Deploy did not succeed: Deploy directory ".next" does not exist

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1

I have a Next JS (+React) app. And I am getting the following error on the “Deploy” stage:
Deploy did not succeed: Deploy directory ".next" does not exist

I was having troubles with the build stage because Netlify was using Node 16. In the process of debugging that error, I referred to a couple of other Netlify answers and had updated my Publish directory value twice.
One time I updated it to be: build and the second time, I updated it to be out.
This was from “Build & Deploy” > “Continuous deployment” > “Build settings”.

That error was fixed as I set the Environment Variable NODE_VERSION to 18.

I have since updated the Publish directory value back to .next (which I believe is Next’s default publish dir). But I am still getting the following error log:

4:39:05 PM: Deploy site                                                   
4:39:05 PM: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
4:39:05 PM: ​
4:39:05 PM: Section completed: deploying
4:39:05 PM: ​
4:39:05 PM: Configuration error                                           
4:39:05 PM: ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
4:39:05 PM: ​
4:39:05 PM:   Error message
4:39:05 PM:   Deploy did not succeed: Deploy directory ".next" does not exist
4:39:05 PM: ​
4:39:05 PM:   Resolved config
4:39:05 PM:   build:
4:39:05 PM:     environment:
4:39:05 PM:       - NETLIFY_NEXT_PLUGIN_SKIP
4:39:05 PM:       - NODE_VERSION
4:39:05 PM:     publish: /opt/build/repo/.next
4:39:05 PM:     publishOrigin: ui
4:39:05 PM:   plugins:
4:39:05 PM:     - inputs: {}
4:39:05 PM:       origin: ui
4:39:05 PM:       package: "@netlify/plugin-nextjs"
4:39:05 PM:     - inputs: {}
4:39:05 PM:       origin: ui
4:39:05 PM:       package: "@netlify/plugin-lighthouse"
4:39:06 PM: Failed during stage "building site": Build script returned non-zero exit code: 2
4:39:06 PM: Build failed due to a user error: Build script returned non-zero exit code: 2
4:39:06 PM: Failing build: Failed to build site
2

Without a site name, we can’t check anything.

3

Site: https://fontstudio.netlify.app/

4

You need to set the build command to npm run build: Build & deploy | Site configuration | fontstudio | Netlify