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Adding MDX Support to Your Next.js Project and the next.config.mjs File

2024-05-18
By: O Wolfson

If you're looking to integrate Markdown with JSX (MDX) into your Next.js project, you're in the right place. MDX combines the simplicity of Markdown with the power of React components, making it an excellent choice for content-rich applications. This article will guide you through the steps to configure your Next.js project to support MDX. This article focuses soley on setting up the next.config.mjs file to support MDX. For a full explanation of how to set up MDX in your Next.js project, check out this guide by Next.js: Next.js Markdown and MDX Configuration Guide.

Step 1: Install the Necessary Package

First, you need to install the @next/mdx package. Open your terminal and run the following command:

bash
npm install @next/mdx

This package provides the necessary tools to enable MDX support in your Next.js project.

Step 2: Configure Next.js

Next, you'll configure Next.js to recognize MDX files. Create or open the next.config.mjs file in the root of your project and add the following code:

javascript
import createMDX from "@next/mdx";

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  // Configure `pageExtensions` to include markdown and MDX files
  pageExtensions: ["js", "jsx", "md", "mdx", "ts", "tsx"],
  // Optionally, add any other Next.js config below
};

const withMDX = createMDX({
  // Add markdown plugins here, as desired
});

// Merge MDX config with Next.js config
export default withMDX(nextConfig);

Let's break down what each part of this configuration does:

Importing createMDX
javascript
import createMDX from "@next/mdx";

This line imports the createMDX function from the @next/mdx package. This function will help integrate MDX support into your Next.js configuration.

Defining Next.js Configuration
javascript
/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  // Configure `pageExtensions` to include markdown and MDX files
  pageExtensions: ["js", "jsx", "md", "mdx", "ts", "tsx"],
  // Optionally, add any other Next.js config below
};

Here, we define the nextConfig object, which holds the configuration settings for your Next.js project. The key setting here is pageExtensions, which tells Next.js to treat files with .md and .mdx extensions as pages, in addition to the default .js and .jsx files. We also include TypeScript extensions .ts and .tsx for broader support.

Creating MDX Configuration
javascript
const withMDX = createMDX({
  // Add markdown plugins here, as desired
});

This line sets up the MDX configuration using the createMDX function. You can add various plugins to enhance the MDX processing here. For now, we're keeping it simple with an empty configuration.

Merging Configurations
javascript
// Merge MDX config with Next.js config
export default withMDX(nextConfig);

Finally, we merge the MDX configuration with the Next.js configuration using the withMDX function. This merged configuration is then exported as the default export of the file, making it available to the rest of your Next.js application.

Going Further

For more information check out this guide by Next.js for a detailed guide on setting up a blog with Next.js App Router and MDX: Next.js Markdown and MDX Configuration Guide.

Happy coding!

If you have any questions or run into any issues, feel free to reach out in the comments or join the discussion in our community.