Breakout Rooms

Code Examples

If you prefer to learn by seeing examples, please check out the respective example repositories.

Web Examples

• Web Components ↗
• React ↗
• Angular ↗

The breakout rooms feature, also known as connected meetings, is currently in beta, which means it is still being tested and evaluated, and may undergo some changes.

Breakout rooms allow participants of a meeting to split into smaller groups for targeted discussions and collaboration. With the rise of remote work and online learning, breakout rooms have become an essential tool for enhancing engagement and building community in virtual settings. They are an ideal choice for workshops, online classrooms, or when you need to speak privately with select participants outside the main meeting.

Note

Breakout rooms are currently supported on web only.

Key features

The following are some of the key features of RealtimeKit's breakout rooms:

• Manage permissions and privileges of hosts and participants using presets
• Hosts can create breakout rooms, assign participants, start and close the breakout rooms, and switch between rooms
• Participants can start and stop video, interact with other participants using chat and polls, and mute/unmute audio
• Record all breakout sessions individually like any other RealtimeKit meeting

Roles in a breakout room

Roles in the breakout room are managed by presets.

Host

Hosts can create breakout rooms, assign participants, start and close the breakout rooms, and switch between rooms.

Participants

As a participant in a breakout room, you can:

• Switch to Parent Meeting - Switch back to the main meeting (if you have the required permissions)
• Switch Connected Meetings - Move from the main meeting to smaller, focused discussion groups (breakout rooms) for collaboration
• Collaborate - Use tools such as chat and polls during breakout sessions

Audio and video

Each breakout room functions as an independent meeting. When you switch to a breakout room from the main meeting, it automatically switches to the audio and video of the breakout session. You can mute or unmute your audio and start or stop your video at any time during the breakout session, just as you can in the main meeting.

When the breakout session ends, your audio and video automatically switch back to the main meeting.

• If your video was turned on during a breakout session, it will remain on when you return to the main session
• Your audio will be muted when you switch back to the main meeting

Recording breakout sessions

Each breakout session is a separate session. Each breakout session's recording is stored and managed separately, just like any other RealtimeKit meeting. For more information, refer to Recording.

Prerequisites

Before creating breakout rooms:

• For hosts - Create a preset with Full Access permissions in Connected Meetings
• For participants - Create a preset with Switch to Parent Meeting and/or Switch Connected Meetings permissions in Connected Meetings

Create a breakout room

Breakout rooms allow the participants to split into separate sessions. The host can create breakout rooms, assign participants, start and close the breakout rooms.

Step 1: Create presets

A preset is a set of permissions and UI configurations that are applied to hosts and participants. They determine the look, feel, and behavior of the breakout room.

For breakout rooms, you must provide the following permissions for hosts and participants in Connected Meetings:

Host

The host preset should have Full Access permission in Connected Meetings. This allows the host to:

• Create breakout rooms
• Assign participants to rooms
• Start and close breakout rooms
• Switch between rooms

Participants

You can choose to provide the following permissions to participants:

• Switch Connected Meetings - Allows participants to move between breakout rooms
• Switch to Parent Meeting - Allows participants to return to the main meeting

Step 2: Save the preset

1. Once you have made all the changes to your preset, click Save
2. Enter a name for your preset and click Save
3. Your preset is listed - click Edit to make any changes

Step 3: Create a meeting

Create a RealtimeKit meeting using the Create Meeting API. This API returns a unique identifier for your meeting.

Step 4: Add participants

After creating the meeting, add each participant using the Add Participant API. The presetName created earlier must be passed in the body of the Add Participant API request.

Step 5: Start breakout room

1. In your RealtimeKit meeting, click Breakout Rooms
2. In the Create Breakout dialog, add the number of rooms you want and click Create

Once you have created breakout rooms, assign participants to the rooms. You can either:

• Assign participants automatically - RealtimeKit splits participants evenly across rooms
• Assign participants manually - Select which participants you want in each room

Assign participants automatically

To assign participants automatically:

1. In the Assign Participants dialog, click the shuffle button
2. Participants are assigned to the rooms
3. Edit room names by clicking the pencil icon beside the room name (optional)
4. Move participants to different rooms if needed
5. Click Start Breakout
6. Click Yes, start in the confirmation dialog

Assign participants manually

To assign participants manually:

1. In the Assign Participants dialog, select the participants you want to assign to a room
2. In the Rooms section, click Assign
3. Repeat for all participants and rooms
4. Click Start Breakout
5. Click Yes, start in the confirmation dialog

Integrate breakout rooms

After setting up breakout rooms via the API, you need to integrate them into your application using the RealtimeKit SDK.

