Suggest an edit

Improve this article

Refine the answer for “Where are API Routes created?”. Your changes go to moderation before they’re published.

Approval required

Content

What you’re changing

Title (EN)

Short answer (EN)

Shown above the full answer for quick recall.

Answer (EN)

API Routes in Next.js are created **inside the project**, and the specific location depends on **which router is used**.

---

## Pages Router

If the Pages Router is used, API Routes are created in the folder:

```
/pages/api
```

### How this works:

- each file is a separate API endpoint
- the file name becomes part of the URL

Example:

```
/pages/api/users.ts   →  /api/users
/pages/api/posts.ts   →  /api/posts
```

---

## App Router (Route Handlers)

In the App Router, API Routes are created in the folder:

```
/app/api
```

Inside it, a file is used:

```
route.ts (or route.js)
```

### Example structure:

```
/app/api/posts/route.ts   →  /api/posts
/app/api/users/[id]/route.ts → /api/users/123
```

---

## Main difference between the approaches

- **Pages Router**:
  - simpler and older
  - works only through `/pages/api`
- **App Router**:
  - the modern approach
  - better integrated with Server Components
  - supports HTTP methods (`GET`, `POST`, `PUT`, `DELETE`, etc.)

---

## Where the API Routes code runs

Regardless of the approach:

- API Routes **always run on the server**
- do not end up in client-side JavaScript
- can safely work with a DB and secrets

---

## Short summary

- In the **Pages Router**, API Routes are located in `/pages/api`
- In the **App Router**, API Routes are located in `/app/api/**/route.ts`
- Each file is a separate API endpoint
- All API Routes code runs only on the server

Markdown · drag & drop images · ⌘B / ⌘I shortcuts233 words

For the reviewer

Note to the moderator (optional)

Visible only to the moderator. Helps review go faster.