nextjs.mdx

---
meta:
  title: "Get started with Liveblocks and Next.js"
  parentTitle: "Get started"
  description: "Learn how to get started with Liveblocks and Next.js"
---

Liveblocks is a realtime collaboration infrastructure for building performant
collaborative experiences. Follow the following steps to start adding
collaboration to your Next.js `/app` directory application using the hooks from
the [`@liveblocks/react`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react) package.

## Quickstart

<Steps>

  <Step>
    <StepTitle>Install Liveblocks</StepTitle>
    <StepContent>

      Every package should use the same version.

      ```bash
      npm install @liveblocks/client @liveblocks/react
      ```

    </StepContent>

  </Step>
  <Step>
    <StepTitle>Initialize the `liveblocks.config.ts` file</StepTitle>
    <StepContent>

      We can use this file later to [define types for our application](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#Typing-your-data).

      ```bash
      npx create-liveblocks-app@latest --init --framework react
      ```

    </StepContent>

  </Step>
  <Step>
    <StepTitle>Create a Liveblocks room</StepTitle>
    <StepContent>

      Liveblocks uses the concept of rooms, separate virtual spaces where people
      collaborate, and to create a realtime experience, multiple users must
      be connected to the same room. When using Next.js’ `/app` router,
      we recommend creating your room in a `Room.tsx` file in the same directory
      as your current route.

      Set up a Liveblocks client with
      [`LiveblocksProvider`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#LiveblocksProvider),
      join a room with [`RoomProvider`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#RoomProvider),
      and use [`ClientSideSuspense`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#ClientSideSuspense)
      to add a loading spinner to your app.

      ```tsx file="app/Room.tsx" highlight="12-18"
      "use client";

      import { ReactNode } from "react";
      import {
        LiveblocksProvider,
        RoomProvider,
        ClientSideSuspense,
      } from "@liveblocks/react/suspense";

      export function Room({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {
        return (
          <LiveblocksProvider publicApiKey={"{{PUBLIC_KEY}}"}>
            <RoomProvider id="my-room" initialPresence={{}}>
              <ClientSideSuspense fallback={<div>Loading…</div>}>
                {children}
              </ClientSideSuspense>
            </RoomProvider>
          </LiveblocksProvider>
        );
      }
      ```

    </StepContent>

  </Step>
  <Step>
    <StepTitle>Add the Liveblocks room to your page</StepTitle>
    <StepContent>

      After creating your room file, it’s time to join it. Import
      your room into your `page.tsx` file, and place
      your collaborative app components inside it.

      ```tsx file="app/page.tsx" highlight="6-8"
      import { Room } from "./Room";
      import { CollaborativeApp } from "./CollaborativeApp";

      export default function Page() {
        return (
          <Room>
            <CollaborativeApp />
          </Room>
        );
      }
      ```

    </StepContent>

  </Step>
  <Step>
    <StepTitle>Use the Liveblocks hooks</StepTitle>
    <StepContent>

      Now that we’re connected to a room, we can start using the Liveblocks hooks.
      The first we’ll add is [`useOthers`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#useOthers), a hook that provides information
      about which other users are connected to the room.

      ```tsx file="app/CollaborativeApp.tsx" highlight="6"
      "use client";

      import { useOthers } from "@liveblocks/react/suspense";

      export function CollaborativeApp() {
        const others = useOthers();
        const userCount = others.length;
        return <div>There are {userCount} other user(s) online</div>;
      }
      ```

    </StepContent>

  </Step>
  <Step lastStep>
    <StepTitle>Next: set up authentication</StepTitle>
    <StepContent>

      By default, Liveblocks is configured to work without an authentication endpoint
      where everyone automatically has access to rooms. This approach is great for
      prototyping and marketing pages where setting up your own security isn’t always
      required. If you want to limit access to a room for certain users, you’ll need
      to set up an authentication endpoint to enable permissions.

      <Button asChild className="not-markdown">
        <a href="/docs/authentication">
          Set up authentication
        </a>
      </Button>
    </StepContent>

  </Step>
</Steps>

## What to read next

Congratulations! You now have set up the foundation to start building
collaborative experiences for your React application.

- [@liveblocks/react API Reference](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react)
- [Next.js and React guides](/docs/guides?technologies=nextjs%2Creact)
- [How to use Liveblocks Presence with React](/docs/guides/how-to-use-liveblocks-presence-with-react)
- [How to use Liveblocks Storage with React](/docs/guides/how-to-use-liveblocks-storage-with-react)

---

## Examples using Next.js

<ListGrid columns={2}>
  <ExampleCard
    example={{
      title: "Collaborative To-do List",
      slug: "collaborative-todo-list/nextjs-todo-list",
      image: "/images/examples/thumbnails/collaborative-todo-list.jpg",
    }}
    technologies={["nextjs", "vuejs", "sveltekit", "solidjs", "javascript"]}
    openInNewWindow
  />
  <ExampleCard
    example={{
      title: "Live Avatar Stack",
      slug: "live-avatar-stack/nextjs-live-avatars",
      image: "/images/examples/thumbnails/live-avatar-stack.jpg",
    }}
    technologies={["nextjs", "nuxtjs", "vuejs", "sveltekit", "solidjs"]}
    openInNewWindow
  />
  <ExampleCard
    example={{
      title: "Collaborative Spreadsheet",
      slug: "collaborative-spreadsheet-advanced/nextjs-spreadsheet-advanced",
      image:
        "/images/examples/thumbnails/collaborative-spreadsheet-advanced.jpg",
      advanced: true,
    }}
    technologies={["nextjs"]}
    openInNewWindow
  />
  <ExampleCard
    example={{
      title: "Collaborative Whiteboard",
      slug: "collaborative-whiteboard-advanced/nextjs-whiteboard-advanced",
      image:
        "/images/examples/thumbnails/collaborative-whiteboard-advanced.jpg",
      advanced: true,
    }}
    technologies={["nextjs"]}
    openInNewWindow
  />
</ListGrid>