Next.js is infuriating

Heard and appreciate the feedback. We’re well aware of the DX papercuts in Middleware. With 15.5 we made a big step in supporting Node runtime[1] which addresses a slew of issues people have reported over time.

If I went back in time, I would have called it Routing Middleware or Routing Handler. A specific hook to intercept during the routing phase, which can be delivered to the CDN edge for specialized providers. It’s also a somewhat advanced escape hatch.

Since OP mentions logging, it’s worth noting that for instrumentation and observability we’ve embraced OpenTelemetry and have an instrumentation.ts convention[2]

[1] https://nextjs.org/blog/next-15-5#nodejs-middleware-stable

[2] https://nextjs.org/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/i...

Since you're here — I'll just pipe in.

Here in this article, the author, failing to comprehend the domain differences, is applying the same approach to call a function everywhere. Of course it won't work.

The fallacy of nextjs is attempting to blend function domains that are inherently different. Stop doing that and you will be fine. Documentation won't work, it will be just more confusing. Blending edge and ssr and node and client-side into one is a mess, and the attempt to achieve that only results in layers upon layers of redundant framework complexity.

Sounds like you wouldn’t be a fan of React Server Components in general then since blending domains is its whole point.