Dinou docs

Overview

Any file named page.jsx, page.tsx, page.js, or page.ts inside the src directory automatically becomes a public route.

src/page.tsx → /

src/blog/page.tsx → /blog

src/blog/[slug]/page.tsx → /blog/hello-world

Show Technical Details (for Ejected Code)

In the ejected core, the URL path to file system mapping is fully resolved by the module dinou/core/get-file-path-and-dynamic-params.js.

This module traverses the src/ directory structure at request time, parsing folder structures to match bracket parameters ([param]), optional parameters ([[param]]), catch-all directories ([...param]), route groups ((group)), and layout slots (@slot). It returns the resolved file path along with the parsed parameters dictionary.

Basic & Dynamic Routes

Dinou supports various pattern matching strategies for dynamic routing:

Pattern	File Path	URL Example	Params (`params`)
Static	src/page.jsx	/	{}
Dynamic	src/blog/[slug]/page.jsx	/blog/hello	{ slug: 'hello' }
Optional	src/blog/[[slug]]/page.jsx	/blog	{ slug: undefined }
Catch-all	src/blog/[...slug]/page.jsx	/blog/a/b/c	{ slug: ['a','b','c'] }
Optional Catch-all	src/blog/[[...slug]]/page.jsx	/blog	{ slug: [] }

Note

Route parameters are passed as the params prop to page, layout, error,not_found, and slot pages. Query parameters (e.g., ?q=hello) are NOT passed as props. Use the useSearchParams() hook in Client Components, or getContext().req.query in Server Components.

Optional Segments Rules

Dinou enforces a strict No-Gap Rule when using deep nested optional segments like /inventory/[[warehouse]]/[[aisle]].

Allowed: Trailing Omission

You can omit optional segments only if they are at the end of the URL.

/inventory/main/a1 ✅
/inventory/main ✅
/inventory ✅

Forbidden: Intercalated Gaps

You cannot skip an earlier segment and define a later one.

(Goal: Skip warehouse, set aisle)
❌ Impossible to represent in URL

Catch-all Constraints

Because Catch-all segments ([...slug]) consume the rest of the URL, they must always be the terminal (last) segment of a route definition. You cannot place other static or dynamic folders inside a Catch-all folder.

Advanced Routing

Route Groups `(folder)`

Folders wrapped in parentheses are omitted from the URL path.

src/(auth)/login/page.jsx → /login
src/(marketing)/about/page.jsx → /about
src/(marketing)/(nested)/about/page.jsx → /about

Why use them?
Route Groups allow you to keep your project structure logical (e.g., grouping all authentication-related routes together) without affecting the public URL structure.

Parallel Routes `@slot`

You can define slots (e.g., @sidebar, @header) to render multiple pages in the same layout simultaneously.

File Structure

src/dashboard/@sidebar/page.jsx
src/dashboard/(group-a)/@bottom/page.jsx
src/dashboard/layout.jsx

Layout Props

The layout.jsx receives the slots as props alongside children:

function Layout({ children, sidebar, bottom })

Requirement

Slots must be located in the same logical folder as the layout they serve.

Why use them?

Parallel routes allow independent UI sections and, crucially, Error Containment. If one section fails, it doesn't have to break the entire page.

Error Containment Behavior

Server Component with error.tsx

If the slot fails, only that specific slot renders its error UI. The rest of the page remains interactive.

Server Component w/o error.tsx

If the slot fails and has no error page, it safely renders null. The slot disappears, but the page works.

Client Component (Client-side)

An error during client-side interaction crashes the layout without a React Error Boundary. However, initial render crashes (during SSR) are safely contained by Dinou, falling back to null or error.tsx.