Using Tigris Database and Search with tRPC and Next.js - Part 1

As we continue to build out our open source Developer Data Platform with data services such as Database and Search, we're constantly exploring ecosystems and their technologies to determine where our platform solves the biggest problems and is the best fit.

tRPC and Next.js standout in the serverless ecosystem. tRPC's mission of enabling developers to move fast and break nothing via end-to-end typesafe APIs perfectly aligns with our thinking at Tigris Data. In particular, how Tigris Database enables developers to define their data models in TypeScript and use them throughout their application logic, on both client and server.

So, in this tutorial series, we'll build a micro-blogging application called "Stream Social" using Tigris Database, Tigris Search, tRPC, and Next.js.

Tigris is a production-grade platform built to handle large datasets and a high volume of reads and writes. So, we'll pre-load the application with a reasonable sample size of 10,000 posts across a number of different users. We'll build functionality that lists the posts and allows you to paginate through them. We'll also add the ability to view all posts from a specific user and perform full-text search on all the posts.

Real-time full-text search is a feature that enhances the user experience of web applications, particularly in online stores, social media platforms, documentation, and blogs. It enables users to search and instantly get up-to-date information returned to them. Combining that with an experience where search results update as a user types (without direct user query submission or a page reload) provides an even better UX that helps users get the information they need more efficiently.

In this tutorial, we'll walk you through converting a static Next.js e-commerce product listing into a database-driven site with real-time full-text search of all products using Tigris.

In the following section, we'll provide background info on real-time, full-text search, and how Tigris is an enabler of both. However, feel free to jump to the Tutorial to follow the step-by-step guide. Or, head to the real-time full-text search GitHub repo if you want to dive into the code.

We are happy to announce that [Next.js][nextjs-url] now has an officially supported example for creating a new Next.js project with [Tigris][tigris-url] as its database.

Next.js gives you the best developer experience with all the features you need to build modern, fast production-ready applications. Tigris is the perfect companion for Next.js as it is similarly built with developer experience in mind and is truly serverless: build data-rich features, seamlessly implement search, and easily use it with serverless functions, all without needing to do Ops.