Generate node_modules path at runtime instead of compile time.

[katalonne]

Goals

1. when building by default next sets the absolute path of node_modules to current directory.
   For example "/home/ktl2/Projects-2025/nicer_so/product-nextjs/node_modules/next/dist/lib/metadata/metadata-boundary.js.
   Notice /home/ktl2/Projects-2025/nicer_so/product-nextjs
2. node_modules directory is generated at compile time, but we need to get it at runtime.

Non-Goals

No response

Background

Use case for this feature is this:
You work with a devops but he did not sign any NDA or a contract, therefore you need to give him compiled/minified code to do his job.

In this case I will do these steps:

1. npm run build in original directory with source code.
2. copy .next folder
3. create another folder next-build-artifacts and put .next folder into next-build-artifacts
4. Create package.json and run npm i
5. Currently running npx next start will throw an error

Could not find the module "/home/ktl2/Projects-2025/nicer_so/product-nextjs/node_modules/next/dist/client/components/error-boundary.js#" in the React Client Manifest. This is probably a bug in the React Server Components bundler.

Alternative:

1. Manually replace /home/ktl2/Projects-2025/nicer_so/product-nextjs/node_modules with current directory node_modules path. Or create a script to map through all build files and replace this path.

Proposal

1. Do this automatically for every build
   or
2. Add an experimental flag next build --experimental-node-modules-path [runtime | compile-time]

[katalonne]

This did the job. closing the issue

module.exports = {
  output: 'standalone',
}