OOM / Out of Memory Errors When Building Next.js Blog + Docs with MDX
Unanswered
Masai Lion posted this in #help-forum
Masai LionOP
Hi everyone,
I’m running into persistent Out of Memory (OOM) issues during next build in a Next.js project that uses MDX extensively for both a blog and documentation, and I’m hoping to get some guidance from the community.
Project Overview
Framework: Next.js (App Router)
Content: Blog + Docs, both written entirely in MDX
Rendering: Static generation at build time
Content source: All MDX files are stored in the repository (no CMS)
Deployment: Vercel / CI environments
For context, this is a real production site with a relatively large MDX content base:
👉 https://kuakua.app/docs
The Problem
During next build, the process frequently fails with JavaScript heap out of memory errors.
Locally, the build sometimes succeeds
On Vercel or CI runners, it fails much more consistently
Failures often happen during compilation, type checking, or MDX processing
In some cases, the build exits abruptly with limited logs, but memory exhaustion is evident
What I’ve Tried So Far
Increasing Node memory limits, e.g.
NODE_OPTIONS="--max_old_space_size=4096" and 8192
Temporarily reducing the number of MDX files to confirm scale sensitivity
Reviewing MDX-related configuration (remark / rehype plugins)
Verifying that everything works correctly in development mode
Despite these attempts, the OOM issue still occurs during production builds.
Questions
Are there known memory bottlenecks when using MDX heavily in Next.js builds?
Are there recommended architectural patterns for large MDX-based blog/docs setups (e.g. splitting builds, partial loading, different MDX pipelines)?
Is there anything specific in Next.js + MDX integration that commonly causes excessive memory usage during build time?
If needed, I can provide more configuration details or code snippets.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I’m running into persistent Out of Memory (OOM) issues during next build in a Next.js project that uses MDX extensively for both a blog and documentation, and I’m hoping to get some guidance from the community.
Project Overview
Framework: Next.js (App Router)
Content: Blog + Docs, both written entirely in MDX
Rendering: Static generation at build time
Content source: All MDX files are stored in the repository (no CMS)
Deployment: Vercel / CI environments
For context, this is a real production site with a relatively large MDX content base:
👉 https://kuakua.app/docs
The Problem
During next build, the process frequently fails with JavaScript heap out of memory errors.
Locally, the build sometimes succeeds
On Vercel or CI runners, it fails much more consistently
Failures often happen during compilation, type checking, or MDX processing
In some cases, the build exits abruptly with limited logs, but memory exhaustion is evident
What I’ve Tried So Far
Increasing Node memory limits, e.g.
NODE_OPTIONS="--max_old_space_size=4096" and 8192
Temporarily reducing the number of MDX files to confirm scale sensitivity
Reviewing MDX-related configuration (remark / rehype plugins)
Verifying that everything works correctly in development mode
Despite these attempts, the OOM issue still occurs during production builds.
Questions
Are there known memory bottlenecks when using MDX heavily in Next.js builds?
Are there recommended architectural patterns for large MDX-based blog/docs setups (e.g. splitting builds, partial loading, different MDX pipelines)?
Is there anything specific in Next.js + MDX integration that commonly causes excessive memory usage during build time?
If needed, I can provide more configuration details or code snippets.
Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!