The Next.js AI chatbot is Vercel's open-source starter for building an AI chat web app with Next.js and the AI SDK.
In plain words
It is a template: you copy the code, add your own keys and have a working chat site to change. It is built on the AI SDK, a TypeScript toolkit that gives one way to call models from many providers. Its chat hook sends each message to your server, streams the reply back as it is written and keeps the chat on screen up to date.
A quick example
A student forks the template, sets the environment variables from the example file, runs the database migration and starts the dev server. The chat app then runs on localhost, and they swap in a different model provider with a few lines of code.
Where you'll meet it
- Starting point for custom chat products.
- Learning how streaming chat apps are wired.
Related
Sources
- Docschatbot, Vercel (GitHub) · read 29 Sept 2026
- DocsAI SDK introduction, AI SDK docs (Vercel) · read 29 Sept 2026
- DocsChatbot (useChat), AI SDK docs (Vercel) · read 29 Sept 2026
Checked by WhatIsAI against the sources above · 29 Sept 2026. Spotted an error? Report it.