discord clone nextjs Build with Next.js and Stream Chat

Building a Discord clone with Next.js and Stream Chat is a great way to create a real-time chat application with a scalable and performant architecture. This combination allows for a seamless user experience and easy integration with other services.

Stream Chat provides a robust API for handling real-time chat functionality, which is essential for a Discord-like application. By leveraging Next.js as the frontend framework, you can create a fast and efficient user interface that can handle a large number of users.

Next.js is particularly well-suited for this task due to its built-in support for server-side rendering and static site generation, which enables fast page loads and reduces the load on your server. This is crucial for a chat application where users expect near-instant responses.

To set up a Discord clone with Next.js, you'll need to create a new project. Start by running the command to configure your project, which will ask you a series of questions.

You'll be prompted to name your project, which in this case is "discord-clone". You'll also have the option to use TypeScript, ESLint, Tailwind CSS, and the App Router. For this project, you'll want to choose Yes for all of these options.

Here are the specific questions and answers you'll need to provide:

With these settings, your project will be configured, and you can open it up in your editor of choice.

To set up Stream Chat, start by navigating to localhost:3000 in your browser. This will show you the chat in action.

First, you'll need to add the Stream Chat dependency with the command. Then, create a new folder called hooks and add a file called useClient.ts.

This hook eliminates side effects and properly initializes the SDK in the Next.js context. To do this, you need to configure the component to be client-side rendered using the use client tag at the beginning of the file.

To initialize the Stream SDK, create a user with an id, a name, and an image. Take the apiKey from the Stream Dashboard and initialize a userToken.

During development, you can use a handy tool Stream provides: the JWT Generator. This tool creates a token for you using the application secret and a user ID. Remember to only use these during development, though.

To set up the SDK, use the previously created variables in the useClient hook. For now, render out the standard Stream UI components like Chat and ChannelList to have something to show.

Here's a quick rundown of the user data you'll need:

Once you have this data, you can replace the example data in your page.tsx file with the one you just created. This includes the user data, the API key, and the token.

Setting up data for your project is a crucial step.

Discord has servers that can be joined, with multiple channels grouped into categories.

Each server can have direct messages with users independent of channels.

Stream Chat, on the other hand, doesn't come with built-in servers, but you have the freedom to add custom fields to a channel in the extraData object.

To create a channel, you'll add a server key to the extraData object and set it to one of your servers.

You can filter channels to get a list of channels within a specific server by using the server key in the extraData object.

Adding a category field to the extraData object allows you to group channels inside a server easily.

You can get a list of servers by filtering channels with their extra data and getting all distinct server names and images from that.

Let's take a closer look at the folders and files in our project setup. We have a total of 17 folders and files, ranging from essential configuration files to source code directories.

The project structure is organized into several key folders, including app, components, hooks, lib, pages, and prisma. These folders contain various files and subfolders that make up the core of our project.

The app folder is a top-level directory that holds the main application code. It's where you'll find the majority of your project's source code.

The components folder is a great place to store reusable UI components, making it easy to manage and reuse code across the project.

The hooks folder is used for custom React hooks, which can be used to abstract away complex logic and make your code more maintainable.

The lib folder is a utility library that contains helper functions and classes used throughout the project.

Here's a breakdown of the top-level folders and their corresponding files:

The project also includes several configuration files, such as .env.example, .eslintrc.json, and next.config.js, which help set up the project environment and configuration.

Our Discord clone built with Next.js has several core features that make it a robust and scalable platform. It supports real-time communication through WebSockets, enabling instant messaging and voice/video calls.

With our solution, you can create custom Discord-like channels for different topics or communities, each with its own set of permissions and settings. This flexibility allows users to tailor their experience and engage with others in a more meaningful way.

The platform also includes features like user profiles, direct messaging, and file sharing, making it a comprehensive solution for building online communities.

Our user interface is designed to be both beautiful and responsive, thanks to the use of TailwindCSS and ShadcnUI. This combination ensures an aesthetically pleasing user experience.

With TailwindCSS, we've been able to create a UI that's both functional and visually appealing. I've seen firsthand how this can make a big difference in user engagement and overall satisfaction.

Here are some key features of our user interface:

This design is not just about looks – it's also highly responsive, meaning it adapts perfectly to different screen sizes and devices.

Creating a Context is a crucial step in building a Discord application. We'll use a Context to handle servers and channels in a single place, giving us convenient access and central points to manage our state.

