fix(nextjs): Use dynamic imports in ClerkProvider

.changeset/selfish-books-matter.md

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+---
+'@clerk/nextjs': patch
+---
+
+Use dynamic imports in `<ClerkProvider />` which you import from `@clerk/nextjs`.
+
+Users on Next.js 12 and older can run into errors like these:
+
+```shell
+error - ./node_modules/@clerk/nextjs/dist/esm/app-router/client/ClerkProvider.js:10:22
+Module not found: Can't resolve 'next/navigation'
+```
+
+The aforementioned `<ClerkProvider />` component contains code for both Next.js 12 (+ older) and Next.js 13 (+ newer). On older versions it can't find the imports only available in newer versions.
+
+If you're seeing these errors, you have to do two things:
+
+1. Update `@clerk/nextjs` to this version
+1. Update your `next.config.js` to ignore these imports:
+
+    ```js
+    const webpack = require('webpack');
+
+    /** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
+    const nextConfig = {
+      reactStrictMode: true,
+      webpack(config) {
+        config.plugins.push(new webpack.IgnorePlugin({ resourceRegExp: /^next\/(navigation|headers|compat\/router)$/ }))
+        return config;
+      }
+    }
+
+    module.exports = nextConfig
+    ```
+
+    It is safe to ignore these modules as your Next.js 12 app won't hit these code paths.

packages/nextjs/src/client-boundary/ClerkProvider.tsx

@@ -1,19 +1,30 @@
 'use client';
 
-import { useRouter } from 'next/compat/router';
 import React from 'react';
 
-import { ClientClerkProvider } from '../app-router/client/ClerkProvider';
 import { ClerkProvider as PageClerkProvider } from '../pages/ClerkProvider';
 import { type NextClerkProviderProps } from '../types';
 
 /**
  * This is a compatibility layer to support a single ClerkProvider component in both the app and pages routers.
+ * It also needs to support both Next.js before and after v13, hence the dynamic imports for certain modules.
  */
 export function ClerkProvider(props: NextClerkProviderProps) {
-  const router = useRouter();
+  try {
+    // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
+    const { useRouter } = require('next/compat/router');
+    const router = useRouter();
 
-  const Provider = router ? PageClerkProvider : ClientClerkProvider;
+    return router ? <PageClerkProvider {...props} /> : <AppClerkProvider {...props} />;
+  } catch (error) {
+    // Silently ignore the error
+    return <PageClerkProvider {...props} />;
+  }
+}
+
+function AppClerkProvider(props: NextClerkProviderProps) {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
+  const { ClientClerkProvider } = require('../app-router/client/ClerkProvider');
 
-  return <Provider {...props} />;
+  return <ClientClerkProvider {...props} />;
 }