Liveblocks is a real-time 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
package.
liveblocks.config.ts
fileThe first step in connecting to Liveblocks is creating a client which
will be responsible for communicating with the back end. You can do
this by modifying createClient
in your config file, and
passing your public API key.
Liveblocks uses the concept of rooms, separate virtual spaces where
collaborate. To create a real-time experience, multiple users must
be connected to the same room. When using Next.js’ /app
directory, we recommend creating your room in a Room.tsx
file in the same directory as your current route.
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.
Now that we’re connected to a room, we can start using the Liveblocks hooks. The first we’ll add is useOthers, a hook that provides information about which other users are connected to the room.
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.
Set up authentication
Congratulations! You now have set up the foundation to start building collaborative experiences for your React application.