nuxt-core

Nuxt 5 Core Fundamentals

Project setup, configuration, routing, SEO, and error handling for Nuxt 5 applications.

Quick Reference

Version Requirements

| Package | Minimum | Recommended | |---------|---------|-------------| | nuxt | 5.0.0 | 5.x | | vue | 3.5.0 | 3.5.x | | nitro | 3.0.0 | 3.x | | vite | 8.0.0 | 8.x | | typescript | 5.0.0 | 5.x |

Key Commands

bunx nuxi@latest init my-app
bun run dev
bun run build
bun run preview
bun run postinstall
bunx nuxi typecheck
bunx nuxi add page about
bunx nuxi add component MyButton
bunx nuxi add composable useAuth

Secure Installation

Scaffolding tools like bunx nuxi init download and execute remote code. Before running, follow supply chain security best practices:

• Block post-install scripts — npm config set ignore-scripts true (or Bun: disabled by default)
• Cooldown period — Wait 7 days for new package versions to be vetted by the community
• Audit before installing — Run socket package score npm <pkg> or use socket npm install <pkg> to check packages

Load the dependency-upgrade skill for full security configuration including Socket CLI integration, cooldown setup, lockfile validation, and CI enforcement.

Directory Structure (Nuxt v5)

my-nuxt-app/
├── app/                    # Default srcDir
│   ├── assets/             # Build-processed assets (CSS, images)
│   ├── components/         # Auto-imported Vue components
│   ├── composables/        # Auto-imported composables
│   ├── layouts/            # Layout components
│   ├── middleware/         # Route middleware
│   ├── pages/              # File-based routing
│   ├── plugins/            # Nuxt plugins
│   ├── utils/              # Auto-imported utility functions
│   ├── app.vue             # Main app component
│   ├── app.config.ts       # App-level runtime config
│   ├── error.vue           # Error page component
│   └── router.options.ts   # Router configuration
│
├── server/                 # Server-side code (Nitro v3)
│   ├── api/                # API endpoints
│   ├── middleware/         # Server middleware
│   ├── plugins/            # Nitro plugins
│   ├── routes/             # Server routes
│   └── utils/              # Server utilities
│
├── shared/                 # Shared code (app + server)
│   ├── utils/              # Auto-imported shared utils
│   └── types/              # Auto-imported shared types
│
├── public/                 # Static assets (served from root)
├── content/                # Nuxt Content files (if using)
├── layers/                 # Nuxt layers
├── modules/                # Local modules
├── .nuxt/                  # Generated files (git ignored)
├── .output/                # Build output (git ignored)
├── nuxt.config.ts          # Nuxt configuration
├── tsconfig.json           # TypeScript configuration
└── package.json            # Dependencies

What's New in Nuxt 5

| Area | Nuxt 4 | Nuxt 5 | |------|--------|--------| | Bundler | Vite 6 (esbuild + Rollup) | Vite 8 (Rolldown) | | Server engine | Nitro v2 (h3 v1) | Nitro v3 (h3 v2, Web Standard APIs) | | Vite config | Separate client/server configs | Vite Environment API | | JS runtime | JSX plugin included by default | JSX plugin optional (on-demand) | | Client-only placeholder | Empty <div> | HTML comment node | | callHook | Always returns Promise | May return void (sync when possible) | | clearNuxtState | Sets to undefined | Resets to initial default value | | Page component names | Auto-generated | Normalized to match route names | | experimental.externalVue | Available | Removed (always mocked) |

Configuration

Basic nuxt.config.ts

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  future: {
    compatibilityVersion: 5
  },

  devtools: { enabled: true },

  modules: [
    '@nuxt/ui',
    '@nuxt/content',
    '@nuxt/image'
  ],

  runtimeConfig: {
    apiSecret: process.env.API_SECRET,
    databaseUrl: process.env.DATABASE_URL,

    public: {
      apiBase: process.env.API_BASE || 'https://api.example.com',
      appName: 'My App'
    }
  },

  app: {
    head: {
      title: 'My Nuxt App',
      meta: [
        { charset: 'utf-8' },
        { name: 'viewport', content: 'width=device-width, initial-scale=1' }
      ]
    }
  },

  nitro: {
    preset: 'cloudflare_pages'
  },

  typescript: {
    strict: true,
    typeCheck: true
  }
})

