DEV Community: Kenneth Nnabuife

Most People Don’t Actually Use Next.js as a Backend

Kenneth Nnabuife — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:43:30 +0000

A month ago, I published a post on LinkedIn with this exact title.

It caught a lot of developers’ attention. More than I expected.

And even found it's way to a reddit group with over 500 upvotes, and arguments among developers: https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1pqrqfv/i_guess_ive_been_using_nextjs_the_wrong_way/

This is the post below:

Most People Don’t Actually Use Next.js as a Backend. It’s a pattern I keep seeing over and over.

People say they use Next.js for full-stack projects, but when you look closer, all data fetching happens on the client, and every request goes straight from the browser to some external API. No server logic. No backend responsibility. No real use of the framework.

At that point, you’re not really using Next.js. You’re just using React with better routing. When your frontend calls external services directly, you’re exposing API endpoints, request patterns and sometimes even secrets through environment leaks or misconfigurations. Next.js exists to prevent this. It lets your app act as the backend. External services stay hidden behind server routes, secrets never touch the browser, and users only interact with your controlled endpoints. No direct exposure. No unnecessary attack surface.

Express still makes sense for large, shared, multi-client APIs.
But if your app is web-only and you already chose Next.js, using it like CRA defeats both security and simplicity.
If your Next.js app exposes external APIs directly to the client, you’re not using the framework properly. You’re leaving security, performance, and control on the table.

Use the right tool.
And more importantly, use it correctly👍.

LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-nnabuife-a7a63812a

You don’t need to worry about global auth state anymore.

Kenneth Nnabuife — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 00:58:58 +0000

Last month, I shared a global state authentication library I’ve been building.
Since then, it’s crossed 700+ downloads, and that made one thing very clear to me.

The problem isn’t that auth is hard.
It’s that auth sometimes slows development down.

Most times, you just want to:
Start building your app’s app main features immediately.
Test your backend without setting up auth infrastructure first
Avoid creating store files, reducers, persistence, and edge cases before anything works.

That’s exactly what this library is built for.
With it, you can:
• Add global auth state in seconds. No stores. No reducers. No manual persistence.
• Refresh the page and stay authenticated automatically.
• Jump straight into building internal features first.
• Test your backend immediately without building auth from scratch.

It also comes with prebuilt Login, Signup, and Password Reset screens, so you don’t need to write forms or auth UI at all unless you want to.

I’m still refining it, but the early feedback confirms something important:
People want auth they can understand and reason about, not another layer of complexity.

If you’re building with React/Next and want auth that gets out of your way, this will help.

To use: npm install @kendevelops/auth-flow-kit

Open sourced: https://github.com/kennethnnabuife/auth-flow-kit

Feedback and contributions are welcome.

Many devs want to contribute to open source but don’t know where to start. That’s why I started NoGateUI, an open-source React UI library platform. All contributions are welcome. Contribute: https://github.com/NoGateUI/nogateui Website: NoGateUI.com

Kenneth Nnabuife — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:45:38 +0000

GitHub - NoGateUI/nogateui: Contribute to your first open source React component library - NoGateUI is an open-source React UI ecosystem built to make contributing to open source approachable, practical, and welcoming, especially for people who are new to open source or unsure where to start.

Contribute to your first open source React component library - NoGateUI is an open-source React UI ecosystem built to make contributing to open source approachable, practical, and welcoming, especi...

github.com

New library release

Kenneth Nnabuife — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:47:07 +0000

Released a global state auth toolkit with ready-made login, signup and reset pages. Install, add your backend URL and get instant global auth + protected routes. Great for testing or production. npm: @kendevelops/auth-flow-kit

Released a global state auth toolkit with ready-made login, signup and reset pages. Install, add your backend URL and get instant global auth + protected routes. Great for testing or production. Open source: https://github.com/kennethnnabuife/auth-flow-kit

Kenneth Nnabuife — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:42:26 +0000

GitHub - kennethnnabuife/auth-flow-kit: A simple auth toolkit for React and Next.js. It gives you ready-made login and signup pages, keeps track of who is logged in using context, and makes it easy to protect pages so only logged-in users can see them. Plug it into your project and it just works.

A simple auth toolkit for React and Next.js. It gives you ready-made login and signup pages, keeps track of who is logged in using context, and makes it easy to protect pages so only logged-in user...

github.com

Just launched LinksProbe.com - an Open Source tool that instantly checks if a link is ✅ safe or ❌ dangerous. Built with Next.js + Express + Node.js. Repo: github.com/kennethnnabuife/links-probe

Kenneth Nnabuife — Tue, 28 Oct 2025 12:27:04 +0000