---
title: after
description: API Reference for the after function.
---

`after` allows you to schedule work to be executed after a response (or prerender) is finished. This is useful for tasks and other side effects that should not block the response, such as logging and analytics.

It can be used in [Server Components](/docs/app/getting-started/server-and-client-components) (including [`generateMetadata`](/docs/app/api-reference/functions/generate-metadata)), [Server Functions](/docs/app/getting-started/mutating-data), [Route Handlers](/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/route), and [Proxy](/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/proxy).

The function accepts a callback that will be executed after the response (or prerender) is finished:

```tsx filename="app/layout.tsx" switcher
import { after } from 'next/server'
// Custom logging function
import { log } from '@/app/utils'

export default function Layout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  after(() => {
    // Execute after the layout is rendered and sent to the user
    log()
  })
  return <>{children}</>
}
```

```jsx filename="app/layout.jsx" switcher
import { after } from 'next/server'
// Custom logging function
import { log } from '@/app/utils'

export default function Layout({ children }) {
  after(() => {
    // Execute after the layout is rendered and sent to the user
    log()
  })
  return <>{children}</>
}
```

> **Good to know:** `after` is not a [Request-time API](/docs/app/glossary#request-time-apis) and calling it does not cause a route to become dynamic. If it's used within a static page, the callback will execute at build time, or whenever a page is revalidated.

## Reference

### Parameters

- A callback function which will be executed after the response (or prerender) is finished.

### Duration

`after` will run for the platform's default or configured max duration of your route. If your platform supports it, you can configure the timeout limit using the [`maxDuration`](/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/route-segment-config/maxDuration) route segment config.

## Good to know

- `after` will be executed even if the response didn't complete successfully. Including when an error is thrown or when `notFound` or `redirect` is called.
- You can use React `cache` to deduplicate functions called inside `after`.
- `after` can be nested inside other `after` calls, for example, you can create utility functions that wrap `after` calls to add additional functionality.

## Examples

### With request APIs

Whether you can use request APIs like [`cookies`](/docs/app/api-reference/functions/cookies) and [`headers`](/docs/app/api-reference/functions/headers) inside `after` depends on where `after` is called from.

#### In Route Handlers and Server Functions

You can call `cookies` and `headers` directly inside the `after` callback when used in [Route Handlers](/docs/app/api-reference/file-conventions/route) and [Server Functions](/docs/app/getting-started/mutating-data). This is useful for logging activity after a mutation or API request. For example:

```ts filename="app/api/route.ts" highlight={2,10-16} switcher
import { after } from 'next/server'
import { cookies, headers } from 'next/headers'
import { logUserAction } from '@/app/utils'

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  // Perform mutation
  // ...

  // Log user activity for analytics
  after(async () => {
    const userAgent = (await headers()).get('user-agent') || 'unknown'
    const sessionCookie =
      (await cookies()).get('session-id')?.value || 'anonymous'

    logUserAction({ sessionCookie, userAgent })
  })

  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ status: 'success' }), {
    status: 200,
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  })
}
```

```js filename="app/api/route.js" highlight={2,10-16} switcher
import { after } from 'next/server'
import { cookies, headers } from 'next/headers'
import { logUserAction } from '@/app/utils'

export async function POST(request) {
  // Perform mutation
  // ...

  // Log user activity for analytics
  after(async () => {
    const userAgent = (await headers()).get('user-agent') || 'unknown'
    const sessionCookie =
      (await cookies()).get('session-id')?.value || 'anonymous'

    logUserAction({ sessionCookie, userAgent })
  })

  return new Response(JSON.stringify({ status: 'success' }), {
    status: 200,
    headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  })
}
```

#### In Server Components (pages and layouts)

[Server Components](/docs/app/getting-started/server-and-client-components) (including pages, layouts, and `generateMetadata`) **cannot** use `cookies`, `headers`, or other Request-time APIs inside `after`. This is because Next.js needs to know which part of the component tree accesses request data to support [Partial Prerendering](/docs/app/glossary#partial-prerendering-ppr) and [Cache Components](/docs/app/getting-started/caching), but `after` runs after React's rendering lifecycle.

If you need request data inside an `after` callback in a Server Component, read it beforehand and pass the values in:

```tsx filename="app/page.tsx" highlight={8-10,12} switcher
import { after } from 'next/server'
import { cookies, headers } from 'next/headers'
import { logUserAction } from '@/app/utils'

export default async function Page() {
  // Read request data before `after` — this is allowed
  // These calls will be read during the component's rendering lifecycle
  const userAgent = (await headers()).get('user-agent') || 'unknown'
  const sessionCookie =
    (await cookies()).get('session-id')?.value || 'anonymous'

  after(() => {
    // Use the values read above
    logUserAction({ sessionCookie, userAgent })
  })

  return <h1>My Page</h1>
}
```

```jsx filename="app/page.jsx" highlight={8-10,12} switcher
import { after } from 'next/server'
import { cookies, headers } from 'next/headers'
import { logUserAction } from '@/app/utils'

export default async function Page() {
  // Read request data before `after` — this is allowed
  // These calls will be read during the component's rendering lifecycle
  const userAgent = (await headers()).get('user-agent') || 'unknown'
  const sessionCookie =
    (await cookies()).get('session-id')?.value || 'anonymous'

  after(() => {
    // Use the values read above
    logUserAction({ sessionCookie, userAgent })
  })

  return <h1>My Page</h1>
}
```

Calling `cookies()` or `headers()` inside the `after` callback in a Server Component will throw a runtime error.

