NuxtN
Nuxt•17mo ago
Ali

How to Serve a Nuxt 3 App with Express: Replacing `nuxt.render` and Middleware Setup?

Hey everyone,
I'm trying to serve a Nuxt 3 application using an Express server. My project structure is as follows:

/root
  /client   # Nuxt 3 application
  /app      # Express server for APIs
  /node_modules
  .env
  package.json

I want the Express server to serve the built Nuxt 3 app. In Nuxt 2, I used nuxt.render, but I'm struggling to find the equivalent in Nuxt 3.
Here’s my current setup for the Express server (server.js):

'use strict';

const express = require('express');
const http = require('http');
const path = require('path');
const { loadNuxt, build } = require('@nuxt/kit');

const app = express();
const server = http.Server(app);

(async function () {
    const nuxt = await loadNuxt({ for: 'start', config: { rootDir: path.resolve(__dirname, '../client') } });

    // Apply Nuxt as middleware
    app.use(nuxt);

    // Serve static files from Nuxt build directory
    app.use(express.static(path.resolve(__dirname, '../client/.output/public')));

    // Start the server
    server.listen(3000, () => {
        console.log('Server is listening on http://localhost:3000');
    });
})();


However, I'm encountering the following issues:
app.use() requires a middleware function: I initially tried to pass nuxt.render, but it seems there's no direct equivalent in Nuxt 3.
Serving the static files: I'm not sure if I'm pointing to the correct directory to serve the build files from Nuxt 3.
Has anyone successfully integrated Nuxt 3 with Express? What’s the proper way to replace nuxt.render in Nuxt 3, and how should I set up the middleware and static file serving correctly?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
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