wails3 unable start with nextjs in dev mode

[SJFCS]

Description

run wails3 task build is ok
but run wails3 dev is error:

2025/08/08 18:18:08 [WebView2] Environment created successfully
 ⨯ [Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'C:\Users\admin\Desktop\new\gui\myfirstapp\frontend\dist\server\app\page\app-build-manifest.json'] {
  errno: -4058,
  code: 'ENOENT',
  syscall: 'open',
  path: 'C:\\Users\\admin\\Desktop\\new\\gui\\myfirstapp\\frontend\\dist\\server\\app\\page\\app-build-manifest.json'
}
 ⨯ [Error: ENOENT: no such file or directory, open 'C:\Users\admin\Desktop\new\gui\myfirstapp\frontend\dist\static\development\_buildManifest.js.tmp.m7dzqo0ggbo'] {
  errno: -4058,
  code: 'ENOENT',
  syscall: 'open',
  path: 'C:\\Users\\admin\\Desktop\\new\\gui\\myfirstapp\\frontend\\dist\\static\\development\\_buildManifest.js.tmp.m7dzqo0ggbo'
}

To Reproduce

go install -v github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/cmd/wails3@latest
wails3 init -n myfirstapp -t react-ts
cd  myfirstapp
rm -rf frontend

npx create-next-app@latest
projectname=frontend

wails dev

Expected behaviour

should start normally

Screenshots

Attempted Fixes

i try ,also not work

cd frontend
mkdir dist/static/development/
mv .next/static/*/* dist/static/development/

System Details

$ wails doctor


          Wails Doctor          
                                


# Wails
Version | v2.10.2


# System
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
| OS           | Windows 10 Pro                                                               |
| Version      | 2009 (Build: 26100)                                                          |
| ID           | 24H2                                                                         |
| Branding     | Windows 11 专业版                                                            |
| Go Version   | go1.24.3                                                                     |
| Platform     | windows                                                                      |
| Architecture | amd64                                                                        |
| CPU          | Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 5 225H                                               |
| GPU          | Intel(R) Arc(TM) 130T GPU (16GB) (Intel Corporation) - Driver: 32.0.101.6554 |
| Memory       | 32GB                                                                         |
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

# Dependencies
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
| Dependency | Package Name | Status    | Version        |
| WebView2   | N/A          | Installed | 138.0.3351.121 |
| Nodejs     | N/A          | Installed | 24.5.0         |
| npm        | N/A          | Installed | 11.4.1         |
| *upx       | N/A          | Available |                |
| *nsis      | N/A          | Available |                |
|                                                        |
└─────────────── * - Optional Dependency ────────────────┘

# Diagnosis
Optional package(s) installation details:
  - upx : Available at https://upx.github.io/
  - nsis : More info at https://wails.io/docs/guides/windows-installer/

 SUCCESS  Your system is ready for Wails development!

 ♥   If Wails is useful to you or your company, please consider sponsoring the project:
https://github.com/sponsors/leaanthony

Additional context

No response

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @SJFCS! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the wails team.

The ENOENT errors happen because Wails expects static frontend files in a specific directory (like dist/), but Next.js in dev mode serves assets dynamically from its own server and doesn't output them to disk in the way Wails expects. This mismatch causes missing file errors.

To run Wails v3 with Next.js in dev mode, you need to configure Wails to proxy requests to the Next.js dev server instead of looking for static files. You can do this by editing your wails.json:

{
  "frontend:dev:watcher": "npm run dev --prefix frontend",
  "frontend:dev:serverUrl": "http://localhost:3000"
}

This setup tells Wails to start the Next.js dev server and proxy frontend requests to it. Make sure your Next.js app is running on the specified port (3000 by default).

You may also need to update your main HTML (or _document.js/_app.js in Next.js) to include the Wails runtime scripts, especially if you see issues with Go bindings or IPC. For example, add these in your <head>:

<meta name="wails-options" content="noautoinject" />
<script src="/wails/ipc.js"></script>
<script src="/wails/runtime.js"></script>

Keep in mind that some Next.js features like SSR/ISR may not work seamlessly in this setup, since Wails is designed for SPAs and expects static assets in dev mode. For more details and working examples, check out community templates like wails-template-nextjs and wails-template-nextjs-app-router for reference configurations and scripts¹²³⁴.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

---

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Footnotes

1. https://wails.io/docs/next/guides/application-development ↩

2. https://wails.io/docs/next/reference/cli ↩

3. https://v3.wails.io/community/templates ↩

4. https://wails.io/docs/next/guides/angular ↩

[leaanthony]

This is not a Wails bug. Converting to discussion.

[dosubot[bot]]

The ENOENT errors happen because Wails dev mode expects static files on disk, but Next.js serves assets dynamically from its own dev server and doesn't write all required files to disk in development. Copying files manually won't solve this because Next.js doesn't generate everything Wails expects.

To fix this, configure Wails to proxy frontend requests to your running Next.js dev server. In your wails.json, add:

{
  "frontend:dev:watcher": "npm run dev",
  "frontend:dev:serverUrl": "http://localhost:3000"
}

Replace the port if your Next.js dev server uses a different one.

Next, update your frontend/public/index.html (or wherever your main HTML is) to include:

<head>
  <meta name="wails-options" content="noautoinject" />
  <script src="/wails/ipc.js"></script>
  <script src="/wails/runtime.js"></script>
</head>

This ensures Wails injects its runtime scripts correctly when proxying to an external dev server source.

Now, start your Next.js dev server (npm run dev), then run wails3 dev. Wails will proxy requests to Next.js, and you’ll get hot reload and HMR from Next.js, with Go backend changes still triggering rebuilds.

Limitations: Go bindings may not work in the browser if you open the Next.js dev server directly, but they will work in the Wails desktop app. Make sure the dev server is running before starting Wails.

This proxy setup is fully supported in the codebase, even though it’s not documented for Next.js specifically source. Community templates for Next.js + Wails exist, but they use similar workarounds.

Let me know if you need help with the exact config or have trouble with the HTML changes!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

---

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[SJFCS]

When setting output: "standalone" in Next.js config, wails3 dev works fine but wails3 build fails.
When setting output: "export", wails3 build works fine but wails3 dev fails.

How can I automatically switch between these modes?
Also, this issue did not occur in the previous Wails2 version.

import type { NextConfig } from "next";

const nextConfig: NextConfig = {
  // output: "export",
   output: "standalone",
  // Optional: Change links `/me` -> `/me/` and emit `/me.html` -> `/me/index.html`
  trailingSlash: true,

  // Optional: Prevent automatic `/me` -> `/me/`, instead preserve `href`
  // skipTrailingSlashRedirect: true,

  // Optional: Change the output directory `out` -> `dist`
  distDir: "dist",

  compress: false,

  images: {
    unoptimized: true,
  },
};

export default nextConfig;