Getting the Current URL in Next.js

In this tutorial, we'll see how to get the current URL in a Next.js 14 application. Next.js 14 is a robust full-stack web framework for building React applications with server-side rendering, routing, and other features out of the box. Sometimes, you may need to access the current URL within your Next.js 14 web application for various reasons, such as analytics, dynamic routing, or conditional rendering. We'll explore different methods to obtain the current URL in a Next.js application.

Method 1: Using useRouter Hook

Next.js 14 provides a built-in hook called useRouter from the next/router module, which gives access to the router object. You can use this hook to get the current URL:

import { useRouter } from 'next/router';

function MyComponent() {
  const router = useRouter();
  const currentUrl = router.asPath;

  // Use currentUrl as needed

  return (
    <div>
      {/* Your component JSX */}
    </div>
  );
}

In the example above, router.asPath returns the current URL including the query parameters and hash fragment.

Method 2: Using window.location

Another way to obtain the current URL is by accessing the window.location object. However, keep in mind that using window directly is not compatible with server-side rendering (SSR) in Next.js:

function MyComponent() {
  const currentUrl = typeof window !== 'undefined' ? window.location.href : '';

  // Use currentUrl as needed

  return (
    <div>
      {/* Your component JSX */}
    </div>
  );
}

By checking if window is available, you ensure that this code only runs in the browser environment, avoiding errors during server-side rendering.

Method 3: Server-Side Data Fetching

If you need the current URL during server-side rendering, you can access it in the getServerSideProps or getInitialProps functions of your page components.

export async function getServerSideProps(context) {
  const currentUrl = context.req.headers.host + context.req.url;

  // Pass currentUrl as a prop to your component

  return {
    props: {
      currentUrl,
    },
  };
}

In this method, context.req.headers.host represents the hostname, and context.req.url represents the URL path. You can concatenate them to get the complete current URL.

Conclusion

We studied various methods for getting the current URL in a Next.js 14 application. Depending on your particular use case and whether you require the URL client-side or server-side, you can pick the appropriate approach. The 'useRouter' hook is recommended for client-side operations, however server-side data fetching can be employed for server-side rendering.

Next.js delivers flexibility and convenience for routing and URL management, allowing developers to create dynamic and efficient web applications.

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