Velt Comments Best Practices
Comprehensive implementation guide for Velt's collaborative comments feature in React and Next.js applications. Contains 71 rules across 12 categories, prioritized by impact to guide automated code generation and integration patterns.
When to Apply
Reference these guidelines when:
- Adding collaborative commenting to a React/Next.js application
- Implementing any Velt comment mode (Freestyle, Popover, Stream, Text, Page, Inline)
- Integrating comments with rich text editors (TipTap, SlateJS, Lexical)
- Adding comments to media players (Video, Lottie animations)
- Adding comments to charts (Highcharts, ChartJS, Nivo)
- Building custom comment interfaces with standalone components
Rule Categories by Priority
| Priority | Category | Impact | Prefix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Core Setup | CRITICAL | core- |
| 2 | Comment Modes | HIGH | mode- |
| 3 | Standalone Components | MEDIUM-HIGH | standalone- |
| 4 | Comment Surfaces | MEDIUM-HIGH | surface- |
| 5 | UI Customization | MEDIUM | ui- |
| 6 | Data Model | MEDIUM | data- |
| 7 | Debugging & Testing | LOW-MEDIUM | debug- |
| 8 | Moderation & Permissions | LOW | permissions- |
| 9 | Attachments & Reactions | MEDIUM | attach- |
Quick Reference
1. Core Setup (CRITICAL)
core-provider-setup- Initialize VeltProvider with API keycore-authentication- Authenticate users before using commentscore-document-setup- Configure document context for comments
2. Comment Modes (HIGH)
mode-freestyle- Pin comments anywhere on pagemode-popover- Google Sheets-style cell commentsmode-stream- Google Docs-style sidebar streammode-text- Text highlight commentsmode-page- Page-level comments via sidebarmode-inline-comments- Traditional inline thread stylemode-tiptap- TipTap editor integrationmode-slatejs- SlateJS editor integrationmode-lexical- Lexical editor integrationmode-canvas- Canvas/drawing commentsmode-lottie-player- Lottie animation frame commentsmode-video-player-prebuilt- Velt prebuilt video playermode-video-player-custom- Custom video player integrationmode-chart-highcharts- Highcharts data point commentsmode-chart-chartjs- ChartJS data point commentsmode-chart-nivo- Nivo charts data point commentsmode-chart-custom- Custom chart integration
3. Standalone Components (MEDIUM-HIGH)
standalone-comment-pin- Manual comment pin positioningstandalone-comment-thread- Render comment threadsstandalone-comment-composer- Add comments programmatically
4. Comment Surfaces (MEDIUM-HIGH)
surface-sidebar- Comments sidebar componentsurface-sidebar-v2- Primitive-architecture V2 sidebar with 27+ composable primitives, unified filter model, and focused-thread viewsurface-sidebar-button- Toggle sidebar button
5. UI Customization (MEDIUM)
ui-comment-dialog- Customize comment dialogui-comment-bubble- Customize comment bubbleui-wireframes- Use wireframe componentsui-autocomplete-primitives- Use standalone autocomplete primitive components to build custom autocomplete UIs without requiring the full VeltAutocomplete panelui-v2-primitives- Set defaultCondition={false} on V2 primitive sub-components to bypass SDK default show/hide logic when overriding sections in wireframe compositions
6. Data Model (MEDIUM)
data-context-metadata- Add custom metadatadata-comment-annotations- Work with annotationsdata-filtering-grouping- Filter and group commentsdata-activity-action-types- Use CommentActivityActionTypes constant for type-safe comment activity filtering instead of raw stringsdata-trigger-activities- Set triggerActivities on CommentData to auto-create activity records via POST /v2/commentannotations/adddata-comment-annotation-data-provider- Use config-based URL endpoints on CommentAnnotationDataProvider without placeholder callbacks; additionalFields replicates fields to resolver while retaining in Velt storage; fieldsToRemove strips fields from Velt's DB for PII removaldata-agent-fields-query- Use agentFields on CommentRequestQuery to filter getCommentAnnotationCount() to agent-tagged annotations; unread count equals total count when agentFields is set
7. Debugging & Testing (LOW-MEDIUM)
debug-common-issues- Common issues and solutionsdebug-verification- Verification checklist
8. Moderation & Permissions (LOW)
permissions-private-mode- Control global comment visibility with enablePrivateMode/disablePrivateMode and update per-annotation visibility with updateVisibilitypermissions-comment-saved-event- Subscribe to the commentSaved event for reliable post-persist side-effects (webhooks, analytics, external sync)permissions-visibility-option-dropdown- Enable the visibility dropdown in the comment composer to let users select public or private before submitting, and subscribe to visibilityOptionClicked eventspermissions-comment-save-triggered-event- Use commentSaveTriggered for immediate UI feedback (spinners, disabled states) on save button click — before the async database write completespermissions-comment-interaction-events- Prefer past-tense event aliases commentToolClicked and sidebarButtonClicked over the present-tense originals in new codepermissions-anonymous-user-data-provider- Register setAnonymousUserDataProvider() to resolve tagged contact emails to userIds at comment save time
9. Attachments & Reactions (MEDIUM)
attach-download-control- Control attachment download behavior and intercept clicks
How to Use
Read individual rule files for detailed explanations and code examples:
rules/shared/core/core-provider-setup.md
rules/shared/mode/mode-popover.mdEach rule file contains:
- Brief explanation of why it matters
- Incorrect code example with explanation
- Correct code example with explanation
- Source pointers to official documentation
Compiled Documents
AGENTS.md— Compressed index of all rules with file paths (start here)AGENTS.full.md— Full verbose guide with all rules expanded inline