Nuxt/docs/1.getting-started/12.upgrade.md

---
title: Upgrade Guide
description: 'Learn how to upgrade to the latest Nuxt version.'
navigation.icon: i-ph-arrow-circle-up-duotone
---


## Upgrading Nuxt

### Latest release

To upgrade Nuxt to the [latest release](https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/releases), use the `nuxi upgrade` command.

```bash [Terminal]
npx nuxi upgrade
```

### Nightly Release Channel

To use the latest Nuxt build and test features before their release, read about the [nightly release channel](/docs/guide/going-further/nightly-release-channel) guide.

## Testing Nuxt 4

Nuxt 4 is planned to be released **on or before June 14** (though obviously this is dependent on having enough time after Nitro's major release to be properly tested in the community, so be aware that this is not an exact date).

Until then, it is possible to test many of Nuxt 4's breaking changes on the nightly release channel.

::tip{icon="i-ph-video-duotone" to="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4wFKlcJK6c" target="_blank"}
Watch a video from Alexander Lichter showing how to opt in to Nuxt 4's breaking changes already.
::

### Opting in to Nuxt 4

First, opt in to the nightly release channel [following these steps](/docs/guide/going-further/nightly-release-channel#opting-in).

Then you can set your `compatibilityVersion` to match Nuxt 4 behavior:

```ts twoslash [nuxt.config.ts]
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  future: {
    compatibilityVersion: 4,
  },
  // To re-enable _all_ Nuxt v3 behavior, set the following options:
  // srcDir: '.',
  // dir: {
  //   app: 'app'
  // },
  // experimental: {
  //   sharedPrerenderData: false,
  //   compileTemplate: true,
  //   templateUtils: true,
  //   relativeWatchPaths: true,
  //   defaults: {
  //     useAsyncData: {
  //       deep: true
  //     }
  //   }
  // },
  // unhead: {
  //   renderSSRHeadOptions: {
  //     omitLineBreaks: false
  //   }
  // }
})
```

When you set your `compatibilityVersion` to `4`, defaults throughout your Nuxt configuration will change to opt in to Nuxt v4 behavior, but you can granularly re-enable Nuxt v3 behavior when testing, following the commented out lines above. Please file issues if so, so that we can address them in Nuxt or in the ecosystem.

### Migrating to Nuxt 4

Breaking or significant changes will be noted here along with migration steps for backward/forward compatibility.

::alert
This section is subject to change until the final release, so please check back here regularly if you are testing Nuxt 4 using `compatibilityVersion: 4`.
::

#### New Directory Structure

🚦 **Impact Level**: Significant

Nuxt now defaults to a new directory structure, with backwards compatibility (so if Nuxt detects you are using the old structure, such as with a top-level `pages/` directory, this new structure will not apply).

👉 [See full RFC](https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/issues/26444)

##### What Changed

* the new Nuxt default `srcDir` is `app/` by default, and most things are resolved from there.
* `serverDir` now defaults to `<rootDir>/server` rather than `<srcDir>/server`
* `modules` and `public` are resolved relative to `<rootDir>` by default
* a new `dir.app` is added, which is the directory we look for `router.options.ts` and `spa-loading-template.html` - this defaults to `<srcDir>/`

<details>

<summary>An example v4 folder structure.</summary>

```sh
.output/
.nuxt/
app/
  assets/
  components/
  composables/
  layouts/
  middleware/
  pages/
  plugins/
  utils/
  app.config.ts
  app.vue
  router.options.ts
modules/
node_modules/
public/
server/
  api/
  middleware/
  plugins/
  routes/
  utils/
nuxt.config.ts
```

</details>

👉 For more details, see the [PR implementing this change](https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/pull/27029).

##### Reasons for Change

1. **Performance** - placing all your code in the root of your repo causes issues with `.git/` and `node_modules/` folders being scanned/included by FS watchers which can significantly delay startup on non-Mac OSes.
1. **IDE type-safety** - `server/` and the rest of your app are running in two entirely different contexts with different global imports available, and making sure `server/` isn't _inside_ the same folder as the rest of your app is a big first step to ensuring you get good auto-completes in your IDE.

##### Migration Steps

1. Create a new directory called `app/`.
1. Move your `assets/`, `components/`, `composables/`, `layouts/`, `middleware/`, `pages/`, `plugins/` and `utils/` folders under it, as well as `app.vue`, `error.vue`, `app.config.ts`. If you have an `app/router-options.ts` or `app/spa-loading-template.html`, these paths remain the same.
1. Make sure your `nuxt.config.ts`, `modules/`, `public/` and `server/` folders remain outside the `app/` folder, in the root of your project.

