Next.js App Router: Patterns That Scale
Practical patterns and best practices for building production-grade applications with Next.js App Router.
Next.js App Router: Patterns That Scale
The App Router in Next.js represents a paradigm shift in how we think about React applications. After building several production apps with it, here are the patterns I rely on.
Route Group Organization
Route groups (folder) let you organize code without affecting URLs:
``
app/
(marketing)/
page.tsx → /
about/page.tsx → /about
(dashboard)/
layout.tsx → shared dashboard layout
settings/page.tsx → /settings
`
Server Components by Default
The mental model shift: everything is a server component unless you explicitly opt in with "use client". This means:
- Data fetching happens on the server
- Bundle size stays small
- Interactivity is intentionally scoped
- {post.title}
`tsx
// This component runs on the server — no client-side JS
async function PostList() {
const posts = await db.post.findMany();
return (
{posts.map(post => (
))}
Streaming with Suspense
Wrap slow data fetches in Suspense boundaries for instant page loads:
tsx
export default function Page() {
return (
Dashboard
);
}
``These are just the patterns I've found most valuable. The App Router is still evolving, and the ecosystem around it is maturing rapidly.