---
title: "React hooks for real-time task updates"
sidebarTitle: Overview
description: "Subscribe to background task progress, stream AI responses, and trigger tasks from React components using @trigger.dev/react-hooks."
---

import RealtimeExamplesCards from "/snippets/realtime-examples-cards.mdx";

**`@trigger.dev/react-hooks` gives your React components live access to background tasks.** Subscribe to run progress, stream AI output as it generates, or trigger tasks directly from the browser.

## Installation

Install the `@trigger.dev/react-hooks` package in your project:

<CodeGroup>

```bash npm
npm add @trigger.dev/react-hooks
```

```bash pnpm
pnpm add @trigger.dev/react-hooks
```

```bash yarn
yarn install @trigger.dev/react-hooks
```

</CodeGroup>

## Authentication

All hooks require authentication with a Public Access Token. Pass the token via the `accessToken` option:

```tsx
import { useRealtimeRun } from "@trigger.dev/react-hooks";

export function MyComponent({
  runId,
  publicAccessToken,
}: {
  runId: string;
  publicAccessToken: string;
}) {
  const { run, error } = useRealtimeRun(runId, {
    accessToken: publicAccessToken,
    baseURL: "https://your-trigger-dev-instance.com", // optional, only needed if you are self-hosting Trigger.dev
  });

  // ...
}
```

Learn more about [generating and managing tokens in our authentication guide](/realtime/auth).

## Available hooks

| Hook category | What it does | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| **Trigger hooks** | Trigger tasks from the browser | [Triggering](/realtime/react-hooks/triggering) |
| **Run updates** | Subscribe to run status, metadata, and tags | [Run updates](/realtime/react-hooks/subscribe) |
| **Streaming** | Consume AI output, file chunks, or any continuous data | [Streaming](/realtime/react-hooks/streams) |
| **SWR hooks** | One-time fetch with caching (not recommended for most cases) | [SWR](/realtime/react-hooks/swr) |

## SWR vs Realtime hooks

We offer two "styles" of hooks: SWR and Realtime. SWR hooks use the [swr](https://swr.vercel.app/) library to fetch data once and cache it. Realtime hooks use [Trigger.dev Realtime](/realtime) to subscribe to updates as they happen.

<Note>
  It can be a little confusing which one to use because [swr](https://swr.vercel.app/) can also be
  configured to poll for updates. But because of rate-limits and the way the Trigger.dev API works,
  we recommend using the Realtime hooks for most use cases.
</Note>
