vercel__chat/examples/nextjs-chat

Next.js Chat Example

A full-featured example app demonstrating the Chat SDK with Next.js. Integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Chat, Discord, GitHub, and Linear — configure whichever platforms you need via environment variables.

Getting started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• pnpm 9+
• Redis (for state persistence)
• At least one platform configured (see Environment variables)

Setup

1. Install dependencies from the monorepo root:

pnpm install

2. Copy the example environment file and fill in your platform credentials:

cp .env.example .env.local

3. Start the dev server:

pnpm dev

The app runs at http://localhost:3000. Platform webhooks should point to /api/webhooks/{platform} (e.g. /api/webhooks/slack).

For local development with real webhooks, use a tunneling tool like ngrok or localtunnel.

What it demonstrates

• Event handlers — mentions, thread subscriptions, pattern matching, reactions
• AI mode — @mention AI to enable streaming LLM responses via the Vercel AI SDK
• Cards — interactive JSX-based cards with buttons, dropdowns, and fields
• Modals — form dialogs with text inputs, validation, and private metadata
• Actions — button clicks and dropdown selections with response handlers
• Slash commands — platform-specific command handling
• Ephemeral messages — user-only visible messages with DM fallback
• DMs — programmatic direct message initiation
• File uploads — attachment detection and display
• Multi-platform — same bot logic across all six platforms

Project structure

src/
├── app/
│   ├── api/
│   │   ├── webhooks/[platform]/route.ts   # Main webhook entry point
│   │   └── discord/gateway/route.ts        # Discord gateway cron
│   ├── settings/page.tsx                   # Preview branch config UI
│   └── page.tsx                            # Home page
├── lib/
│   ├── bot.tsx                             # Bot logic and handlers
│   ├── adapters.ts                         # Adapter initialization
│   └── recorder.ts                         # Webhook recording system
└── middleware.ts                            # Preview branch proxy

Environment variables

Copy .env.example for the full list. At minimum, set BOT_USERNAME and credentials for one platform:

Variable	Description
BOT_USERNAME	Bot display name
SLACK_CONNECTOR	Slack Vercel Connect connector UID (e.g. slack/acme-slack)
SLACK_AGENT_VIEW	Set to true when your Slack manifest uses agent_view (see the commented blocks in slack-manifest.yml) — enables the Agent messaging experience with auto-applied suggested prompts
SLACK_NATIVE_STREAMING	Set to false to stream via post-and-edit (chat.update) instead of Slack's native streaming API — useful on Slack flavours without chat.startStream (e.g. GovSlack)
VERCEL_OIDC_TOKEN	Vercel OIDC token used by Connect (run vercel env pull)
TEAMS_APP_ID	Teams app ID
TEAMS_APP_PASSWORD	Teams app password
GOOGLE_CHAT_CREDENTIALS	Google Chat service account JSON
DISCORD_BOT_TOKEN	Discord bot token
DISCORD_PUBLIC_KEY	Discord interaction verification key
GITHUB_CONNECTOR	GitHub Vercel Connect connector UID (needs VERCEL_OIDC_TOKEN — run vercel env pull)
LINEAR_CONNECTOR	Linear Vercel Connect connector UID (needs VERCEL_OIDC_TOKEN — run vercel env pull)
LINEAR_MODE	Linear inbound mode: comments or agent-sessions
REDIS_URL	Redis connection string

See the Chat SDK docs for full platform setup guides.

For Linear app-actor mode, set LINEAR_MODE=agent-sessions, enable Agent session events on the webhook, install the Linear app with actor=app and app:mentionable, and keep using the existing thread.startTyping() / thread.post(...) handler flow. The adapter maps those calls onto Linear agent activities automatically.

Recording and replay

The app includes a recording system for capturing production webhook interactions and converting them into replay tests.

# Enable recording in your environment
RECORDING_ENABLED=true

# List recorded sessions
pnpm recording:list

# Export a session
pnpm recording:export <session-id>

See packages/integration-tests/fixtures/replay/README.md for the full workflow.

Preview branch testing

Test PRs with real webhook traffic by proxying requests from production to a preview deployment:

1. Deploy a preview branch to Vercel
2. Go to /settings on the production deployment
3. Enter the preview branch URL and save

All webhook requests are proxied until the URL is cleared.