However, migration is _not required_. If you wish to keep your current folder structure, Nuxt should auto-detect it. (If it does not, please raise an issue.) You can also force a v3 folder structure with the following configuration:

```ts [nuxt.config.ts]
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  // This reverts the new srcDir default from `app` back to your root directory
  srcDir: '.',
  // This specifies the directory prefix for `app/router.options.ts` and `app/spa-loading-template.html`
  dir: {
    app: 'app'
  }
})
```

#### Shared Prerender Data

🚦 **Impact Level**: Medium

##### What Changed

We enabled a previously experimental feature to share data from `useAsyncData` and `useFetch` calls, across different pages. See [original PR](https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/pull/24894).

##### Reasons for Change

This feature automatically shares payload _data_ between pages that are prerendered. This can result in a significant performance improvement when prerendering sites that use `useAsyncData` or `useFetch` and fetch the same data in different pages.

For example, if your site requires a `useFetch` call for every page (for example, to get navigation data for a menu, or site settings from a CMS), this data would only be fetched once when prerendering the first page that uses it, and then cached for use when prerendering other pages.

##### Migration Steps

Make sure that any unique key of your data is always resolvable to the same data. For example, if you are using `useAsyncData` to fetch data related to a particular page, you should provide a key that uniquely matches that data. (`useFetch` should do this automatically for you.)

```ts [app/pages/test/[slug\\].vue]
// This would be unsafe in a dynamic page (e.g. `[slug].vue`) because the route slug makes a difference
// to the data fetched, but Nuxt can't know that because it's not reflected in the key.
const route = useRoute()
const { data } = await useAsyncData(async () => {
  return await $fetch(`/api/my-page/${route.params.slug}`)
})
// Instead, you should use a key that uniquely identifies the data fetched.
const { data } = await useAsyncData(route.params.slug, async () => {
  return await $fetch(`/api/my-page/${route.params.slug}`)
})
```

Alternatively, you can disable this feature with:

```ts twoslash [nuxt.config.ts]
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  experimental: {
    sharedPrerenderData: false
  }
})
```

#### Shallow Data Reactivity in `useAsyncData` and `useFetch`

🚦 **Impact Level**: Minimal

The `data` object returned from `useAsyncData`, `useFetch`, `useLazyAsyncData` and `useLazyFetch` is now a `shallowRef` rather than a `ref`.

##### What Changed

When new data is fetched, anything depending on `data` will still be reactive because the entire object is replaced. But if your code changes a property _within_ that data structure, this will not trigger any reactivity in your app.

##### Reasons for Change

This brings a **significant** performance improvement for deeply nested objects and arrays because Vue does not need to watch every single property/array for modification. In most cases, `data` should also be immutable.

##### Migration Steps

In most cases, no migration steps are required, but if you rely on the reactivity of the data object then you have two options:

1. You can granularly opt in to deep reactivity on a per-composable basis:
   ```diff
   - const { data } = useFetch('/api/test')
   + const { data } = useFetch('/api/test', { deep: true })
   ```
1. You can change the default behavior on a project-wide basis (not recommended):
   ```ts twoslash [nuxt.config.ts]
   export default defineNuxtConfig({
     experimental: {
       defaults: {
         useAsyncData: {
           deep: true
         }
       }
     }
   })
   ```

#### Absolute Watch Paths in `builder:watch`

🚦 **Impact Level**: Minimal

##### What Changed

The Nuxt `builder:watch` hook now emits a path which is absolute rather than relative to your project `srcDir`.

##### Reasons for Change

This allows us to support watching paths which are outside your `srcDir`, and offers better support for layers and other more complex patterns.

##### Migration Steps

We have already proactively migrated the public Nuxt modules which we are aware use this hook. See [issue #25339](https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/issues/25339).

However, if you are a module author using the `builder:watch` hook and wishing to remain backwards/forwards compatible, you can use the following code to ensure that your code works the same in both Nuxt v3 and Nuxt v4:

 ```diff
+ import { relative, resolve } from 'node:fs'
  // ...
  nuxt.hook('builder:watch', async (event, path) => {
+   path = relative(nuxt.options.srcDir, resolve(nuxt.options.srcDir, path))
    // ...
  })
```

#### Template Compilation Changes

🚦 **Impact Level**: Minimal

##### What Changed

Previously, Nuxt used `lodash/template` to compile templates located on the file system using the `.ejs` file format/syntax.

In addition, we provided some template utilities (`serialize`, `importName`, `importSources`) which could be used for code-generation within these templates, which are now being removed.

##### Reasons for Change

In Nuxt v3 we moved to a 'virtual' syntax with a `getContents()` function which is much more flexible and performant.

In addition, `lodash/template` has had a succession of security issues. These do not really apply to Nuxt projects because it is being used at build-time, not runtime, and by trusted code. However, they still appear in security audits. Moreover, `lodash` is a hefty dependency and is unused by most projects.

