clarify possible getServerSideProps return values

[eklipse18]

What is the improvement or update you wish to see?

I would like to clarify the API documentation for the return value of getServerSideProps.

Is there any context that might help us understand?

I was implementing user authentication on my website, and I was trying to restrict access to the login and signup pages if the user is logged in. To do so, I am implementing this getServerSideProps to redirect the user if they're logged in:

export async function getServerSideProps(context) {
  if (context.req.cookies.user) {
    return {
      redirect: {
        destination: '/',
        permanent: true,
      },
    }
  }
  return {}
}

If I return an empty object ({}), next gives me this error:

Reason: Props must be returned as a plain object from getServerSideProps: `{ props: { ... } }` (received: `[object Array]`).

I used an empty object because in the documentation, it is mentioned that that the props argument is optional. I later realised that maybe the content for the props property is optional, but not the object itself, and I was just proposing to clarify this for other people in the future.

Does the docs page already exist? Please link to it.

https://nextjs.org/docs/api-reference/data-fetching/get-server-side-props

[chozzz]

The type basically says either one of these properties.

Any thoughts? Else, I will raise a PR regarding it.

[balazsorban44]

Yes, the correct way is to return either of those. The wording in the docs is a bit ambiguous. It doesn't make sense to use them together, neither does it to only return {}.

Feel free to open a PR to address this.

[ELBEQQAL94]

Hi, Can I work on this issue? If still open?

[chozzz]

I have raised a PR here

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