Get started - Get started with Liveblocks, Lexical, 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 application using the APIs from the
@liveblocks/react-lexical
package.
Quickstart
Install Liveblocks and Lexical
Every Liveblocks package should use the same version.
Initialize the
liveblocks.config.ts
fileWe can use this file later to define types for our application.
Create a Liveblocks room
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 aRoom.tsx
file in the same directory as your current route.Set up a Liveblocks client with
LiveblocksProvider
, join a room withRoomProvider
, and useClientSideSuspense
to add a loading spinner to your app.app/Room.tsxAdd the Liveblocks room to your page
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.app/page.tsxSet up the collaborative Lexical text editor
Now that we set up Liveblocks, we can start integrating Lexical and Liveblocks in the
Editor.tsx
file. To make the editor collaborative, we can useLiveblocksPlugin
from@liveblocks/react-lexical
.FloatingToolbar
adds a text selection toolbar.app/Editor.tsxRender threads and composer
To add Comments to your text editor, we need to import a thread composer and list each thread on the page. Create a
Threads.tsx
file that usesFloatingComposer
for creating new threads, alongsideAnchoredThreads
andFloatingThreads
for displaying threads on desktop and mobile.app/Threads.tsxStyle your editor
Lexical text editor is unstyled by default, so we can create some custom styles for it in a
globals.css
file. Importglobals.css
, alongside the default Liveblocks styles. You can import them into the root layout of your app or directly into a CSS file with@import
.app/layout.tsxNext: authenticate and add your users
Text Editor is set up and working now, but each user is anonymous—the next step is to authenticate each user as they connect, and attach their name, color, and avatar, to their cursors and mentions.
Add your users to Text Editor
Optional: add more features
Lexical is a highly extensible text editor and it's possible to create complex rich-text applications. A great example is in the Lexical playground which enables features such as tables, text highlights, embedded images, and more. This is all supported using Liveblocks.
Learn more about Lexical
What to read next
Congratulations! You now have set up the foundation for your collaborative Lexical text editor inside your Next.js application.
- Overview
@liveblocks/react-lexical
API Reference@liveblocks/node-lexical
API Reference- Lexical website