Finally, providing code serialization functions directly within Nuxt is not ideal. Instead, we maintain projects like [unjs/knitwork](http://github.com/unjs/knitwork) which can be dependencies of your project, and where security issues can be reported/resolved directly without requiring an upgrade of Nuxt itself.

##### Migration Steps

We have raised PRs to update modules using EJS syntax, but if you need to do this yourself, you have three backwards/forwards-compatible alternatives:

* Moving your string interpolation logic directly into `getContents()`.
* Using a custom function to handle the replacement, such as in https://github.com/nuxt-modules/color-mode/pull/240.
* Continuing to use `lodash`, as a dependency of _your_ project rather than Nuxt:

```diff
+ import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs'
+ import { template } from 'lodash-es'
  // ...
  addTemplate({
    fileName: 'appinsights-vue.js'
    options: { /* some options */ },
-   src: resolver.resolve('./runtime/plugin.ejs'),
+   getContents({ options }) {
+     const contents = readFileSync(resolver.resolve('./runtime/plugin.ejs'), 'utf-8')
+     return template(contents)({ options })
+   },
  })
```

Finally, if you are using the template utilities (`serialize`, `importName`, `importSources`), you can replace them as follows with utilities from `knitwork`:

```ts
import { genDynamicImport, genImport, genSafeVariableName } from 'knitwork'

const serialize = (data: any) => JSON.stringify(data, null, 2).replace(/"{(.+)}"(?=,?$)/gm, r => JSON.parse(r).replace(/^{(.*)}$/, '$1'))

const importSources = (sources: string | string[], { lazy = false } = {}) => {
  return toArray(sources).map((src) => {
    if (lazy) {
      return `const ${genSafeVariableName(src)} = ${genDynamicImport(src, { comment: `webpackChunkName: ${JSON.stringify(src)}` })}`
    }
    return genImport(src, genSafeVariableName(src))
  }).join('\n')
}

const importName = genSafeVariableName
```

#### Removal of Experimental Features

🚦 **Impact Level**: Minimal

##### What Changed

Four experimental features are no longer configurable in Nuxt 4:

* `treeshakeClientOnly` will be `true` (default since v3.0)
* `configSchema` will be `true` (default since v3.3)
* `polyfillVueUseHead` will be `false` (default since v3.4)
* `respectNoSSRHeader` will be `false` (default since v3.4)

##### Reasons for Change

These options have been set to their current values for some time and we do not have a reason to believe that they need to remain configurable.

##### Migration Steps

* `polyfillVueUseHead` is implementable in user-land with [this plugin](https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/blob/f209158352b09d1986aa320e29ff36353b91c358/packages/nuxt/src/head/runtime/plugins/vueuse-head-polyfill.ts#L10-L11)

* `respectNoSSRHeader`is implementable in user-land with [server middleware](https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/blob/c660b39447f0d5b8790c0826092638d321cd6821/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/no-ssr.ts#L8-L9)

## Nuxt 2 vs Nuxt 3

In the table below, there is a quick comparison between 3 versions of Nuxt:

Feature / Version        | Nuxt 2          | Nuxt Bridge      | Nuxt 3
-------------------------|-----------------|------------------|---------
Vue                      | 2               | 2                | 3
Stability                | 😊 Stable      | 😌 Semi-stable    | 😊 Stable
Performance              | 🏎 Fast        | ✈️ Faster          | 🚀 Fastest
Nitro Engine             | ❌             | ✅                | ✅
ESM support              | 🌙 Partial     | 👍 Better         | ✅
TypeScript               | ☑️ Opt-in       | 🚧 Partial        | ✅
Composition API          | ❌             | 🚧 Partial        | ✅
Options API              | ✅             | ✅                | ✅
Components Auto Import   | ✅             | ✅                | ✅
`<script setup>` syntax  | ❌             | 🚧 Partial        | ✅
Auto Imports             | ❌             | ✅                | ✅
webpack                  | 4              | 4                 | 5
Vite                     | ⚠️ Partial      | 🚧 Partial        | ✅
Nuxi CLI                 | ❌ Old         | ✅ nuxi           | ✅ nuxi
Static sites             | ✅             | ✅                | ✅

## Nuxt 2 to Nuxt 3

The migration guide provides a step-by-step comparison of Nuxt 2 features to Nuxt 3 features and guidance to adapt your current application.

::read-more{to="/docs/migration/overview"}
Check out the **guide to migrating from Nuxt 2 to Nuxt 3**.
::

## Nuxt 2 to Nuxt Bridge

If you prefer to progressively migrate your Nuxt 2 application to Nuxt 3, you can use Nuxt Bridge. Nuxt Bridge is a compatibility layer that allows you to use Nuxt 3 features in Nuxt 2 with an opt-in mechanism.

::read-more{to="/docs/bridge/overview"}
**Migrate from Nuxt 2 to Nuxt Bridge**
::