If you’ve ever built a Next.js project and wanted a clean static export for deployment, you’ll know that npm run build is the standard way. But sometimes, you don’t want all the extra files, error pages, or configs bloating your output.

That’s where a custom export script comes in. Today, I’ll walk you through how to use a Bash script to streamline your Next.js build process and get a lean, production-ready static site.

📦 The Problem with a Standard Next.js Build

Running:

npm run build

generates a .next directory with all the optimized production files. However:

• It includes unnecessary files.

• It might ship error pages that break static exports.

• You don’t always want your entire repo—just what’s needed for a deployable export.

This script solves all that.

⚡ The Custom Build Script

Here’s the script in full:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

ROOT="$(pwd)"
TMP="$ROOT/.export-tmp"
OUT="$ROOT/out"

rm -rf "$TMP" "$OUT"
mkdir -p "$TMP"

# Copy only what's needed for a public/static export
rsync -a --prune-empty-dirs \
  --include="/app/" \
  --include="/app/(public)/***" \
  --include="/public/***" \
  --include="/styles/***" \
  --include="/components/***" \
  --include="/lib/***" \
  --include="/package.json" \
  --include="/yarn.lock" --include="/package-lock.json" --include="/pnpm-lock.yaml" \
  --include="/next.config.*" \
  --include="/tsconfig.json" --include="/jsconfig.json" \
  --include="/postcss.config.*" --include="/tailwind.config.*" \
  --exclude="*" \
  "$ROOT/" "$TMP/"

# Remove error pages that break static export
rm -f "$TMP/app/error.tsx" "$TMP/app/error.js" "$TMP/app/global-error.tsx" "$TMP/app/global-error.js" || true

pushd "$TMP" >/dev/null
# install using whatever lockfile you have
if [ -f yarn.lock ]; then yarn install --frozen-lockfile; else npm ci; fi

# Build + export just the filtered app
npm run build
popd >/dev/null

mv "$TMP/out" "$OUT"
rm -rf "$TMP"

echo "✅ Static export created at: $OUT"

🔍 How It Works

1. Set up directories
   It creates a temporary .export-tmp directory for the build and an out folder for the final export.

2. Selective file copy with rsync
   Instead of copying your whole project, it only copies:

   • app/, components/, lib/, styles/

   • public/ assets

   • Config files (next.config.js, tailwind.config.js, tsconfig.json, etc.)

   • Dependency lockfiles (yarn.lock, package-lock.json, etc.)

   Everything else is excluded to keep things lean.

3. Remove problematic error pages
   Next.js error pages like app/error.tsx can break static exports, so they’re removed.

4. Install dependencies & build

   • Uses yarn install --frozen-lockfile if a yarn.lock file exists.

   • Falls back to npm ci otherwise.

   • Runs npm run build to generate the production-ready static export.

5. Move the final build
   The generated out/ folder is placed at the project root for easy deployment.

✅ Running the Script

Make the script executable:

chmod +x build.sh

Then run:

./build.sh

When it’s done, you’ll see:

✅ Static export created at: ./out

Now your clean static build is ready to deploy 🚀.

🛠️ Why This Approach?

• Cleaner builds → Only essential files are included.

• Smaller deploys → Faster uploads to hosting services.

• Cross-package manager support → Works with npm, yarn, or pnpm.

• Static-ready → Automatically strips out Next.js error pages that break exports.

🌍 Where to Use This

You can deploy the out/ folder to any static hosting provider:

• Vercel

• Netlify

• GitHub Pages

• Cloudflare Pages

• S3 + CloudFront

Final Thoughts

Next.js is powerful, but sometimes the defaults don’t fit every deployment workflow. With this script, you get full control over your npm run build process, ensuring only the right files make it into production.