Introduction to Supabase and Server-Side Rendering

Supabase has quickly become a go-to solution for developers looking for a powerful, open-source alternative to Firebase. When combined with server-side rendering (SSR), it opens up a world of possibilities for creating fast, secure, and scalable web applications.

In this article, we'll dive deep into how you can harness the power of Supabase with SSR to take your web development skills to the next level.

Why Use Supabase with SSR?

Before we jump into the implementation details, let's understand why this combination is so potent:

1. Enhanced Security: With SSR, sensitive data fetching occurs on the server, reducing the risk of exposing API keys or tokens to the client.

2. Improved Performance: SSR can significantly improve initial page load times, especially for data-heavy applications.

3. Better SEO: Search engines can more easily crawl and index server-rendered content, improving your site's visibility.

4. Real-time Capabilities: Supabase's real-time features can be seamlessly integrated with SSR for live updates.

Setting Up Supabase with SSR

Let's walk through the process of setting up Supabase with SSR using Next.js, a popular React framework that supports SSR out of the box.

Step 1: Install Dependencies

First, create a new Next.js project and install the Supabase client:

npx create-next-app my-supabase-ssr-app
cd my-supabase-ssr-app
npm install @supabase/supabase-js

Step 2: Configure Supabase

Create a new file called lib/supabase.js to initialize the Supabase client:

import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'

const supabaseUrl = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL
const supabaseAnonKey = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY

export const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseAnonKey)

Make sure to add your Supabase URL and anon key to your .env.local file:

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your-supabase-url
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your-supabase-anon-key

Step 3: Implement SSR with Supabase

Now, let's create a page that fetches data from Supabase using SSR. Create a new file called pages/posts.js:

import { supabase } from '../lib/supabase'

export default function Posts({ posts }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Latest Posts</h1>
      <ul>
        {posts.map((post) => (
          <li key={post.id}>{post.title}</li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    </div>
  )
}

export async function getServerSideProps() {
  const { data: posts, error } = await supabase
    .from('posts')
    .select('id, title')
    .order('created_at', { ascending: false })

  if (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching posts:', error)
    return { props: { posts: [] } }
  }

  return { props: { posts } }
}

In this example, we're using Next.js's getServerSideProps function to fetch posts from Supabase on the server side. This data is then passed as props to the component for rendering.

Handling Authentication with SSR

Supabase provides excellent authentication features, which can be seamlessly integrated with SSR. Here's how you can protect a route and fetch user-specific data:

Create a new file called pages/dashboard.js:

import { supabase } from '../lib/supabase'

export default function Dashboard({ user, userPosts }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Welcome, {user.email}!</h1>
      <h2>Your Posts:</h2>
      <ul>
        {userPosts.map((post) => (
          <li key={post.id}>{post.title}</li>
        ))}
      </ul>
    </div>
  )
}

export async function getServerSideProps({ req }) {
  const { user } = await supabase.auth.api.getUserByCookie(req)

  if (!user) {
    return {
      redirect: {
        destination: '/login',
        permanent: false,
      },
    }
  }

  const { data: userPosts, error } = await supabase
    .from('posts')
    .select('id, title')
    .eq('user_id', user.id)

  if (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching user posts:', error)
    return { props: { user, userPosts: [] } }
  }

  return { props: { user, userPosts } }
}

This example demonstrates how to:

1. Check if a user is authenticated on the server-side
2. Redirect unauthenticated users to a login page
3. Fetch user-specific data from Supabase

Optimizing Performance with ISR

While SSR is great for dynamic content, it can be overkill for pages that don't change frequently. Supabase can be effectively combined with Next.js's Incremental Static Regeneration (ISR) for such cases:

Create a file called pages/articles/[id].js:

import { supabase } from '../../lib/supabase'

export default function Article({ article }) {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>{article.title}</h1>
      <p>{article.content}</p>
    </div>
  )
}

export async function getStaticProps({ params }) {
  const { data: article, error } = await supabase
    .from('articles')
    .select('*')
    .eq('id', params.id)
    .single()

  if (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching article:', error)
    return { notFound: true }
  }

  return {
    props: { article },
    revalidate: 60, // Revalidate every 60 seconds
  }
}

export async function getStaticPaths() {
  const { data: articles, error } = await supabase
    .from('articles')
    .select('id')
    .limit(10)

  if (error) {
    console.error('Error fetching article IDs:', error)
    return { paths: [], fallback: 'blocking' }
  }

  const paths = articles.map((article) => ({
    params: { id: article.id.toString() },
  }))

  return { paths, fallback: 'blocking' }
}

This setup allows you to statically generate article pages at build time, with the ability to update them periodically or on-demand.

Conclusion

Combining Supabase with server-side rendering offers a powerful approach to building modern web applications. By leveraging SSR, you can enhance security, improve performance, and create seamless user experiences while taking full advantage of Supabase's robust features.

As you continue to explore this combination, you'll discover even more ways to optimize your applications and deliver exceptional value to your users. Happy coding!