---
title: Get started with Sidepanel
---

import Tabs from  '@theme/Tabs';
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';

:::info
Sidepanel is available from version `>= 4.4`
:::

## Introduction

DocSearch Sidepanel is a new experience separate from the DocSearch Modal experience. Sidepanel is built entirely for usage with Ask AI and can be used completely standalone or in [Hybrid mode][1] with the Modal.

## Installation

To get started with Sidepanel, first you will need to install the needed packages:

<Tabs>
<TabItem value="npm">

```bash
npm install @docsearch/react @docsearch/css

# Or if using JS based package

npm install @docsearch/sidepanel-js @docsearch/css
```

</TabItem>

<TabItem value="yarn">

```bash
yarn add @docsearch/react @docsearch/css

# Or if using JS based package

yarn add @docsearch/sidepanel-js @docsearch/css
```

</TabItem>

<TabItem value="pnpm">

```bash
pnpm add @docsearch/react @docsearch/css

# Or if using JS based package

pnpm add @docsearch/sidepanel-js @docsearch/css
```

</TabItem>

<TabItem value="bun">

```bash
bun add @docsearch/react @docsearch/css

# Or if using JS based package

bun add @docsearch/sidepanel-js @docsearch/css
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

> Or using your package manager of choice

### Without package manager

```html
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@docsearch/css/dist/style.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@docsearch/css/dist/sidepanel.css" />

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@docsearch/sidepanel-js"></script>
```

## Implementation

The simplest implementation of Sidepanel would be as follows:

<Tabs>
<TabItem value="React">
```tsx
import { DocSearchSidepanel } from '@docsearch/react/sidepanel';

import '@docsearch/css/dist/style.css';
import '@docsearch/css/dist/sidepanel.css';

function App() {
  return (
    <DocSearchSidepanel
      appId='YOUR_APP_ID'
      apiKey='YOUR_SEARCH_API_KEY'
      assistantId='YOUR_ASSISTANT_ID'
      indexName='YOUR_INDEX_NAME'
    />
  );
}
```
</TabItem>

<TabItem value="JavaScript">
You will need a `container` DOM node to render the Sidepanel into:

```html
<div id="docsearch-sidepanel"></div>
```

```js
import sidepanel from '@docsearch/sidepanel-js';

import '@docsearch/css/dist/style.css';
import '@docsearch/css/dist/sidepanel.css';

sidepanel({
  container: '#docsearch-sidepanel',
  indexName: 'YOUR_INDEX_NAME',
  appId: 'YOUR_APP_ID',
  apiKey: 'YOUR_SEARCH_API_KEY',
  assistantId: 'YOUR_ASSISTANT_ID',
});
```
</TabItem>
</Tabs>

This is just the most basic form of implementation. To learn about other implementation methods, you can read our [Advanced use cases][2].

To learn more about the different configuration options for Sidepanel, you can read our [Sidepanel API References][3]

[1]: /docs/sidepanel/hybrid
[2]: /docs/sidepanel/advanced-use-cases
[3]: /docs/sidepanel/api-reference