Lesson 1250 of 1570
Adding a Chat to Your Next.js App in 10 Minutes with the Vercel AI SDK
`useChat`, a route handler, and one provider key — and your app has streaming AI in it.
Lesson map
What this lesson covers
Learning path
The main moves in order
- 1The big idea
- 2Vercel AI SDK
- 3useChat
- 4streaming
Concept cluster
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Section 1
The big idea
The Vercel AI SDK turns 'add AI to my app' from a week of work into an afternoon. `useChat` on the client, a tiny route handler on the server, and a provider key in `.env`. Streaming, tool calls, and structured output all included.
Some examples
- You add `useChat` to a page and have streaming chat working before lunch.
- Switching providers — Anthropic to OpenAI — is one import change with the SDK's adapters.
- `generateObject` with a Zod schema replaces 200 lines of homemade JSON-parsing code.
- Tool calling with the SDK is a single `tools: { ... }` config instead of custom routing.
Try it!
Spin up a fresh Next.js app, install `ai` and a provider, wire `useChat` to a `/api/chat` route. Ship in an hour.
Key terms in this lesson
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