Bolt
realtime
Collaborative Editing Feature Broken in Bolt App
Your Bolt.new application has a collaborative editing feature (shared documents, kanban boards, whiteboards) where multiple users should be able to edit simultaneously, but changes from one user overwrite another's work, edits don't appear in real-time, or the document gets into a corrupted state with missing or duplicated content.
Collaborative editing is one of the hardest technical challenges in web development. It requires real-time synchronization, conflict resolution, presence awareness, and careful state management. When Bolt generates collaborative features, it often implements basic database saving without the synchronization layer that makes true collaboration work.
Users experience this as: changes disappearing after they save, seeing stale content that doesn't match what others are editing, or two users making simultaneous changes where only the last save survives and the other's work is lost.
Error Messages You Might See
Error: Document version conflict - please refresh
Broadcast message failed: channel not subscribed
TypeError: Cannot apply operation to undefined document
Conflict detected: document was modified by another user
WebSocket disconnected: retrying in 5 seconds
Common Causes
- Last-write-wins without conflict resolution — Each save overwrites the entire document, so the last person to save destroys everyone else's concurrent changes
- No real-time sync between clients — Changes are saved to the database but other connected users don't receive updates until they refresh
- Missing optimistic concurrency control — No version tracking or timestamps to detect when two users edit the same data simultaneously
- Presence information not shared — Users can't see who else is editing, leading to unknowing concurrent edits on the same section
- Database updates too coarse — The entire document is replaced on each edit instead of applying granular operations (insert text at position X)
How to Fix It
- Use Supabase Realtime for sync — Broadcast changes through Supabase channels: const channel = supabase.channel('doc:' + docId); channel.on('broadcast', { event: 'edit' }, handleRemoteEdit).subscribe()
- Implement operational transforms or CRDTs — For text editing, use a library like Yjs or Automerge that handles conflict resolution: const ydoc = new Y.Doc(); const provider = new SupabaseProvider(supabase, ydoc, docId)
- Add presence awareness — Show who is editing with cursor positions: channel.track({ user: currentUser, cursor: cursorPosition })
- Use granular updates — Instead of replacing the whole document, send operations: { type: 'insert', position: 42, text: 'hello' } and apply them to each client's local state
- Add version numbers — Track document versions and reject stale updates: UPDATE docs SET content = $1, version = version + 1 WHERE id = $2 AND version = $3
- Implement undo/redo — Maintain an operation history so users can undo both their own and others' changes if needed
Real developers can help you.
Milan Surelia
Milan Surelia is a Mobile App Developer with 5+ years of experience crafting scalable, cross-platform apps at 7Span and Meticha. At 7Span, he engineers feature-rich Flutter apps with smooth performance and modern UI. As the Co-Founder of Meticha, he builds open-source tools and developer-focused products that solve real-world problems.
Expertise:
💡 Developing cross-platform apps using Flutter, Dart, and Jetpack Compose for Android, iOS, and Web.
🖋️ Sharing insights through technical writing, blogging, and open-source contributions.
🤝 Collaborating closely with designers, PMs, and developers to build seamless mobile experiences.
Notable Achievements:
🎯 Revamped the Vepaar app into Vepaar Store & CRM with a 2x performance boost and smoother UX.
🚀 Launched Compose101 — a Jetpack Compose starter kit to speed up Android development.
🌟 Open source contributions on Github & StackOverflow for Flutter & Dart
🎖️ Worked on improving app performance and user experience with smart solutions.
Milan is always happy to connect, work on new ideas, and explore the latest in technology.
Tejas Chokhawala
Full-stack engineer with 5 years experience building production web apps using React, Next.js and TypeScript.
Focused on performance, clean architecture and shipping fast.
Experienced with Supabase/Postgres backends, Stripe billing, and building AI-assisted developer tools.
Yovel Cohen
I got a lot of experience in building Long-horizon AI Agents in production, Backend apps that scale to millions of users and frontend knowledge as well.
David Olverson
Solo dev shipping production apps with AI-assisted development. I specialize in rescuing broken Lovable/Bolt/Cursor builds and taking them to production. 10+ apps shipped including SaaS CRMs, gaming platforms, real estate tools, and Discord bots. Stack: Next.js 16, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, Prisma. I use Claude Code with 50+ custom skills for rapid delivery. Average turnaround: 2-4 weeks from broken prototype to production.
Jacek Rozanski
Senior PHP/Symfony developer and DevOps engineer with 20+ years of professional experience, running opcode.pl (web development agency, est. 2004).
Day job: I'm the sole backend developer at merketing company where I own and maintain 11 PHP/Symfony microservices on AWS (ECS Fargate, RDS, S3, CloudFront), handle the full CI/CD pipeline (Bitbucket Pipelines, Docker), and manage monitoring with Sentry and CloudWatch. These services handle high request volumes in production every month.
What I bring to AI-built apps:
- I audit and fix security issues (OWASP methodology), performance bottlenecks, and architectural problems in codebases generated by Cursor, Claude Code, Lovable, Bolt, and v0
- I refactor AI-generated prototypes into production-grade applications with proper error handling, testing, and clean architecture (SOLID, DDD, hexagonal architecture)
- I set up the infrastructure AI tools don't touch: AWS hosting, CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, database optimization, monitoring, and alerting
- I integrate external services: payment providers, email systems, partner APIs, SSO/auth
Tech stack: PHP 8.x, Symfony, React, Next.js, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Docker, AWS (ECS, RDS, S3, SQS/SNS, CloudFront), Terraform, Supabase. I also use AI tools daily (Claude Code, Cursor) in my own workflow, so I understand both the strengths and the gaps in AI-generated code.
Based in Poland (CET timezone). Available for async work and calls during EU/US business hours.
Stanislav Prigodich
15+ years building iOS and web apps at startups and enterprise companies. I want to use that experience to help builders ship real products - when something breaks, I'm here to fix it.
Pratik
SWE with 15+ years of experience building and maintaining web apps and extensive BE infrastructure
MFox
Full-stack professional senior engineer (15+years). Extensive experience in software development, qa, and IP networking.
rayush33
JavaScript (React.js, React Native, Node.js) Developer with demonstrated industry experience of 4+ years, actively looking for opportunities to hone my skills as well as help small-scale business owners with solutions to technical problems
Daniel Vázquez
Software Engineer with over 10 years of experience on Startups, Government, big tech industry & consulting.
You don't need to be technical. Just describe what's wrong and a verified developer will handle the rest.
Get HelpFrequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest way to add collaborative editing to a Bolt app?
Use Yjs with Supabase as the sync provider. Yjs handles conflict resolution automatically using CRDTs (Conflict-free Replicated Data Types). Install yjs and create a shared document that syncs through Supabase Realtime channels.
Why does the last person to save overwrite everyone else's changes?
This is the 'last-write-wins' problem. When you save the entire document, you overwrite whatever was there, including other users' unsaved changes. The fix is to send granular operations (insert, delete, update at specific positions) instead of replacing the whole document.