Pro-Level Next.js + Strapi Tips (Beginner-Friendly but Boss-Level)

Hey there!
So… this is my first blog on DEV.to 😅
I’ve been working with Next.js and Strapi for a while, and honestly, the combo is chef’s kiss, but most tutorials only teach the basics:

• Fetch API ✅
• Render data ✅
• Deploy ✅

Cool. But…
When you start working on real projects, you quickly realize there’s a big difference between “it works” and “it’s built like a pro”.

Today, I’m sharing two game-changing tips I wish someone told me earlier.
They’re not complicated — but they’ll make your Next.js + Strapi projects faster, safer, and production-ready.

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Tip #1 — Mixing Static + Live Data (Hybrid Rendering)

Here’s the thing:
If you render everything live from Strapi → your site is slower.
If you make everything static → your content might get outdated.

The sweet spot? Hybrid Rendering:

Important stuff = Static + Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR)

Frequently changing stuff = Live fetch (SSR)

Example:
Imagine a blog post where the article is static (good for SEO), but comments are live (good for users).

// app/blog/[slug]/page.tsx

export const revalidate = 60; // Refresh static parts every 60s

async function getArticle(slug: string) {
  const res = await fetch(`${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_STRAPI_URL}/articles?filters[slug][$eq]=${slug}&populate=*`, {
    next: { revalidate: 60 }
  });
  return res.json();
}

async function getComments(articleId: number) {
  const res = await fetch(`${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_STRAPI_URL}/comments?filters[article][id][$eq]=${articleId}`, {
    cache: 'no-store' // Always fresh
  });
  return res.json();
}

export default async function BlogPost({ params }) {
  const { data: articleData } = await getArticle(params.slug);
  const article = articleData[0];

  const { data: comments } = await getComments(article.id);

  return (
    <main>
      <h1>{article.attributes.title}</h1>
      <div dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{ __html: article.attributes.content }} />

      <section>
        <h2>Live Comments</h2>
        {comments.map(c => (
          <p key={c.id}>{c.attributes.text}</p>
        ))}
      </section>
    </main>
  );
}

Why this is awesome:
✅ Pages load fast for SEO
✅ Users get the latest comments without a page rebuild
✅ Works perfectly for blogs, news, and product pages

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Tip #2 — Don’t Trust Your API (Validate Everything)

Here’s a hard truth:
If your Strapi content changes shape, your frontend can break.

To prevent that → I use Zod for validation. It checks the API response before rendering. If something’s wrong, you’ll catch it early.

npm install zod

// lib/strapi.ts
import { z } from "zod";

const ArticleSchema = z.object({
  id: z.number(),
  attributes: z.object({
    title: z.string(),
    content: z.string(),
    publishedAt: z.string(),
  }),
});

export async function fetchArticles() {
  const res = await fetch(`${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_STRAPI_URL}/articles`, {
    cache: "no-store"
  });

  const json = await res.json();

  return z.array(ArticleSchema).parse(json.data); // Validation here
}

Then in your page:

// app/page.tsx
import { fetchArticles } from "@/lib/strapi";

export default async function HomePage() {
  const articles = await fetchArticles();

  return (
    <main>
      {articles.map(a => (
        <article key={a.id}>
          <h2>{a.attributes.title}</h2>
          <p>{a.attributes.content}</p>
        </article>
      ))}
    </main>
  );
}

Why this is awesome:
✅ No random runtime errors
✅ Auto-documents your data structure
✅ Saves you from late-night debugging

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Final Thoughts

Next.js + Strapi is already a great stack, but when you start mixing static + live data and validating API responses, your projects go from “works fine” → rock solid.

These two tips are small changes, but in real-world projects, they make a massive difference.

And since this is my first blog, if you try these out, I’d love to hear how it went! 🚀