Understanding output: "standalone"

[abhishekmardiya]

Summary

Hi,

I’m trying to get a better understanding of the output: "standalone" feature in Next.js. From the documentation, it seems like it creates a minimal output folder and automatically copies traced files, which sounds really useful for lightweight deployments.

I have a few questions:

1. Is it recommended to enable output: "standalone" when deploying on Vercel, or are Vercel's internal optimizations sufficient?
2. Are there any limitations or gotchas when using this for dynamic sites with runtime data fetching or dynamic routes?
3. I’m also using route handlers (API routes); could this cause any issues with output: "standalone"?
4. How does the file tracing mechanism work exactly—are there edge cases where dependencies might be missed?

I’d love to hear from the team and the community about real-world usage, tips, and best practices for this feature.

Thanks!

Additional information

No response

Example

No response

[icyJoseph]

Is it recommended to enable output: "standalone" when deploying on Vercel, or are Vercel's internal optimizations sufficient?

Not necessary. I don't think there's any +/- recommendation here. Vercel recognizes frameworks, not just Next.js but Nuxt, SvelteKit, even Hono, etc, and knows what strategy fits best to deploy on their platform.

Are there any limitations or gotchas when using this for dynamic sites with runtime data fetching or dynamic routes?
I’m also using route handlers (API routes); could this cause any issues with output: "standalone"?

No to both, but I guess, maybe you wanna make sure that things get traced correctly, https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/config/next-config-js/output, for most apps this shouldn't be an issue.

How does the file tracing mechanism work exactly—are there edge cases where dependencies might be missed?

Also explained here, https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/config/next-config-js/output :)

[abhishekmardiya]

Thank you so much for the clarification.