#### With Cache Components

When using [Cache Components](/docs/app/getting-started/caching), components that access request data like `cookies` or `headers` must be wrapped in [`<Suspense>`](https://react.dev/reference/react/Suspense) so the rest of the page can be prerendered into a static shell.

You can combine this pattern with `after` by reading request data in a dynamic component and passing it into `after`:

```tsx filename="app/page.tsx" highlight={18-19,22-24} switcher
import { Suspense } from 'react'
import { after } from 'next/server'
import { cookies } from 'next/headers'
import { logUserAction } from '@/app/utils'

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <>
      <h1>Part of the static shell</h1>
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading...</p>}>
        <DynamicContent />
      </Suspense>
    </>
  )
}

async function DynamicContent() {
  const sessionCookie =
    (await cookies()).get('session-id')?.value || 'anonymous'

  // Schedule work after the response is sent
  after(() => {
    logUserAction({ sessionCookie })
  })

  return <p>Your session: {sessionCookie}</p>
}
```

```jsx filename="app/page.jsx" highlight={18-19,22-24} switcher
import { Suspense } from 'react'
import { after } from 'next/server'
import { cookies } from 'next/headers'
import { logUserAction } from '@/app/utils'

export default function Page() {
  return (
    <>
      <h1>Part of the static shell</h1>
      <Suspense fallback={<p>Loading...</p>}>
        <DynamicContent />
      </Suspense>
    </>
  )
}

async function DynamicContent() {
  const sessionCookie =
    (await cookies()).get('session-id')?.value || 'anonymous'

  // Schedule work after the response is sent
  after(() => {
    logUserAction({ sessionCookie })
  })

  return <p>Your session: {sessionCookie}</p>
}
```

In this example, `<h1>` and the `<Suspense>` fallback are included in the static shell. `DynamicContent` reads the cookie during rendering and passes it into `after` via closure. Since `cookies()` is called _outside_ the `after` callback (during the component's render), this works correctly.

## Platform Support

| Deployment Option                                                   | Supported         |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| [Node.js server](/docs/app/getting-started/deploying#nodejs-server) | Yes               |
| [Docker container](/docs/app/getting-started/deploying#docker)      | Yes               |
| [Static export](/docs/app/getting-started/deploying#static-export)  | No                |
| [Adapters](/docs/app/getting-started/deploying#adapters)            | Platform-specific |

Learn how to [configure `after`](/docs/app/guides/self-hosting#after) when self-hosting Next.js.

<details id="after-serverless">
  <summary>Reference: supporting `after` for serverless platforms</summary>

Using `after` in a serverless context requires waiting for asynchronous tasks to finish after the response has been sent. In Next.js and Vercel, this is achieved using a primitive called `waitUntil(promise)`, which extends the lifetime of a serverless invocation until all promises passed to [`waitUntil`](https://vercel.com/docs/functions/functions-api-reference#waituntil) have settled.

If you want your users to be able to run `after`, you will have to provide your implementation of `waitUntil` that behaves in an analogous way.

When `after` is called, Next.js will access `waitUntil` like this:

```jsx
const RequestContext = globalThis[Symbol.for('@next/request-context')]
const contextValue = RequestContext?.get()
const waitUntil = contextValue?.waitUntil
```

Which means that `globalThis[Symbol.for('@next/request-context')]` is expected to contain an object like this:

```tsx
type NextRequestContext = {
  get(): NextRequestContextValue | undefined
}

type NextRequestContextValue = {
  waitUntil?: (promise: Promise<any>) => void
}
```

Here is an example of the implementation.

```tsx
import { AsyncLocalStorage } from 'node:async_hooks'

const RequestContextStorage = new AsyncLocalStorage<NextRequestContextValue>()

// Define and inject the accessor that next.js will use
const RequestContext: NextRequestContext = {
  get() {
    return RequestContextStorage.getStore()
  },
}
globalThis[Symbol.for('@next/request-context')] = RequestContext

const handler = (req, res) => {
  const contextValue = { waitUntil: YOUR_WAITUNTIL }
  // Provide the value
  return RequestContextStorage.run(contextValue, () => nextJsHandler(req, res))
}
```

</details>

## Version History

| Version      | Changes                      |
| ------------ | ---------------------------- |
| `v15.1.0`    | `after` became stable.       |
| `v15.0.0-rc` | `unstable_after` introduced. |
