Next.js

Liteshop hosts the static files a Next.js static export produces. This guide uses the App Router with output: "export".

Before you begin

Install Node.js 22 or later.
Sign in to the Liteshop dashboard.

Create the app

npx create-next-app@latest my-site --yes --ts --app --no-tailwind --no-eslint
cd my-site

Replace next.config.ts to export static files:

import type { NextConfig } from "next";

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  output: "export",
  images: { unoptimized: true },
};

export default nextConfig;

This removes the template’s cacheComponents and partialPrefetching options, because a static export can’t use them. images.unoptimized lets next/image work without the image optimizer server. next build now writes the Site to out/.

Add the manifest

Next.js copies everything in public/ to the root of out/, so put liteshop.json there:

{
  "$schema": "https://docs.liteshop.me/schemas/site-v0.1.json",
  "specVersion": "0.1",
  "site": {
    "name": "My Site",
    "defaultLocale": "en",
    "supportedLocales": ["en"],
    "timezone": "Europe/Paris"
  },
  "frontend": {
    "entry": "index.html"
  },
  "capabilities": {
    "forms": [
      {
        "id": "contact",
        "name": { "en": "Contact" },
        "fields": [
          { "id": "email", "type": "email", "label": { "en": "Email" }, "required": true },
          { "id": "message", "type": "textarea", "label": { "en": "Message" }, "required": true }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Leave capabilities as {} if the Site has no Form. The Site Bundle reference lists every field.

Add the SDK

Install the Liteshop SDK:

npm install @liteshop.ai/sdk

Import liteshop from it wherever the Site uses Forms, bookings or the catalogue. It calls the Site’s own Liteshop endpoints and includes its TypeScript types. next dev can’t answer the SDK, because the package’s dev plugin needs Vite. Test Forms on a deployed Site.

Submit a Form

Put the form in a Client Component, for example app/contact.tsx, and render <Contact /> from a page. Import the SDK and pass the Form ID as a literal string. Liteshop reads liteshop.forms.submit("contact", ...) from your built JavaScript to check that every declared Form has a handler.

"use client";

import { useState, type FormEvent } from "react";
import { liteshop } from "@liteshop.ai/sdk";

export default function Contact() {
  const [status, setStatus] = useState<"idle" | "sent" | "error">("idle");

  async function submit(event: FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) {
    event.preventDefault();
    const form = event.currentTarget;
    const data = new FormData(form);
    try {
      await liteshop.forms.submit("contact", {
        email: String(data.get("email")),
        message: String(data.get("message")),
      });
      form.reset();
      setStatus("sent");
    } catch {
      setStatus("error");
    }
  }

  return (
    <form onSubmit={submit}>
      <label>Email <input name="email" type="email" required /></label>
      <label>Message <textarea name="message" required /></label>
      <button type="submit">Send</button>
      {status === "sent" && <p>Thanks, your message was sent.</p>}
      {status === "error" && <p>Your message could not be sent. Try again.</p>}
    </form>
  );
}

Don’t add method="post" or an action to the form. See the Forms reference for field types and the anti-spam field.

Build and package the Site

npm run build
cd out
zip -r ../site.zip .

The ZIP must have index.html and liteshop.json at its root, which zipping the contents of out gives you.

Upload the Site

To publish a new Site:

In the Liteshop dashboard, click Website > Upload files.
Enter the Site name and subdomain, and select site.zip.
Click Check and publish.

To update a Site, open Website settings (the gear button on the Website page), and upload the new ZIP file in Upload an update. An update’s liteshop.json must name the live version in baseDeployment. If the value is missing or out of date, validation fails, and its repair message gives the exact value to set in public/liteshop.json. For details, see Publish and manage a Site.

Routing

Liteshop serves /about from about.html, and from about/index.html by redirecting to /about/. With the default trailingSlash: false, Next.js writes app/about/page.tsx to about.html and links to /about, so every exported page works on reload. next/link navigation also loads the .txt files the export writes next to each page; keep them in the ZIP. Dynamic routes need generateStaticParams so each page is exported as its own HTML file. To show the exported 404.html for unknown paths, set "notFound": "404.html" under frontend in liteshop.json.

What runs on Liteshop

Liteshop hosts static output only: no server rendering, Route Handlers that read the request, Server Actions, Proxy (middleware), Incremental Static Regeneration or the default image optimizer. The Site’s security policy blocks scripts, styles and network requests to other origins, frames, workers and eval. Validation warns when your build appears to use one of those features, and fails on external scripts and frames. The Next.js runtime mentions fetch, so every Next.js build gets that warning; you can ignore it if your own code doesn’t call fetch.

Dashboard edits

Site Owners can edit catalogue items, collections, and stock in the dashboard, which publishes a new Deployment from your files without rebuilding your app. Read the catalogue in the browser with liteshop.catalogue.list(). Don’t import liteshop.json or render catalogue items at build time; otherwise, dashboard edits don’t appear on the Site until you rebuild and upload it again. See the Catalogue reference.

Get started

Build with code

Frameworks

Reference