Rollbar Next.js Starter Kit

Ship faster with confidence — A complete starter kit for integrating Rollbar error monitoring into your Next.js App Router application. Kickstart your error monitoring in minutes and ship with no worries.

🌐 Public Demo: This app can be deployed as a public demo where users can configure their own Rollbar tokens via the UI (stored in localStorage). Perfect for live demos, workshops, or self-service trials!

What This Demonstrates

This demo app shows how to:

• Integrate Rollbar's browser SDK with Next.js App Router
• Send different types of events (info, warning, error, exception) to Rollbar
• Track sent events with item UUIDs, status, and timestamps
• Display event history in an interactive slideout panel
• Use client-side only event tracking (in-memory storage)
• Allow users to configure their own Rollbar tokens (for public demos)

Note: This app is designed to work as a public demo where users can configure their own Rollbar tokens without requiring environment variables or deployment configuration.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.x or higher
• npm or yarn package manager
• A Rollbar account with a client access token (post_client_item scope)

Local Setup

1. Install Dependencies

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cd rollbar-vercel
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npm install

2. Configure Environment Variables

Copy the example environment file:

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cp .env.example .env.local

Edit .env.local and add your Rollbar client access token:

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NEXT_PUBLIC_ROLLBAR_CLIENT_TOKEN=your_rollbar_client_token_here
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NEXT_PUBLIC_ROLLBAR_ENV=development

To get your Rollbar client token:

1. Log in to Rollbar
2. Navigate to Project Settings → Project Name -> Project Access Tokens
3. Find or create a token with post_client_item scope
4. Copy the token value and add it to you .env file

3. Run the Development Server

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npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Deploy on Vercel

Quick Deploy

1. Push this project to a Git repository (GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket)
2. Visit Vercel and create a new project
3. Import your repository
4. Configure environment variables in Project Settings:
   • NEXT_PUBLIC_ROLLBAR_CLIENT_TOKEN - Your Rollbar client access token
   • NEXT_PUBLIC_ROLLBAR_ENV - Set to production or your preferred environment name
5. Deploy

Alternative: Vercel CLI

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npm install -g vercel
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vercel

Follow the prompts and set environment variables when asked.

Source Maps for Better Stack Traces

By default, production builds in Next.js are minified and bundled, which results in unhelpful stack traces in Rollbar (showing webpack-internal paths). To get readable stack traces with actual file names and line numbers, you need to upload source maps to Rollbar.

Setup

This project is already configured with:

• next.config.js - Enables production source maps
• scripts/upload-sourcemaps.js - Uploads source maps to Rollbar after build

Local Production Build with Source Maps

1. Get your server-side Rollbar token (different from client token):

   • Go to Project Settings → Project Name -> Project Access Tokens

   • Find or create a token with post_server_item scope

   • Copy the token value

2. Add to .env.local:

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ROLLBAR_SERVER_TOKEN=your_server_token_here
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BASE_URL=https://your-app.vercel.app

1. Build and upload source maps:

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npm run build:production

This will:

• Build your Next.js app with source maps enabled
• Upload all .map files to Rollbar
• Map minified code back to your original source files

Vercel Deployment with Source Maps

Add these environment variables in Vercel Project Settings:

1. ROLLBAR_SERVER_TOKEN - Your server access token
2. BASE_URL - Your Vercel deployment URL (e.g., https://your-app.vercel.app)
3. SOURCE_VERSION - (Optional) Version tag for tracking (e.g., 1.0.0 or git commit SHA)

Update your Vercel build command to:

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npm run build:production

Verifying Source Maps Work

1. Send an exception from your deployed app
2. Open the error in Rollbar
3. Check the stack trace - you should now see:
   • ✅ Actual file paths like components/EventControls.js:57
   • ✅ Real function names
   • ✅ Correct line numbers
   • ❌ NOT webpack-internal paths

Important Notes

• Source maps are only uploaded during production builds using npm run build:production
• Development builds (npm run dev) don't need source maps - they already have readable stack traces
• Source maps are not included in your deployed bundle (they're uploaded to Rollbar separately)
• Without ROLLBAR_SERVER_TOKEN, the build will still succeed but skip source map uploads

Sending Events

The demo provides four types of events you can send to Rollbar:

1. Send Log (Info) - Sends an informational log message
2. Send Warning - Sends a warning-level message
3. Send Error - Sends an error-level message
4. Send Exception - Creates and sends a JavaScript Error object

Viewing Event History

1. Click any of the event buttons to send an event to Rollbar
2. Watch the counter at the top increment with each sent event
3. Click the "View History" button to open the event slideout
4. The slideout displays:
   • Event level/type with color-coded badges
   • Rollbar item UUID (unique identifier for each event)
   • Network Status of request
   • Timestamp of when the event was sent

Verifying in Rollbar

After sending events:

1. Log in to your Rollbar dashboard
2. Navigate to Items -> Select your project in the filter.
3. You should see the events appear in real-time
4. Click on any item to see full details

Important Notes

In-Memory Storage

Event history is stored only in browser memory. This means:

• Refreshing the page clears all event history
• The counter resets to zero on reload
• No data persists between sessions
• This is intentional for demo simplicity

Client-Side Only

This demo uses only Rollbar's browser SDK with a client access token. For production applications, consider:

• Using server-side tokens for sensitive operations
• Implementing proper error boundaries
• Adding server-side error tracking
• Storing event history in a database if needed

Project Structure

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rollbar-vercel/
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├── app/
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│   ├── globals.css          # Global styles with Tailwind
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│   ├── layout.js            # Root layout component
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│   └── page.js              # Home page with demo controls
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├── components/
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│   ├── EventControls.js     # Main control panel with buttons
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│   ├── EventSlideout.js     # Event history slide out
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│   └── Header.js            # Simple header with logos
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├── lib/
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│   ├── rollbarClient.js     # Rollbar SDK initialization
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│   └── time.js              # Timestamp and UUID utilities
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├── public/
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│   └── logo.svg             # Rollbar logo
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├── .env.example             # Environment variable template
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├── package.json             # Dependencies and scripts
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├── postcss.config.js        # PostCSS configuration
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├── tailwind.config.js       # Tailwind CSS configuration
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├── vercel.json              # Vercel deployment config
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└── README.md                # This file

Available Scripts

• npm run dev - Start development server on http://localhost:3000
• npm run build - Build production bundle
• npm start - Start production server
• npm run lint - Run ESLint (if configured)

Learn More

Rollbar Documentation

• Rollbar JavaScript SDK
• Next.js Guide
• Browser JavaScript Guide
• Client Access Tokens
• Item Levels

Next.js Resources

• Next.js Documentation
• Next.js App Router
• Learn Next.js

Troubleshooting

Events Not Appearing in Rollbar

• Verify your NEXT_PUBLIC_ROLLBAR_CLIENT_TOKEN is correct
• Check browser console for errors
• Ensure the token has post_client_item scope
• Check network tab for failed requests to Rollbar API. /items should have a 200 status

Build Errors

• Run npm install to ensure all dependencies are installed
• Delete .next folder and node_modules, then reinstall
• Verify Node.js version is 18.x or higher

License

This is a demo project for educational purposes. Feel free to use and modify as needed.