How to Enable Component Names for Styled-Components in Next.js

Next.js is a powerful framework for building server-rendered React applications. One of its features is a built-in compiler that provides first-class support for several tools and libraries, including styled-components.

This blog post will guide you through enabling component names for styled-components in your Next.js project, which can greatly enhance your debugging and development experience.

What are Styled-Components?

Styled-components is a popular library for writing CSS in JavaScript. It allows you to style your React components using tagged template literals, giving you the full power of CSS with the convenience of JavaScript.

import styled from 'styled-components';

const Button = styled.button`
  background: palevioletred;
  color: white;
  font-size: 1em;
  margin: 1em;
  padding: 0.25em 1em;
  border: 2px solid palevioletred;
  border-radius: 3px;
`;

By default, styled-components generates unique class names for your styles to avoid conflicts.

unique-class-names-styled-components-img-1

However, this can make debugging difficult because the class names in your HTML do not match the names of your styled components.

Enabling Component Names in Next.js

Next.js has built-in support for styled-components through its compiler, and you can easily enable component names for styled-components by configuring your next.config.mjs file.

Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Install Styled-Components.

npm install styled-components

Step 2: Configure Next.js.

Next, create or update your next.config.mjs file to enable styled-components in the Next.js compiler. This configuration will also remove console logs in production builds for a cleaner output.

/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  swcMinify: true,
  compiler: {
    removeConsole: true,
    styledComponents: true,
  },
};

export default nextConfig;

Step 3: Enable Display Names.

The styled Components option in the Next.js compiler automatically enables display names and better debugging for styled-components. This means that your styled-components will retain their names in the HTML output, making it easier to identify them during development.

const Button = styled.button`
  background: palevioletred;
  color: white;
  font-size: 1em;
  margin: 1em;
  padding: 0.25em 1em;
  border: 2px solid palevioletred;
  border-radius: 3px;
`;

enabling-component-names-styled-components-img-2

With the display names enabled, the generated class names will include the component names, making it easier to debug your styles.

Benefits of Enabling Component Names

Easier Debugging: Component names in class names make it easier to identify the source of styles when inspecting elements in the browser. This is especially useful in large projects where many components are styled with styled-components.

Improved Readability: Keeping the component names in the HTML improves readability and maintainability of the code. It allows developers to quickly understand which styles belong to which components.

Better Error Reporting: When there is an issue with styles, the error messages will include the component names, making it easier to trace back to the source of the problem.