Vite 8 / Rolldown Configuration

Nuxt 5 uses Vite 8 with Rolldown as the bundler. Use rolldownOptions instead of rollupOptions:

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  vite: {
    build: {
      rolldownOptions: {
        output: {
          manualChunks: {
            vendor: ['vue', 'vue-router']
          }
        }
      }
    },

    optimizeDeps: {
      include: []
    }
  }
})

Vite Environment API

Nuxt 5 uses the Vite Environment API for environment-specific config. Use configEnvironment and applyToEnvironment instead of separate client/server configs:

// Module/plugin authors - use Vite plugins instead of extendViteConfig
addVitePlugin(() => ({
  name: 'my-plugin',
  config(config) {
    // Global vite configuration
  },
  configEnvironment(name, config) {
    // Environment-specific config
    if (name === 'client') {
      config.optimizeDeps ||= {}
      config.optimizeDeps.include ||= []
      config.optimizeDeps.include.push('my-package')
    }
  },
  applyToEnvironment(environment) {
    return environment.name === 'client'
  },
}))

Optional JSX Support

@vitejs/plugin-vue-jsx is no longer installed by default. Install it only if needed:

bun add -D @vitejs/plugin-vue-jsx

Nuxt will auto-detect .jsx/.tsx files and prompt installation.

Runtime Config Usage

const config = useRuntimeConfig()
const apiBase = config.public.apiBase
const apiSecret = config.apiSecret

In server routes (v5 change): useRuntimeConfig() no longer accepts event:

// Nuxt 4
export default defineEventHandler((event) => {
  const config = useRuntimeConfig(event)
})

// Nuxt 5
export default defineEventHandler(() => {
  const config = useRuntimeConfig()
})

App Config vs Runtime Config

| Feature | App Config | Runtime Config | |---------|------------|----------------| | Location | app.config.ts | nuxt.config.ts | | Hot reload | Yes | No | | Secrets | No | Yes (server-only) | | Use case | UI settings, themes | API keys, URLs |

Routing

File-Based Routing

app/pages/
├── index.vue              → /
├── about.vue              → /about
├── users/
│   ├── index.vue          → /users
│   └── [id].vue           → /users/:id
└── blog/
    ├── index.vue          → /blog
    ├── [slug].vue         → /blog/:slug
    └── [...slug].vue      → /blog/* (catch-all)

v5 Change: Page component names are now normalized to match their route names. This ensures consistent <KeepAlive> behavior.

Dynamic Routes

<!-- app/pages/users/[id].vue -->
<script setup lang="ts">
const route = useRoute()
const userId = computed(() => route.params.id)
const { data: user } = await useFetch(`/api/users/${userId.value}`)
</script>

<template>
  <div>
    <h1>{{ user?.name }}</h1>
  </div>
</template>

Navigation

<script setup>
const goToUser = (id: string) => {
  navigateTo(`/users/${id}`)
}
</script>

<template>
  <NuxtLink to="/about">About</NuxtLink>
  <NuxtLink :to="`/users/${user.id}`">View User</NuxtLink>
  <NuxtLink to="/dashboard" prefetch>Dashboard</NuxtLink>
</template>

Route Middleware

// app/middleware/auth.ts
export default defineNuxtRouteMiddleware((to, from) => {
  const { isAuthenticated } = useAuth()

  if (!isAuthenticated.value) {
    return navigateTo('/login')
  }
})

<!-- app/pages/dashboard.vue -->
<script setup lang="ts">
definePageMeta({
  middleware: 'auth'
})
</script>

Global Middleware

// app/middleware/analytics.global.ts
expo