Deprecate nested Middleware in favor of root middleware (vercel#36772)

This PR deprecates declaring a middleware under `pages` in favour of the project root naming it after `middleware` instead of `_middleware`. This is in the context of having a simpler execution model for middleware and also ships some refactor work. There is a ton of a code to be simplified after this deprecation but I think it is best to do it progressively.

With this PR, when in development, we will **fail** whenever we find a nested middleware but we do **not** include it in the compiler so if the project is using it, it will no longer work. For production we will **fail** too so it will not be possible to build and deploy a deprecated middleware. The error points to a page that should also be reviewed as part of **documentation**.

Aside from the deprecation, this migrates all middleware tests to work with a single middleware. It also splits tests into multiple folders to make them easier to isolate and work with. Finally it ships some small code refactor and simplifications.

Author: javivelasco

docs/advanced-features/i18n-routing.md

@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ module.exports = {
 Next, we can use [Middleware](/docs/middleware.md) to add custom routing rules:
 
 ```js
-// pages/_middleware.ts
+// middleware.ts
 
 import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server'
 

docs/advanced-features/middleware.md

@@ -24,12 +24,12 @@ Middleware enables you to use code over configuration. This gives you full flexi
 npm install next@latest
 ```
 
-2. Then, create a `_middleware.ts` file under your `/pages` directory.
+2. Then, create a `middleware.ts` file under your project root directory.
 
-3. Finally, export a middleware function from the `_middleware.ts` file.
+3. Finally, export a middleware function from the `middleware.ts` file.
 
 ```jsx
-// pages/_middleware.ts
+// middleware.ts
 
 import type { NextFetchEvent, NextRequest } from 'next/server'
 
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ In this example, we use the standard Web API Response ([MDN](https://developer.m
 
 ## API
 
-Middleware is created by using a `middleware` function that lives inside a `_middleware` file. Its API is based upon the native [`FetchEvent`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FetchEvent), [`Response`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Response), and [`Request`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Request) objects.
+Middleware is created by using a `middleware` function that lives inside a `middleware` file. Its API is based upon the native [`FetchEvent`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FetchEvent), [`Response`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Response), and [`Request`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Request) objects.
 
 These native Web API objects are extended to give you more control over how you manipulate and configure a response, based on the incoming requests.
 
@@ -75,31 +75,6 @@ Middleware can be used for anything that shares logic for a set of pages, includ
 
 ## Execution Order
 
-If your Middleware is created in `/pages/_middleware.ts`, it will run on all routes within the `/pages` directory. The below example assumes you have `about.tsx` and `teams.tsx` routes.
-
-```bash
-- package.json
-- /pages
-    _middleware.ts # Will run on all routes under /pages
-    index.tsx
-    about.tsx
-    teams.tsx
-```
-
-If you _do_ have sub-directories with nested routes, Middleware will run from the top down. For example, if you have `/pages/about/_middleware.ts` and `/pages/about/team/_middleware.ts`, `/about` will run first and then `/about/team`. The below example shows how this works with a nested routing structure.
-
-```bash
-- package.json
-- /pages
-    index.tsx
-    - /about
-      _middleware.ts # Will run first
-      about.tsx
-      - /teams
-        _middleware.ts # Will run second
-        teams.tsx
-```
-
 Middleware runs directly after `redirects` and `headers`, before the first filesystem lookup. This excludes `/_next` files.
 
 ## Deployment

docs/api-reference/next.config.js/custom-page-extensions.md

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ module.exports = {
 
 > **Note**: The default value of `pageExtensions` is [`['tsx', 'ts', 'jsx', 'js']`](https://github.com/vercel/next.js/blob/f1dbc9260d48c7995f6c52f8fbcc65f08e627992/packages/next/server/config-shared.ts#L161).
 
-> **Note**: configuring `pageExtensions` also affects `_document.js`, `_app.js`, `_middleware.js` as well as files under `pages/api/`. For example, setting `pageExtensions: ['page.tsx', 'page.ts']` means the following files: `_document.tsx`, `_app.tsx`, `_middleware.ts`, `pages/users.tsx` and `pages/api/users.ts` will have to be renamed to `_document.page.tsx`, `_app.page.tsx`, `_middleware.page.ts`, `pages/users.page.tsx` and `pages/api/users.page.ts` respectively.
+> **Note**: configuring `pageExtensions` also affects `_document.js`, `_app.js`, `middleware.js` as well as files under `pages/api/`. For example, setting `pageExtensions: ['page.tsx', 'page.ts']` means the following files: `_document.tsx`, `_app.tsx`, `middleware.ts`, `pages/users.tsx` and `pages/api/users.ts` will have to be renamed to `_document.page.tsx`, `_app.page.tsx`, `middleware.page.ts`, `pages/users.page.tsx` and `pages/api/users.page.ts` respectively.
 
 ## Including non-page files in the `pages` directory
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ module.exports = {
 
 Then rename your pages to have a file extension that includes `.page` (ex. rename `MyPage.tsx` to `MyPage.page.tsx`).
 
-> **Note**: Make sure you also rename `_document.js`, `_app.js`, `_middleware.js`, as well as files under `pages/api/`.
+> **Note**: Make sure you also rename `_document.js`, `_app.js`, `middleware.js`, as well as files under `pages/api/`.
 
 Without this config, Next.js assumes every tsx/ts/jsx/js file in the `pages` directory is a page or API route, and may expose unintended routes vulnerable to denial of service attacks, or throw an error like the following when building the production bundle:
 

docs/api-reference/next/server.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ The `next/server` module provides several exports for server-only helpers, such
 
 ## NextMiddleware
 
-Middleware is created by using a `middleware` function that lives inside a `_middleware` file. The Middleware API is based upon the native [`Request`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Request), [`FetchEvent`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FetchEvent), and [`Response`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Response) objects.
+Middleware is created by using a `middleware` function that lives inside a `middleware` file. The Middleware API is based upon the native [`Request`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Request), [`FetchEvent`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/FetchEvent), and [`Response`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Response) objects.
 
 These native Web API objects are extended to give you more control over how you manipulate and configure a response, based on the incoming requests.
 

errors/manifest.json

@@ -626,6 +626,10 @@
           "title": "middleware-relative-urls",
           "path": "/errors/middleware-relative-urls.md"
         },
+        {
+          "title": "nested-middleware",
+          "path": "/errors/nested-middleware.md"
+        },
         {
           "title": "deleting-query-params-in-middlewares",
           "path": "/errors/deleting-query-params-in-middlewares.md"

errors/middleware-new-signature.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 Your application is using a Middleware function that is using parameters from the deprecated API.
 
