Edge Redirects with Upstash

Edge Redirects with Upstash is a Next.js boilerplate for evaluating URL redirects at the edge, combining hardcoded JSON rules with live redirects stored in Upstash Redis.

What is Edge Redirects with Upstash?

This template is a Next.js example from Vercel that demonstrates how to handle both static and dynamic redirects inside an Edge Middleware function. It accepts a list of redirect rules — 1,000 hardcoded in a JSON file and 9,000 stored in Upstash Redis — and returns the appropriate HTTP redirect response when a request matches. The template runs on the Vercel edge network and is styled with Tailwind CSS.

Key Features

• Hybrid redirect sources — Evaluates a total of 10,000 redirect rules per request: 1,000 from a local JSON file and 9,000 from Upstash Redis.
• Edge middleware execution — Redirect logic runs in the Next.js edge function, so rules are applied in the edge network rather than on an origin server.
• Editable redirects via Upstash — Update the 9,000 Redis-backed redirects at any time through the Upstash REST API or the included population script; no rebuild is needed.
• Build-time JSON redirects — The 1,000 hardcoded rules are faster to evaluate, but changes to them require a new build.
• One-click deploy on Vercel — Clone and deploy with environment variables for UPSTASH_REST_API_DOMAIN and UPSTASH_REST_API_TOKEN, or bootstrap locally with pnpm create next-app.
• Population script — scripts/upstash.js populates Redis with the demo redirects; set POPULATE_REDIS to false to skip this.

Who is it for?

• Edge middleware developers — Use it as a reference for combining static and dynamic data sources inside Next.js middleware.
• Engineering teams — Deploy it to manage a large volume of URL redirects without doubling over origin requests.
• Site reliability engineers — Benchmark the trade-off between fast build-time JSON redirects and the flexibility of Redis-backed redirects.

What can you do with it?

• Marketing teams: maintain up to 9,000 redirects in Upstash Redis for expired landing pages and campaign URLs, applying changes in seconds.
• Product developers: test how many redirect rules can be evaluated at the edge before latency degrades, using the 10,000-rule demo as a baseline.

How does it work?

After cloning and setting the Upstash environment variables, run the script in scripts/upstash.js to populate Redis with the 9,000 redirects. When a request hits the Next.js edge middleware, it first checks the hardcoded JSON redirects; if no match is found, it queries Upstash for a Redis-stored rule and responds with the redirect. The POPULATE_REDIS flag lets you run without the Redis population step.

FAQ

Do I need an Upstash account?

Yes, to populate and read the Redis-backed redirects you need an Upstash account and must set the UPSTASH_REST_API_DOMAIN and UPSTASH_REST_API_TOKEN environment variables.

Can I use the template without Redis?

Yes, set POPULATE_REDIS to false in your environment file. The hardcoded JSON redirects will still work without Upstash.

How many redirects does the demo include?

The demo seeds 10,000 redirects total: 1,000 hardcoded in JSON and 9,000 stored in Upstash Redis.