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Frontend

Hydration

The process where a server-rendered HTML page becomes interactive by attaching JavaScript event handlers.

The Full Picture

When a Next.js page loads, the server sends pre-rendered HTML (fast initial paint), then the browser downloads JavaScript and "hydrates" the page — attaching click handlers, state management, and interactivity. Hydration errors happen when the server-rendered HTML doesn't match what React expects on the client. This is one of the most common bugs in AI-generated Next.js code because the AI doesn't always handle server/client boundaries correctly.

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