Next.js 13 - Error: . is neither a posix nor a windows path, and there is no 'join' method defined in the file system

Question

I'm using Next.js 13.5.4 with the app directory. I'm trying to use route groups to have multiple root layouts, but I'm encountering an error.

Here is my app directory excluding api routes:

app
├───(main)
│   │   globals.css
│   │   layout.tsx
│   │   page.tsx
│   │
│   ├───login
│   │       page.tsx
│   │
│   └───mytree
│           page.tsx
│
├───(preview)
│   │   layout.tsx
│   │
│   └───preview
│           page.tsx
│
└───api
    Not relevant

Here is the content of my app/(main)/page.tsx file:

import Hero from "@/components/landing/Hero";
import Footer from "@/components/layout/Footer";
import NavBar from "@/components/layout/NavBar";

export default function Home() {
  return (
    <>
      <div className="absolute z-10 w-full">
        <NavBar />
      </div>
      <div className="flex flex-col min-h-screen">
        <div className="pt-20" />
        <div className="flex-grow flex items-center justify-center">
          <Hero />
        </div>
        <Footer />
      </div>
    </>
  );
}

And here is the error message again:

Error: . is neither a posix nor a windows path, and there is no 'join' method defined in the file system

The error occurs when I try to compile the app/(main)/page.tsx route, but does not occur when compiling the app/(main)/mytree/page.tsx route or the app/(preview)/preview/page.tsx route.

I tried renaming the (main) group as suggested here, and I tried deleting the .next directory and restarting the dev server multiple times. I also tried upgrading to Next.js 14, but that didn't help either.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

I fixed the error by creating a new Next project with npx [email protected] and copying the old project's contents into the new project. I'm still unsure what caused the error.

Answer 2

• This error occurs when you move page.tsx / layout.tsx file to a different folder. In your case, I assume you might have moved page.tsx & layout.tsx file from the app directory to (main) folder.
• If you’re encountering this error and are using tools like GitHub or GitLab, you can resolve it by removing your local project and re-cloning it from the remote repository. Please ensure that all changes have been pushed to the remote repository before deleting the local project.
• To prevent this error, instead of moving the file to a different folder, you could create a new file in the folder you prefer and then copy the contents of the file you wish to move into it.