalone' }
# runtime stage:
COPY --from=build /app/.next/standalone ./
COPY --from=build /app/.next/static ./.next/static   # must copy separately
COPY --from=build /app/public ./public
CMD ["node", "server.js"]      # no node_modules install needed

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