# 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`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react/index.html) package.

## Quickstart

1. ### Install Liveblocks

Every package should use the same version.

Terminal
   
   ```text
   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](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#Typing-your-data/index.html).

Terminal
   
   ```text
   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`.

```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`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#LiveblocksProvider/index.html), join a room with [`RoomProvider`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#RoomProvider/index.html), and use [`ClientSideSuspense`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#ClientSideSuspense/index.html) to add a loading spinner to your app.

```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>  );}
   ```

5. ### Use the Liveblocks hooks

Next, create `CollaborativeApp.tsx` and add our [`AvatarStack`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react-ui#AvatarStack/index.html) and [`Cursors`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react-ui#Cursors/index.html) components. These are pre-built components that are great starting points before diving into Liveblocks hooks such as [`useOthers`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#useOthers/index.html) and [`useMyPresence`](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react#useMyPresence/index.html).

```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.

```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](/content/docs/guides/how-to-add-users-to-liveblocks-presence-components/index.html)

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

- [@liveblocks/react API Reference](/content/docs/api-reference/liveblocks-react/index.html)
- [Next.js and React guides](/content/docs/guides?technologies=nextjs%2Creact/index.html)
- [How to use Liveblocks Presence with React](/content/docs/guides/how-to-use-liveblocks-presence-with-react/index.html)
- [How to use Liveblocks Storage with React](/content/docs/guides/how-to-use-liveblocks-storage-with-react/index.html)

## Examples using Next.js

-   
  **Collaborative To-do List**  
  Next.js](/content/examples/collaborative-todo-list/nextjs-todo-list/index.html)
-   
  **Live Avatar Stack**  
  Next.js](/content/examples/live-avatar-stack/nextjs-live-avatars/index.html)
-   
  **Collaborative SpreadsheetAdvanced**  
  Next.js](/content/examples/collaborative-spreadsheet-advanced/nextjs-spreadsheet-advanced/index.html)
-   
  **Collaborative WhiteboardAdvanced**  
  Next.js](/content/examples/collaborative-whiteboard-advanced/nextjs-whiteboard-advanced/index.html)