Key Technical Pitfalls to Know Before Migrating a Vite Project to Next.js

Developers moving from Vite to Next.js often underestimate the architectural differences between the two frameworks, despite both being React-based. Unlike Vite's centralized react-router-dom setup, Next.js uses file-system routing where folder structure directly maps to URL paths. A major adjustment involves the component model: Next.js treats all components as Server Components by default, requiring an explicit 'use client' directive for any component using browser APIs or React hooks. Data fetching also changes significantly, as Next.js encourages fetching directly inside async Server Components rather than relying on useEffect hooks. Additional friction points include restructuring Context Providers and updating environment variable prefixes from VITE_ to the Next.js convention.