This site's own converter runs on Next.js 16.2.9, so Next.js 16's changes aren't secondhand news to us — some of them, we hit directly. Here's what's actually new, condensed to what matters if you're maintaining a converted Next.js project or pointing an AI coding assistant at one.
Turbopack is the default now — for build, not just dev
Since Next.js 16, Turbopack is stable and the default bundler for both next dev and next build, with production builds running 2–5x faster and Fast Refresh up to 10x faster. No config needed for the speed-up.
The real gotcha: if your project has a custom Webpack configuration, next build now fails outright instead of silently falling back to Webpack. That's a deliberate choice to stop misconfiguration from shipping quietly, but it means any older customized Next.js project needs an explicit decision — migrate the config or opt back into Webpack with --webpack. A Pure Next.js export from this tool doesn't ship a custom Webpack config, so this specific gotcha doesn't apply to it, but it's worth checking before you build if you've since customized the project yourself.
Cache Components and use cache
Next.js 16 introduces Cache Components, built on Partial Prerendering: a use cache directive that lets you mark a page, component, or function as cacheable and let the compiler handle cache keys automatically, instead of reasoning about revalidate windows by hand. It's a real shift in how caching decisions get made in an App Router project — worth understanding before you reach for it, since it changes the default caching behavior for anything it's applied to, not just an opt-in speed boost.
middleware.ts doesn't exist anymore — it's proxy.ts
This is the one we ran into directly while working on this exact project. Next.js renamed the "middleware" convention to "Proxy" — the file is now proxy.ts, the exported function is proxy instead of middleware, and it's meant to clarify that this code runs at the network boundary, not as general request middleware.
If you or an AI coding assistant goes looking for middleware.ts in a Next.js 16 project and comes up empty, this is why — check for proxy.ts before assuming the project has no request-gating logic at all. We mention it because we hit exactly that moment of "this file should exist and it doesn't" firsthand, and it cost real time before finding the actual answer in Next's own docs rather than guessing from older training data.
DevTools MCP
Next.js also added DevTools MCP — a Model Context Protocol integration aimed at giving AI coding agents a structured way to inspect and debug a running Next.js app, rather than working blind from source alone. If you're already using an AI assistant to refine a converted export, this is the kind of tooling that closes the gap between "the assistant can read the code" and "the assistant can see what the app is actually doing."
What this means if you're on a converted project
None of this changes what a Pure Next.js or Framer to HTML export from this tool looks like today — the generated projects don't lean on custom Webpack config, middleware, or cache directives. Where it matters is the moment you (or an assistant) start extending the project afterward: know that Turbopack now enforces config correctness at build time, that use cache is available if you want it, and that "proxy," not "middleware," is the file to reach for.