QuickStart a React Chat App Using an API-first CMS

Cosmic JS is an API-first content management platform that makes it easy to add content to any existing or new application. Developers get a suite of powerful APIs while content managers manage content in a familiar cloud-based content editor. To demonstrate how easy it is to get started with Cosmic JS, we’ll utilize the Cosmic JS CLI to quickstart a React Chat App.

This example app is a basic real-time chat app built by the Cosmic JS Community using React, Socket.io and the Cosmic JS API for dynamic content management and file storage. You can manage the application and all its content from your Cosmic JS Dashboard and even subsequently deploy the app to Cosmic JS, Zeit, Heroku or Netlify.

TL;DR:

React Chat App PageReact Chat App DemoReact Chat App CodebaseReact Knowledge BaseDeveloper Articles: ReactDeveloper Docs

QuickStart a React Chat App Using an API-first CMS

Cosmic JS is an example of a robust headless CMS and API that’s promoting collaboration on cross-functional teams to build apps faster. Get started building Cosmic-powered apps in seconds 🚀 We have Node.js, React, Vue, Gatsby and Serverless Starters to help you get your project started quickly. There are over 70 app examples available in the Cosmic JS Apps Marketplace to speed up your project as well. Today we’ll be using the Cosmic JS CLI to quickstart a React Chat App.

🛠️ Installation

Install via the Cosmic CLI:

I set up an example Bucket for this blog:

Run cosmic -h for a list of all commands. Run cosmic [command] -h for details on options for a specific command. You're now up and running with a React Chat App that can be managed entirely from your Cosmic JS Bucket Dashboard and Command Line Terminal tool of choice.

Conclusion

I was able to easily install a React Chat App using a headless CMS API that I can now use to manage dynamic content changes. When ditching the installed content management system and going API-first isn’t quick enough, check out the Starter Apps from Cosmic JS to get a project up and running in seconds. 🔥

If you have any comments or questions about building React apps with Cosmic JS, reach out to us on Twitter and join the conversation on Slack.