Could not find a production build in the '.next' directory on Node.js 23

[IMXNOOBX]

To Reproduce

1. Create a new app npm create fumadocs-app
   

2. Move to the directory cd test-app
   

3. Execute build command npm run build
   

4. Execute start command npm run start
   

$ npm run start

> test-app@0.0.0 start
> next start

   ▲ Next.js 15.0.2
   - Local:        http://localhost:3000

 ✓ Starting...
Error: Could not find a production build in the '.next' directory. Try building your app with 'next build' before starting the production server. https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/production-start-no-build-id
    at setupFsCheck (D:\asdsadsa\GitHub\poc\test-app\node_modules\next\dist\server\lib\router-utils\filesystem.js:149:19)
    at async initialize (D:\asdsadsa\GitHub\poc\test-app\node_modules\next\dist\server\lib\router-server.js:65:23)
    at async Server.<anonymous> (D:\asdsadsa\GitHub\poc\test-app\node_modules\next\dist\server\lib\start-server.js:266:36)

Current vs. Expected behavior

Following the previous steps it should start the project and host it on port :3000, but it fails stating that next is unable to find the build directory. You dont encounter this issue when running in development mode.

Provide environment information

Operating System:
  Platform: win32
  Arch: x64
  Version: Windows 11 Pro
  Available memory (MB): 16252
  Available CPU cores: 16
Binaries:
  Node: 23.0.0
  npm: N/A
  Yarn: N/A
  pnpm: 9.11.0
Relevant Packages:
  next: 15.0.2 // Latest available version is detected (15.0.2).
  eslint-config-next: N/A
  react: 18.3.1
  react-dom: 18.3.1
  typescript: 5.6.3
Next.js Config:
  output: N/A

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

Core, CLI (create-fumadocs-app)

Additional context

This issue has been encountered in these OS: Windows 11 23H2 / 10, Linux (Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS), it happened when migrating from the older "fumadocs-core": "13.4.10",, "next": "^14.2.8", version to the latest one.

[fuma-nama]

Cannot reproduce the error on code sandbox, please provide a minimal reproduction to your issue

[fuma-nama]

Please submit a reproduction if you have similar problems

[kWAYTV]

Please submit a reproduction if you have similar problems

My steps to reproduce are the exact same ones he sent in his submit

[fuma-nama]

You need to produce the problem in a repo or code sandbox

[IMXNOOBX]

You need to produce the problem in a repo or code sandbox

I dont know of any code sandbox that i can share with you, so i have created a repo https://github.com/IMXNOOBX/fumadocs-issue-1021

[fuma-nama]

Have you tried on a linux machine? (CodeSandbox whenever possible, click the "Open Demo" button on Fumadocs will open a codesandbox).

It works for me (ignore the port already in use one, it's because of other running dev servers)

[IMXNOOBX]

Cant reproduce either in the codesandbox, but on a linux server you get the same issue, im sorry i cannot be of more help, but i suggest you try on any other machine you dont use for dev and try it, ive tried in 3 diferent windows machines and in a ubuntu server 22

redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ node -v
v23.0.0

redacted@redacted:~/github$ git clone https://github.com/IMXNOOBX/fumadocs-issue-1021
Cloning into 'fumadocs-issue-1021'...
remote: Enumerating objects: 31, done.
remote: Counting objects: 100% (31/31), done.
remote: Compressing objects: 100% (26/26), done.
remote: Total 31 (delta 0), reused 31 (delta 0), pack-reused 0 (from 0)
Receiving objects: 100% (31/31), 53.98 KiB | 26.99 MiB/s, done.
redacted@redacted:~/github$ cd fumadocs-issue-1021/
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ npm i
(node:3256662) ExperimentalWarning: Support for loading ES Module in require() is an experimental feature and might change at any time
(Use `node --trace-warnings ...` to show where the warning was created)

> [email protected] postinstall
> fumadocs-mdx

[MDX] types generated

added 390 packages, and audited 391 packages in 9s

160 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

found 0 vulnerabilities
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ npm run build

