CLI

create-chat-sdk creates a minimal Next.js app for a Chat SDK bot. Based on the adapters you pick from the adapter catalog, it generates your Chat configuration, a webhook route, a .env.example file, and the dependency list, plus a Web adapter route if you select that adapter.

Quick start

npm create chat-sdk@latest my-bot

Non-interactive usage

Pass platform and state adapters with --adapter:

npm create chat-sdk@latest -- my-bot --adapter slack redis -y

The interactive prompt lists official adapters by default. Pass --vendor to list only vendor-official adapters instead. Scripts and coding agents can skip the prompt and pass any official or vendor-official adapter the CLI supports to --adapter.

Adapters that require a long-running process, including Matrix and Lark, cannot run on the webhook-only serverless runtime and are not available through the CLI. Add them to an existing project manually instead.

Examples:

npm create chat-sdk@latest -- slack-bot --adapter slack memory -y --skip-install
npm create chat-sdk@latest -- gchat-bot --adapter gchat redis -y --pm pnpm
npm create chat-sdk@latest -- email-bot --adapter resend postgres -y --no-git
npm create chat-sdk@latest -- my-bot --adapter slack memory -y --force

What gets generated

The scaffolded app is webhook-only. It does not include pages, layouts, or a client UI.

src/
  lib/bot.ts                              Bot configuration and handlers
  app/api/webhooks/[platform]/route.ts    Dynamic platform webhook route
  app/api/chat/route.ts                   Web adapter route, only when selected
  app/api/discord/gateway/route.ts        Discord Gateway listener, only when selected
.env.example                              Required environment variables
next.config.ts                            Next.js server config
vercel.json                               Cron schedules, only when needed
.chat-sdk.json                            Generated file ownership for safe reruns
package.json                              Adapter dependencies

Webhook endpoints use the selected adapter slug:

/api/webhooks/slack
/api/webhooks/gchat
/api/webhooks/discord

When the Web adapter is selected, the CLI also creates /api/chat for browser chat requests and a small getUser auth stub. Replace the stub with your app's real authentication logic so each web conversation can be associated with the correct user.

When the Discord adapter is selected, the CLI also creates a Gateway listener at /api/discord/gateway and a vercel.json cron that calls it. Discord delivers slash commands and button clicks to the webhook route, but regular messages and reactions only arrive over the Gateway WebSocket, so the cron keeps that connection alive and forwards events to /api/webhooks/discord. Set a CRON_SECRET environment variable to authenticate the cron requests. The generated serverless Gateway cron requires Vercel Pro or Enterprise because it runs every nine minutes.

Vercel Connect

Vercel Connect supplies outbound credentials for the Slack, Discord, GitHub, Linear, Notion, Teams, and Telegram adapters. To scaffold Connect wiring for any selected adapter in that list, pass --connect or choose Vercel Connect at the interactive auth-mode prompt. Notion and Telegram webhooks stay direct and keep their native verification secrets.

npm create chat-sdk@latest -- my-bot --adapter slack --connect -y

The generated src/lib/bot.ts spreads the matching helper from @vercel/connect/chat into the adapter factory, @vercel/connect is added to dependencies, and .env.example lists each connector UID, for example SLACK_CONNECTOR.

For Linear, --adapter linear --connect explicitly sets mode: "agent-sessions", the recommended setup for Connect bots. Enable Agent session events on the Linear app and use an app-actor installation. The adapter itself still defaults to "comments" when mode is omitted.

For Microsoft Teams, use --adapter teams --connect. The generated bot uses connectTeamsAdapter(requireEnv("TEAMS_CONNECTOR")), and .env.example expects a connector UID such as microsoft-teams/my-bot instead of Azure credentials. Forward Connect triggers to /api/webhooks/teams. Microsoft Graph reads require the bot's resource-specific permissions to be granted when it is installed in a team. This setup requires releases of both @vercel/connect and @chat-adapter/teams that support the Teams Connect helper.

Reference

Color output follows the NO_COLOR standard. Set NO_COLOR=1 to disable colors.

Customize your bot

Most bot behavior lives in src/lib/bot.ts. Start there when you want to:

• Add or change handlers like onNewMention, onSubscribedMessage, onNewMessage, reactions, actions, or slash commands.
• Adjust adapter configuration, for example passing explicit credentials or platform-specific options instead of relying only on environment variables.
• Replace the memory state adapter, if you selected it, with Redis, ioredis, or PostgreSQL before deploying to production.

The generated file includes starter handlers for mentions and subscribed thread replies.

Next steps

After scaffolding:

cd my-bot
cp .env.example .env.local
npm run dev

Fill in the generated environment variables, expose your local server, and configure each selected platform to call its /api/webhooks/{adapter} endpoint.

Resources

See guides, templates, and examples on the resources page.