Nuxt 4 - Latest Version of the Vue 3 Framework

Nuxt 4 Overview

Nuxt 4 is a major update incorporating the latest Vue 3 ecosystem technologies. It features faster startup, improved DX, and a new directory structure.

New Directory Structure

project/
├── app/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── composables/
│   ├── layouts/
│   ├── pages/
│   ├── plugins/
│   └── app.vue
├── public/
├── server/
│   ├── api/
│   ├── middleware/
│   └── plugins/
├── nuxt.config.ts
└── package.json

Change: Application code has moved to the app/ directory, clearly separating it from server code.

Performance Improvements

Startup Time Reduction

Dev server startup:
- Nuxt 3: 2.5s
- Nuxt 4: 1.2s (52% faster)

Hot reload:
- Nuxt 3: 300ms
- Nuxt 4: 100ms (66% faster)

Build Optimization

// nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  future: {
    compatibilityVersion: 4
  },
  experimental: {
    // New optimization options
    sharedPrerenderData: true,
    compileTemplate: true
  }
});

New Data Fetching

Improved useAsyncData

useFetch Type Safety

Server-Side Improvements

Nitro 3 Integration

// server/api/users.ts
export default defineEventHandler(async (event) => {
  // H3 new features
  const query = getQuery(event);
  const body = await readBody(event);

  // Validation
  const schema = z.object({
    name: z.string()
  });
  const validated = await readValidatedBody(event, schema.parse);

  return { users: [] };
});

Server Components

New Composables

usePreviewMode

useLoadingIndicator

Enhanced Layers

// nuxt.config.ts
export default defineNuxtConfig({
  extends: [
    '@my-org/ui-layer',
    '@my-org/auth-layer',
    '../shared-config'
  ]
});

my-app/
├── layers/
│   ├── ui/
│   │   ├── components/
│   │   └── nuxt.config.ts
│   └── auth/
│       ├── composables/
│       └── nuxt.config.ts
└── nuxt.config.ts

Module Ecosystem

# Key modules
npx nuxi module add @nuxt/image
npx nuxi module add @nuxt/ui
npx nuxi module add @nuxtjs/i18n
npx nuxi module add @pinia/nuxt

Migration Guide

# Automatic migration
npx nuxi upgrade --force

# Codemod
npx codemod nuxt/4/new-directory-structure

Major Breaking Changes

Summary

Nuxt 4 provides a more comfortable development experience with significant performance improvements and a new directory structure. It leverages the latest Vue 3 ecosystem features to build modern web applications.