> [email protected] build
> next build

   ▲ Next.js 15.0.2
   - Experiments (use with caution):
     · turbo

   Creating an optimized production build ...
[MDX] initialized map file
(node:3256858) [DEP0040] DeprecationWarning: The `punycode` module is deprecated. Please use a userland alternative instead.
(Use `node --trace-deprecation ...` to show where the warning was created)
<w> [webpack.cache.PackFileCacheStrategy] Caching failed for pack: Error: Unable to snapshot resolve dependencies
<w> [webpack.cache.PackFileCacheStrategy] Caching failed for pack: Error: Unable to snapshot resolve dependencies
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ npm run start

> [email protected] start
> next start

   ▲ Next.js 15.0.2
   - Local:        http://localhost:3000

 ✓ Starting...
Error: Could not find a production build in the '.next' directory. Try building your app with 'next build' before starting the production server. https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/production-start-no-build-id
    at setupFsCheck (/home/redacted/github/fumadocs-issue-1021/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-utils/filesystem.js:149:19)
    at async initialize (/home/redacted/github/fumadocs-issue-1021/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/router-server.js:65:23)
    at async Server.<anonymous> (/home/redacted/github/fumadocs-issue-1021/node_modules/next/dist/server/lib/start-server.js:266:36)
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ node -v
v23.0.0

[fuma-nama]

could you degrade node.js to v22 and use pnpm, and see if the problem exists?

[IMXNOOBX]

Seems to work with node v22, no pnpm used in this test

redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ nvm install v22
Downloading and installing node v22.11.0...
Downloading https://nodejs.org/dist/v22.11.0/node-v22.11.0-linux-arm64.tar.xz...
################################################################################################################################################################################################ 100.0%
Computing checksum with sha256sum
Checksums matched!
Now using node v22.11.0 (npm v10.9.0)
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ node -v
v22.11.0
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ npm ci

> [email protected] postinstall
> fumadocs-mdx

[MDX] types generated

added 390 packages, and audited 391 packages in 9s

160 packages are looking for funding
  run `npm fund` for details

found 0 vulnerabilities
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ rm .next -R
redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ npm run build

> [email protected] build
> next build

   ▲ Next.js 15.0.2
   - Experiments (use with caution):
     · turbo

   Creating an optimized production build ...
[MDX] initialized map file
(node:3262628) [DEP0040] DeprecationWarning: The `punycode` module is deprecated. Please use a userland alternative instead.
(Use `node --trace-deprecation ...` to show where the warning was created)
 ✓ Compiled successfully
 ✓ Linting and checking validity of types    
 ✓ Collecting page data    
 ✓ Generating static pages (7/7)
 ✓ Collecting build traces    
 ✓ Finalizing page optimization    

Route (app)                              Size     First Load JS
┌ ○ /                                    171 B           109 kB
├ ○ /_not-found                          897 B           101 kB
├ ƒ /api/search                          137 B           100 kB
└ ● /docs/[[...slug]]                    11.3 kB         158 kB
    ├ /docs
    └ /docs/test
+ First Load JS shared by all            99.9 kB
  ├ chunks/215-429da4f3e8265a89.js       45.2 kB
  ├ chunks/4bd1b696-89a6990571457db2.js  52.6 kB
  └ other shared chunks (total)          2.07 kB


○  (Static)   prerendered as static content
●  (SSG)      prerendered as static HTML (uses generateStaticParams)
ƒ  (Dynamic)  server-rendered on demand

redacted@redacted:~/github/fumadocs-issue-1021$ npm run start

> [email protected] start
> next start

   ▲ Next.js 15.0.2
   - Local:        http://localhost:3000

 ✓ Starting...
 ✓ Ready in 499ms

[fuma-nama]

My thought is there's some compatibility issues with Next.js and Node.js 23. Fumadocs is only a library on top of Next.js so we cannot fix this unless the upstream problem get fixed. For now, I recommend to use Node.js 22 as a solution.

[IMXNOOBX]

Alright, thanks for your time!