---
meta:
  title:
    "Get started with a ProseMirror text editor using Liveblocks and Next.js"
  parentTitle: "Quickstart"
  description:
    "Learn how to sync a ProseMirror text editor 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 application using the APIs from the
[`@liveblocks/prosemirror`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-prosemirror) package.
Text is stored as [`LiveText`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-client#LiveText)
backed by Liveblocks Storage.

<Banner title="Beta">

The ProseMirror LiveText integration is currently in beta, and LiveText
documents are limited to 2 MB. Read the
[LiveText vs Yjs](/docs/guides/livetext-vs-yjs) guide to compare both
approaches.

</Banner>

<Banner>

If you are using Tiptap or BlockNote, use
[`@liveblocks/react-tiptap`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react-tiptap) or
[`@liveblocks/react-blocknote`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react-blocknote)
instead. They build on this package and add comments, mentions, and React
components.

</Banner>

## Quickstart

<PromptCta />

<Steps>
  <Step>
    <StepTitle>Install Liveblocks and ProseMirror</StepTitle>
    <StepContent>

      Every Liveblocks package should use the same version.

      ```bash trackEvent="install_liveblocks"
      npm install @liveblocks/client @liveblocks/react @liveblocks/prosemirror prosemirror-model prosemirror-state prosemirror-view prosemirror-schema-basic prosemirror-commands prosemirror-keymap
      ```

    </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.

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

      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"
      "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">
              <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, import it into your `page.tsx` file and place
    your editor inside it.

    ```tsx file="app/page.tsx"
    import { Room } from "./Room";
    import { Editor } from "./Editor";

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

  </StepContent>

</Step>
<Step>
  <StepTitle>Set up the collaborative ProseMirror editor</StepTitle>
  <StepContent>

    Now that Liveblocks is set up, create a ProseMirror editor in `Editor.tsx`.
    Use [`createLiveblocksCollaborationPlugin`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-prosemirror#createLiveblocksCollaborationPlugin)
    to sync the document with Storage, and
    [`createLiveblocksCollaborationCaretPlugin`](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-prosemirror#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()`.

    ```tsx file="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" />;
    }
    ```

</StepContent>

</Step>
<Step>
  <StepTitle>Style your editor</StepTitle>
  <StepContent>

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

    ```tsx file="app/layout.tsx"
    import "@liveblocks/prosemirror/styles.css";
    import "./globals.css";
    ```

    ```css file="app/globals.css"
    .editor {
      width: 100%;
      height: 100%;
    }

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

</StepContent>

</Step>
<Step lastStep>
  <StepTitle>Next: authenticate and add your users</StepTitle>
  <StepContent>
    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.

    <Button asChild className="not-markdown">
      <a href="/docs/guides/how-to-add-users-to-liveblocks-presence-components">
        Set up authentication and add user information
      </a>
    </Button>

  </StepContent>

</Step>
</Steps>

## 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](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-prosemirror)
- [@liveblocks/node-prosemirror API Reference](/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-node-prosemirror)
- [Next.js and React guides](/docs/guides?technologies=nextjs%2Creact)
- [ProseMirror website](https://prosemirror.net)

If you are using Tiptap or BlockNote, which build on ProseMirror, see the
[Tiptap](/docs/get-started/nextjs-tiptap) and
[BlockNote](/docs/get-started/nextjs-blocknote) quickstarts instead.

---

For an overview of all available documentation, see [/llms.txt](/llms.txt).