Get started – Get started with Comments using Liveblocks and React

Liveblocks is a realtime collaboration infrastructure for building performant collaborative experiences. Follow the following steps to start adding a commenting experience to your React application using the hooks from @liveblocks/react and the components from @liveblocks/react-ui.

Quickstart

  1. Install Liveblocks

    Every package should use the same version.

    $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.

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

  3. Set up the Liveblocks client

    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. Set up a Liveblocks client with LiveblocksProvider, and join a room with RoomProvider.

    App.tsx
    "use client";
    import {  LiveblocksProvider,  RoomProvider,} from "@liveblocks/react/suspense";import { Room } from "./Room";
    export default function App() {  return (    <LiveblocksProvider publicApiKey={""}>      <RoomProvider id="my-room">        {/* ... */}      </RoomProvider>    </LiveblocksProvider>  );}

  4. Join a Liveblocks room

    After setting up the room, you can add collaborative components inside it, using ClientSideSuspense to add loading spinners to your app.

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

  5. Use the Liveblocks hooks and components

    Now that we’re connected to a room, we can start using the Liveblocks hooks and components. We’ll add useThreads to get the threads in the room, then we’ll use the Thread component to render them. Finally, we’ll add a way to create threads by adding a Composer.

    Room.tsx
    "use client";
    import { useThreads } from "@liveblocks/react/suspense";import { Composer, Thread } from "@liveblocks/react-ui";
    export function Room() {  const { threads } = useThreads();
      return (    <div>      {threads.map((thread) => (        <Thread key={thread.id} thread={thread} />      ))}      <Composer />    </div>  );}

  6. Import default styles

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

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

  7. Next: authenticate and add your users

    Comments 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 avatar to their comments.

    Add your users to Comments

What to read next

Congratulations! You’ve set up the foundation to start building a commenting experience for your React application.

Examples using React