Sandpack — AI-Powered Live Code Editor Component

What it is

Sandpack is a React component library by CodeSandbox that embeds live code editors with instant preview in web applications. Users can edit code and see results in real time without leaving your page. It supports React, Vue, Angular, Svelte, vanilla JavaScript, and other frameworks.

Sandpack targets developers building AI chatbots, documentation sites, educational platforms, and any application that needs interactive code examples. It powers the code editor experiences in many AI coding assistants and technical documentation sites.

How it saves time or tokens

Building a live code editor from scratch requires a code editor component (Monaco or CodeMirror), a bundler, a sandbox iframe, and error handling. Sandpack bundles all of this into a single React component. You specify the template and files, and Sandpack handles compilation, preview rendering, error display, and hot module replacement. This reduces the integration work from weeks to a single npm install.

How to use

1. Install Sandpack:

npm install @codesandbox/sandpack-react

1. Add a live editor to your React app:

import { Sandpack } from '@codesandbox/sandpack-react';

export default function App() {
  return (
    <Sandpack
      template='react'
      files={{
        '/App.js': `export default function App() {
  return <h1>Hello World</h1>;
}`
      }}
    />
  );
}

1. Users can edit the code and see live results in the preview pane.

Example

import { Sandpack } from '@codesandbox/sandpack-react';
import { githubLight } from '@codesandbox/sandpack-themes';

export function InteractiveExample() {
  return (
    <Sandpack
      template='react-ts'
      theme={githubLight}
      options={{
        showNavigator: true,
        showTabs: true,
        editorHeight: 400,
      }}
      files={{
        '/App.tsx': `import { useState } from 'react';

export default function App() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);
  return (
    <div>
      <p>Count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(c => c + 1)}>Increment</button>
    </div>
  );
}`,
      }}
    />
  );
}

Related on TokRepo

• AI Tools for Coding — Developer tools and code editors
• AI Tools for Content — Interactive content creation tools

This tool integrates with standard development workflows and requires minimal configuration to get started. It is available as open-source software with documentation and community support through the official repository. The project follows semantic versioning for stable releases.

For teams evaluating this tool, the key advantage is reducing manual work in repetitive tasks. The automation provided by the built-in features means less custom code to maintain and fewer integration points to manage. This translates directly to lower maintenance costs and faster iteration cycles.

Common pitfalls

• Sandpack runs code in the browser; heavy dependencies or large projects may be slow to compile. Keep examples focused on the specific concept you want to demonstrate.
• Custom themes require importing from @codesandbox/sandpack-themes; the default theme works well but may not match your site's design without customization.
• The bundler supports most npm packages but not all; some packages with native dependencies or browser-incompatible code will fail to compile in the sandbox.