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Layers

Nuxt provides a powerful system that allows you to extend the default files, configs, and much more.

One of the core features of Nuxt is the layers and extending support. You can extend a default Nuxt application to reuse components, utils, and configuration. The layers structure is almost identical to a standard Nuxt application which makes them easy to author and maintain.

Use Cases

  • Share reusable configuration presets across projects using nuxt.config and app.config
  • Create a component library using components/ directory
  • Create utility and composable library using composables/ and utils/ directories
  • Create Nuxt module presets
  • Share standard setup across projects
  • Create Nuxt themes
  • Enhance code organization by implementing a modular architecture and support Domain-Driven Design (DDD) pattern in large scale projects.

Usage

By default, any layers within your project in the ~/layers directory will be automatically registered as layers in your project

Layer auto-registration was introduced in Nuxt v3.12.0

In addition, you can extend from a layer by adding the extends property to your nuxt.config file.

nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  extends: [
    '../base',                     // Extend from a local layer
    '@my-themes/awesome',          // Extend from an installed npm package
    'github:my-themes/awesome#v1', // Extend from a git repository
  ]
})

You can also pass an authentication token if you are extending from a private GitHub repository:

nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  extends: [
    // per layer configuration
    ['github:my-themes/private-awesome', { auth: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN }]
  ]
})

Nuxt uses unjs/c12 and unjs/giget for extending remote layers. Check the documentation for more information and all available options.

Read more about layers in the Layer Author Guide.
Watch a video from Learn Vue about Nuxt Layers.
Watch a video from Alexander Lichter about Nuxt Layers.

Examples

Content Wind Theme

A lightweight Nuxt theme to build a Markdown driven website. Powered by Nuxt Content, TailwindCSS and Iconify.