A Context is essentially a state object that provides functions to create a server, create a channel, and change the current server. These functions take different parameters, which we'll explore in more detail later.

To set up our Context, we need to define a type for our state. We'll create a file called DiscordServer.ts to hold the type for our server. This will help us keep track of our server's properties.

The functions in our Context will need to interact with our DiscordServer type. We'll initialize our state with an empty convenience object and use that to create the DiscordContext object.

We'll start by creating the skeleton of a provider in our DiscordContext.tsx file. This will give us a foundation to build on as we add more functionality to our Context.

To create a new server, we'll need to create a channel with the name and image in the extraData. We'll default to creating a new category called Text Channels for each new server with a channel name of Welcome.

Here's a summary of the parameters we'll need to create a new channel:

Message Management is a crucial aspect of any chat platform, and our Discord clone Next.js takes it to the next level. Real-time messaging is enabled through Socket.io, ensuring instant communication between users.

We've also implemented message pagination using tanstack/query, which loads messages in batches of 10 for an efficient and seamless chat experience.

This approach not only reduces the load on the server but also provides a more intuitive and user-friendly interface.

Real-time messaging is a game-changer for instant communication between users.

Utilizing Socket.io, this feature ensures that messages are delivered in real-time, eliminating the need for manual refreshes or waiting for updates.

This technology is particularly useful for applications that require immediate feedback, such as live support or group discussions.

Socket.io's real-time messaging capabilities enable users to engage in instant conversations, making it an ideal solution for applications that value speed and efficiency.

Here's a breakdown of the benefits:

Effective member management is crucial for a smooth and organized community. Admins can kick users, which helps maintain a clean and respectful environment.

To ensure the right people are in the right roles, admins can also change user roles between guest and moderator. This feature is particularly useful for managing different types of users and their levels of access.

Here's a quick rundown of the roles that admins can manage:

By having this level of control, admins can tailor the community to their needs and keep everything running smoothly.

The Invite System is a game-changer for managing messages on our platform. It implements a unique invite link generation system for inviting new members to the platform.

This means you can easily share a personalized link with others, making it simple for them to join and start sending messages. No more tedious email threads or complicated sign-up processes!

The unique invite link is generated automatically, so you don't have to lift a finger. Just copy and paste the link into your favorite messaging app or social media channel, and you're good to go.

Message Pagination is a key feature that makes our chat experience efficient and seamless. It uses tanstack/query to load messages in batches of 10.

This approach ensures that users don't have to load an entire conversation at once, which can be overwhelming and slow down the system. As a result, messages are loaded quickly and easily, making it a joy to chat with others.

Server customization is a key feature of a Discord clone built with Next.js. It allows users to create and customize servers to tailor their experience to their preferences.

With server customization, users have the freedom to tailor their experience. This means they can create a server that suits their needs and interests.

One of the benefits of server customization is that it allows users to create a community that reflects their personality. By customizing their server, users can make it a space that feels welcoming and inclusive to their members.

Here are some ways users can customize their servers:

Server customization can also help users to create a unique identity for their community. By adding custom features and settings, users can make their server stand out from others.

Overall, server customization is a powerful tool that can help users create a community that is truly their own.

The technical implementation of the Discord clone website is quite impressive, leveraging a range of modern technologies to deliver a seamless user experience.

The website is built using Next.js 13, a popular JavaScript framework that offers server-side rendering and a great developer experience. This allows for fast and efficient rendering of web pages.

The chat functionality is enabled by Socket.io, a library that facilitates real-time, bidirectional communication between clients and the server. This is particularly useful for instant messaging and live updates.

Attachments are sent as messages using UploadThing, which provides a convenient way to share files within the chat application.

The database interactions are simplified by Prisma, an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) tool that makes it easier to work with databases. This is particularly useful for storing and managing data.

The website uses MySQL (Planetscale) for storing and managing data, hosted on Planetscale for scalability and reliability. This ensures that the data is always available and accessible.

For user authentication and user management, the website relies on Clerk, which provides a range of security features and enhances the user experience.

The website also uses Tanstack/Query for efficient message pagination, fetching data in batches for a smooth chat experience. This helps to prevent overwhelming the user with too much data at once.

The user interface is created using TailwindCSS, a utility-first CSS framework that makes it easy to create beautiful and responsive user interfaces.

Finally, the website incorporates ShadcnUI, a UI component library or framework that enhances the aesthetics and user experience of the website.