When building with Strapi and Next.js, you usually fetch content from the Strapi backend using API calls. That works great — but what if you don't want to keep the Strapi server running all the time?

This was the exact situation I faced. I needed my Next.js frontend to work with the same Strapi content, but without making live API requests.

The Challenge

I wanted my website to load content even when the Strapi backend was not running. That meant I needed a way to:

• Export all Strapi content (collections, single types, etc.)
• Save related media files (images, uploads)
• Use this exported data in my frontend instead of calling the Strapi API

The Solution

With the help of ChatGPT, I wrote a small export script inside my Strapi project:

backend/src/scripts/export-content.js

Run using: node export-content.js

The script does two things:

1. Exports all Strapi data into JSON files inside: frontend/public/content-export/

2. Copies all media files into: frontend/public/content-export/uploads

Using Static Data in Next.js

Instead of fetching from the Strapi API, I updated my frontend helper:

frontend/src/lib/api.js

The fetchStrapiData() function was modified to read from the exported JSON files. Now, the website loads data instantly without hitting the backend.

Why This Is Useful

• No need to run Strapi in production if content doesn't change often

• Faster load times (static files served directly)

• Great for hosting on platforms like Vercel or Netlify

• Still flexible: you can re-run the export script anytime content updates

Final Thoughts

This approach gave me the best of both worlds:

• A powerful CMS (Strapi) for content management
• A fast, static frontend (Next.js) for deployment

If you’re using Strapi + Next.js and want to avoid running the backend all the time, this method is simple and effective. Just export, save, and serve your content as static JSON. 🚀