Next.js API routes (and pages) should support reading files

[Timer]

Feature request

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

It's currently not possible to read files from API routes or pages.

Describe the solution you'd like

I want to be able to call fs.readFile with a __dirname path and have it "just work".

This should work in Development and Production mode.

Describe alternatives you've considered

This may need to integrate with @zeit/webpack-asset-relocator-loader in some capacity. This plugin handles these types of requires.

However, it's not a necessity. I'd be OK with something that only works with __dirname and __filename (no relative or cwd-based paths).

Additional context

Example:

// pages/api/test.js
import fs from 'fs'
import path from 'path'

export default (req, res) => {
  const fileContent = fs.readFileSync(
    path.join(__dirname, '..', '..', 'package.json'), 
    'utf8'
  )
  // ...
}

Note: I know you can cheat the above example ☝️ with require, but that's not the point. 😄

[amytych]

Just wanted to second that, trying to implement file uploading using API routes. I can get the file to upload but then need to be able to access it again to upload it to S3 bucket.

[ScottSmith95]

I second this! Also, being able to read directories is very important for my company's usage as we keep our data like team members and blog posts in a content directory so we're looking for a way to require all files in the directory.

[Timer]

The above PR will fix this! ☝️ 🙏

[marlonmarcello]

How about fs.writeFile is that possible? For example, create and save a JSON file based on a webhook that was posted on an /api/route

[huv1k]

Hey @marlonmarcello, this is going to be possible. Stay tuned 😊

[NicolasHz]

It's this already solved?

[huv1k]

Not yet, you can subscribe for #8334

[NicolasHz]

@huv1k Many thanks!