Get started with a ProseMirror text editor 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 application using the APIs from the @liveblocks/prosemirror package. Text is stored as LiveText backed by Liveblocks Storage.

Quickstart

1. Install Liveblocks and ProseMirror

   Every Liveblocks package should use the same version.

   Terminal

   npm install @liveblocks/client @liveblocks/react @liveblocks/prosemirror prosemirror-model prosemirror-state prosemirror-view prosemirror-schema-basic prosemirror-commands prosemirror-keymap

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. 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.

   The collaboration plugin creates its Storage document when it first loads, so you can leave initialStorage empty.

   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={"pk_prod_xxxxxxxxxx…xxxxxxxxpk_prod_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"}>      <RoomProvider id="my-room">        <ClientSideSuspense fallback={<div>Loading…</div>}>          {children}        </ClientSideSuspense>      </RoomProvider>    </LiveblocksProvider>  );}

4. Add the Liveblocks room to your page

   After creating your room file, import it into your page.tsx file and place your editor inside it.

   app/page.tsx

   import { Room } from "./Room";import { Editor } from "./Editor";
   export default function Page() {  return (    <Room>      <Editor />    </Room>  );}

5. Set up the collaborative ProseMirror editor

   Now that Liveblocks is set up, create a ProseMirror editor in Editor.tsx. Use createLiveblocksCollaborationPlugin to sync the document with Storage, and createLiveblocksCollaborationCaretPlugin to show remote carets and selections. The collaboration plugin groups local edits into the room’s history, so connect your undo and redo shortcuts to room.history.undo() and room.history.redo().

   app/Editor.tsx

   "use client";
   import { useEffect, useRef } from "react";import {  createLiveblocksCollaborationCaretPlugin,  createLiveblocksCollaborationPlugin,} from "@liveblocks/prosemirror";import { useRoom } from "@liveblocks/react/suspense";import { baseKeymap } from "prosemirror-commands";import { keymap } from "prosemirror-keymap";import { schema } from "prosemirror-schema-basic";import { EditorState } from "prosemirror-state";import { EditorView } from "prosemirror-view";
   const INITIAL_CONTENT = {  type: "doc",  content: [    {      type: "paragraph",      content: [{ type: "text", text: "Hello world" }],    },  ],};
   export function Editor() {  const room = useRoom();  const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
     useEffect(() => {    if (containerRef.current === null) return;
       const info = room.getSelf()?.info;    const user = {      name: typeof info?.name === "string" ? info.name : undefined,      color: typeof info?.color === "string" ? info.color : undefined,    };    const caretStorage = { users: [] };
       const state = EditorState.create({      schema,      plugins: [        createLiveblocksCollaborationPlugin({          room,          field: "document",          initialContent: INITIAL_CONTENT,          fallbackDocument: () => INITIAL_CONTENT,        }),        createLiveblocksCollaborationCaretPlugin(          { room, field: "document", user },          caretStorage        ),        keymap({          "Mod-z": () => {            room.history.undo();            return true;          },          "Mod-y": () => {            room.history.redo();            return true;          },          "Mod-Shift-z": () => {            room.history.redo();            return true;          },        }),        keymap(baseKeymap),      ],    });
       const view = new EditorView(containerRef.current, { state });    return () => view.destroy();  }, [room]);
     return <div ref={containerRef} className="editor" />;}

6. Style your editor

   Import the package stylesheet in your layout to display remote carets and selections, and add basic editor CSS:

   app/layout.tsx

   import "@liveblocks/prosemirror/styles.css";import "./globals.css";

   app/globals.css

   .editor {  width: 100%;  height: 100%;}
   .ProseMirror {  padding: 2px 12px;  outline: none;  width: 100%;  height: 100%;}

7. Next: authenticate and add your users

   Your 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 and color to remote carets.

   Set up authentication and add user information

What to read next

Congratulations! You now have set up the foundation for your collaborative ProseMirror editor inside your Next.js application.

• @liveblocks/prosemirror API Reference
• @liveblocks/node-prosemirror API Reference
• Next.js and React guides
• ProseMirror website

If you are using Tiptap or BlockNote, which build on ProseMirror, see the Tiptap and BlockNote quickstarts instead.