 ```typescript
-// _middleware.js
+// middleware.js
 import { NextResponse } from 'next/server'
 
 export function middleware(event) {
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ export function middleware(event) {
 Update to use the new API for Middleware:
 
 ```typescript
-// _middleware.js
+// middleware.js
 import { NextResponse } from 'next/server'
 
 export function middleware(request) {

errors/nested-middleware.md

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Nested Middleware
+
+#### Why This Error Occurred
+
+You are defining a middleware file in a location different from `<root>/middleware` which is not allowed.
+
+While in beta, a middleware file under specific pages implied that it would _only_ be executed when pages below its declaration were matched.
+This execution model allowed the nesting of multiple middleware, which is hard to reason about and led to consequences such as dragging effects between different middleware executions.
+
+The API has been removed in favor of a simpler model with a single root middleware.
+
+#### Possible Ways to Fix It
+
+To fix this error, declare your middleware in the root folder and use `NextRequest` parsed URL to define which path the middleware code should be executed for. For example, a middleware declared under `pages/about/_middleware.js` can be moved to `middleware`. A conditional can be used to ensure the middleware executes only when it matches the `about/*` path:
+
+```typescript
+import type { NextRequest } from 'next/server'
+
+export function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
+  if (request.nextUrl.pathname.startsWith('/about')) {
+    // Execute pages/about/_middleware.js
+  }
+}
+```
+
+If you have more than one middleware, you will need to combine them into a single file and model their execution depending on the request.

errors/no-server-import-in-page.md

@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@
 
 ### Why This Error Occurred
 
-`next/server` was imported outside of `pages/**/_middleware.{js,ts}`.
+`next/server` was imported outside of `middleware.{js,ts}`.
 
 ### Possible Ways to Fix It
 
-Only import and use `next/server` in a file located within the pages directory: `pages/**/_middleware.{js,ts}`.
+Only import and use `next/server` in a file located within the project root directory: `middleware.{js,ts}`.
 
 ```ts
-// pages/_middleware.ts
+// middleware.ts
 
 import type { NextFetchEvent, NextRequest } from 'next/server'
 

packages/eslint-plugin-next/lib/rules/no-server-import-in-page.js

@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ const path = require('path')
 module.exports = {
   meta: {
     docs: {
-      description:
-        'Disallow importing next/server outside of pages/_middleware.js',
+      description: 'Disallow importing next/server outside of middleware.js',
       recommended: true,
       url: 'https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/no-server-import-in-page',
     },
@@ -16,20 +15,18 @@ module.exports = {
           return
         }
 
-        const paths = context.getFilename().split('pages')
-        const page = paths[paths.length - 1]
-
+        const filename = context.getFilename()
         if (
-          !page ||
-          page.includes(`${path.sep}_middleware`) ||
-          page.includes(`${path.posix.sep}_middleware`)
+          filename.startsWith('middleware.') ||
+          filename.startsWith(`${path.sep}middleware.`) ||
+          filename.startsWith(`${path.posix.sep}middleware.`)
         ) {
           return
         }
 
         context.report({
           node,
-          message: `next/server should not be imported outside of pages/_middleware.js. See: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/no-server-import-in-page`,
+          message: `next/server should not be imported outside of middleware.js. See: https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/no-server-import-in-page`,
         })
       },
     }