Step 1: Install the SDK

Install the RealtimeKit SDK:

Web Components

Add this script tag to your HTML file:

<script type="module">
  import { defineCustomElements } from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@cloudflare/realtimekit-ui@latest/loader/index.es2017.js";
  defineCustomElements();
</script>

React

npm install @cloudflare/realtimekit-react @cloudflare/realtimekit-react-ui

Step 2: Initialize the SDK with breakout rooms support

Initialize the SDK and add an event handler for breakout rooms:

Web Components

<script type="module">
  import RealtimeKitClient from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@cloudflare/realtimekit@latest/dist/index.es.js";

  let meeting = await RealtimeKitClient.init({
    authToken: "<participant_auth_token>",
  });

  // Add event handler for breakout rooms
  meeting.connectedMeetings.on("meetingChanged", (newMeeting) => {
    meeting = newMeeting;
    document.querySelector("rtk-meeting").meeting = meeting;
  });
</script>

The meetingChanged event is triggered when a participant switches between the main meeting and breakout rooms. Update the meeting object reference when this event fires.

React

import {
  RealtimeKitProvider,
  useRealtimeKitClient,
} from "@cloudflare/realtimekit-react";
import { RtkMeeting } from "@cloudflare/realtimekit-react-ui";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";

function App() {
  const [meeting, initMeeting] = useRealtimeKitClient();
  const [authToken, setAuthToken] = useState("<participant_auth_token>");

  useEffect(() => {
    if (authToken) {
      initMeeting({
        authToken: authToken,
      });
    }
  }, [authToken]);

  // Add event handler for breakout rooms
  useEffect(() => {
    if (meeting) {
      meeting.connectedMeetings.on("meetingChanged", (newMeeting) => {
        // Meeting object is automatically updated in React
        console.log("Switched to breakout room or main meeting");
      });
    }
  }, [meeting]);

  return (
    <RealtimeKitProvider value={meeting}>
      <RtkMeeting showSetupScreen={true} meeting={meeting} />
    </RealtimeKitProvider>
  );
}

The meetingChanged event is triggered when a participant switches between the main meeting and breakout rooms. In React, the meeting object is automatically managed by the provider.

Step 3: Render the meeting UI

Use the default meeting UI component which includes built-in breakout room support:

Web Components

<body>
  <rtk-meeting id="my-meeting"></rtk-meeting>

  <script type="module">
    import RealtimeKitClient from "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@cloudflare/realtimekit@latest/dist/index.es.js";

    let meeting = await RealtimeKitClient.init({
      authToken: "<participant_auth_token>",
    });

    // Add event handler for breakout rooms
    meeting.connectedMeetings.on("meetingChanged", (newMeeting) => {
      meeting = newMeeting;
      document.querySelector("rtk-meeting").meeting = meeting;
    });

    document.querySelector("rtk-meeting").showSetupScreen = true;
    document.querySelector("rtk-meeting").meeting = meeting;
  </script>
</body>

Note

The Default Meeting UI (rtk-meeting component) automatically joins the session, so you do not need to call meeting.join().

React

import {
  RealtimeKitProvider,
  useRealtimeKitClient,
} from "@cloudflare/realtimekit-react";
import { RtkMeeting } from "@cloudflare/realtimekit-react-ui";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";

function App() {
  const [meeting, initMeeting] = useRealtimeKitClient();
  const [authToken, setAuthToken] = useState("<participant_auth_token>");

  useEffect(() => {
    if (authToken) {
      initMeeting({
        authToken: authToken,
      });
    }
  }, [authToken]);

  useEffect(() => {
    if (meeting) {
      meeting.connectedMeetings.on("meetingChanged", (newMeeting) => {
        console.log("Switched to breakout room or main meeting");
      });
    }
  }, [meeting]);

  return (
    <RealtimeKitProvider value={meeting}>
      <RtkMeeting showSetupScreen={true} meeting={meeting} />
    </RealtimeKitProvider>
  );
}

Note

The Default Meeting UI (RtkMeeting component) automatically joins the session, so you do not need to call meeting.join().

The showSetupScreen property controls whether the setup screen is displayed, allowing participants to preview their audio and video before joining the session.

Next steps

You have successfully integrated breakout rooms into your RealtimeKit application. Participants can now:

• Join the main meeting
• Be assigned to breakout rooms by the host
• Switch between the main meeting and breakout rooms
• Collaborate in smaller focused groups

For more advanced customization, explore the following:

• UI Kit Components Library - Browse available components
• UI Kit States - Learn how components synchronize
• Build Your Own UI - Create custom meeting interfaces