Middleware not running in fresh Next.js project (redirect not working)

[udaychandra54]

Summary

I just created a new Next.js project and added a simple middleware to redirect /profile to /. However, the middleware is not running at all. I don’t even see the console.log output, which means it’s not being triggered.

// middleware.ts
import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from "next/server";

export default function middleware(req: NextRequest) {
  console.log("request made to profile", req.url);
  return NextResponse.redirect(new URL("/", req.url));
}

export const config = {
  matcher: ["/profile/:path*"],
};

Additional information

Steps to Reproduce

Create a new Next.js app with npx create-next-app@latest.
Add the above middleware.ts file at the project root (same level as next.config.js).
Run the project with npm run dev.
Open http://localhost:3000/profile
.

Example

No response

[2208Prathamesh]

Hey! This happens often when middleware isn’t triggered. A few things to check:

• Make sure middleware.ts is placed at your project root (same level as next.config.js).
• Confirm your matcher config actually matches your route (e.g., "/profile/:path*").
• Add a simple console.log or throw inside the middleware to ensure it's running at all.

Let me know your project layout (App vs Pages router or src folder) if it’s still not firing—I can help debug further!

[icyJoseph]

When you say:

Add the above middleware.ts file at the project root (same level as next.config.js).

This can be incorrect, if you are using src directory. If you have src then middleware has to be within it:

Use the file middleware.ts (or .js) in the root of your project to define Middleware. For example, at the same level as app or pages, or inside src if applicable.

Could you confirm that you are using src, and moving to src/middleware.ts does fix it?

[2208Prathamesh]

Thanks for pointing that out! 🙌
Yes, my project does have a src directory, so I’ll move the middleware.ts file into src/middleware.ts and test it again.
I’ll update here if it starts working after the change. 🚀