I'm facing build failures in Next.js due to the public folder's large bundle size being included.

[mirhamasala]

Summary

We are experiencing an issue where our builds are consistently failing due to the bundle size being too large. After looking into it, I found that the public folder, which contains many images, is being included in our Function’s bundle, leading to this problem.

The main issue is that Next.js is bundling our entire root directory, including the public folder, which results in unnecessary files being included in the standalone output. This significantly increases the bundle size and causes build failures.

I am seeking guidance on why Next.js is bundling the entire root directory and if there is a better way to prevent the public folder from being included in the bundle. While I have a temporary workaround, I am looking for a more robust and permanent solution to this issue.

To temporarily resolve this, I have added the following configuration to our next.config.js:

outputFileTracingIncludes: {
  '/': ['src/content/**'],
},
outputFileTracingExcludes: {
  '/': [
    '.git/**',
    '.github/**',
    '.next/cache/**',
    '.vscode/**',
    'cypress/**',
    '.netlify/**',
    'public/**',
    'scripts/**',
    'src/app/**',
  ],
},

Additional information

No response

Example

https://github.com/FilecoinFoundationWeb/filecoin-foundation

[Ahsan2001]

Step 1: Update your next.config.ts to this file

import type { NextConfig } from 'next'; const nextConfig: NextConfig = { productionBrowserSourceMaps: false, output: 'standalone', }; export default nextConfig;

Step 2: install this package npm install --save-dev rimraf

Step 3: replace you build script in package json "build": "next build && rimraf .next/cache",

[Corey-Code]

You're running into a common issue with Next.js when deploying serverless functions (e.g. on Vercel, Netlify, AWS Lambda) using output: 'standalone' mode — Next.js includes more files than necessary, including large assets from public/, which can bloat your bundle and exceed deployment limits.

Let’s walk through why this happens, what your workaround does, and how to implement a cleaner, robust fix.

Why Is public/ Being Bundled?

1. When output: 'standalone' is enabled, Next.js tries to trace all used files via @vercel/nft to ensure the resulting bundle has everything needed at runtime.

2. It over-approximates dependencies, sometimes pulling in unused files — especially if paths are dynamically resolved or non-standard libraries are used to access assets.

By default:

• public/ is not required for server-side code and should not be bundled.
• But if any server-side file references public/, even indirectly, it may get pulled in.

I hope this helps you find a resolution if not already.

[versatile15]

Thanks for the detailed explanation — this clarifies a lot. I hadn't realized how aggressively @vercel/nft traces dependencies when output: 'standalone' is enabled. It makes sense now why public assets are unintentionally pulled into the server bundle, especially with dynamic or indirect references.

In my case, it looks like a server-side utility was resolving paths relative to public/, which inadvertently triggered the inclusion. I’ll refactor to avoid referencing public/ from server code and will also look into excluding unnecessary files post-build if needed.

Appreciate the insight and the clean breakdown of what’s happening under the hood.