Deploying to the Edge

Nitro presets compile your Nuxt server for edge runtimes — global low latency, no cold starts, but a smaller API surface than Node.

5 min read Level 3/5 #nuxt#deploy#edge

What you'll learn

Pick the right edge preset for your host
Account for runtime limitations like no fs and limited Node APIs
Use edge-compatible database drivers

Edge runtimes run your server on hundreds of POPs worldwide. Requests hit the nearest one — TTFB of 30ms in Tokyo, Sydney, and São Paulo for the same code. The trade-off: you’re not in Node anymore.

Pick a Preset

Set nitro.preset to match your host.

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  nitro: {
    preset: 'cloudflare-pages',
    // 'cloudflare-module' — for Workers with a wrangler.toml
    // 'vercel-edge'       — for Vercel Edge Functions
    // 'deno-deploy'       — for Deno Deploy
    // 'netlify-edge'      — for Netlify Edge Functions
  },
})

Build and deploy:

nuxi build
# Cloudflare Pages
npx wrangler pages deploy dist

What’s Missing

Edge runtimes ship a subset of Node — basically the Web Standards API. Available: fetch, Request, Response, URL, crypto.subtle, TextEncoder, ReadableStream. Missing: fs, path, child_process, net, and most npm packages that wrap them.

The build will fail if any imported package uses a missing API. Move that work to a separate Node service or skip the package.

Edge-Friendly Databases

Postgres pg opens a TCP socket — not allowed at the edge. Use HTTP-based drivers instead.

Neon — serverless Postgres with an HTTP driver
Turso / libSQL — SQLite over HTTP
Cloudflare D1 — built-in SQLite, native to Workers
Drizzle ORM — has HTTP adapters for all three

import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless'

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL!)
const users = await sql`SELECT * FROM users LIMIT 10`

Env & Secrets

Each host has its own way to bind secrets — wrangler secret put for Cloudflare, the Vercel dashboard for Edge Functions. Access them through useRuntimeConfig() exactly as you would in Node.

When to Choose Edge

Pick edge when:

You need globally low latency on read-heavy routes
Your code only does fetch, JSON, and JWT validation
Cold starts on Node serverless are hurting you

Stay on Node when:

You need filesystem access, native modules, or long-running background jobs
Your DB needs persistent TCP connections without an HTTP proxy
You hit edge memory or CPU limits (~128MB, ~50ms CPU on Cloudflare free)

That’s the production tour — go ship something.