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Quickstart - Get started with adding realtime avatar and cursor presence using 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 package.

Quickstart

  1. Install Liveblocks

    Every package should use the same version.

    Terminal
    npm install @liveblocks/client @liveblocks/react @liveblocks/react-ui

  2. Initialize the liveblocks.config.ts file

    We can use this file later to define types for our application.

    Terminal
    npx create-liveblocks-app@latest --init --framework react

  3. Import default styles

    The default components come with default styles, you can import them into the root layout of your app or directly into a CSS file with @import.

    app/layout.tsx
    import "@liveblocks/react-ui/styles.css";

  4. 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 a Room.tsx file in the same directory as your current route.

    Set up a Liveblocks client with LiveblocksProvider, join a room with RoomProvider, and use ClientSideSuspense to add a loading spinner to your app.

    app/Room.tsx
    "use client";
    import { ReactNode } from "react";import {  LiveblocksProvider,  RoomProvider,  ClientSideSuspense,} from "@liveblocks/react/suspense";
    export function Room({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) {  return (    <LiveblocksProvider publicApiKey={""}>      <RoomProvider id="my-room">        <ClientSideSuspense fallback={<div>Loading…</div>}>          {children}        </ClientSideSuspense>      </RoomProvider>    </LiveblocksProvider>  );}

  5. Use the Liveblocks hooks

    Next, create CollaborativeApp.tsx and add our AvatarStack and Cursors components. These are pre-built components that are great starting points before diving into Liveblocks hooks such as useOthers and useMyPresence.

    app/CollaborativeApp.tsx
    "use client";
    import { AvatarStack, Cursors } from "@liveblocks/react-ui";
    export function CollaborativeApp() {  return (    <div>      <AvatarStack max={3} size={36} />      <Cursors />    </div>  );}

  6. Add the components to your page

    After creating your presence components, it’s time to add them to your app. Import your multiplayer room into your page.tsx file, and place your collaborative app components inside it.

    app/page.tsx
    import { Room } from "./Room";import { CollaborativeApp } from "./CollaborativeApp";
    export default function Page() {  return (    <Room>      <CollaborativeApp />    </Room>  );}

  7. Next: add user information

    You've set up cursors and avatars, and they'll update live as users join and leave the room, but each user is still anonymous. To add user information, you'll need to set up authentication and add each user's name and avatar.

    Set up authentication and add user information

What to read next

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

Examples using Next.js