The New Courier Inbox for Web — Faster, More Flexible In-App Notifications

We’re excited to announce a major new version of Courier Inbox for web.

We originally built Inbox over four years ago to solve a simple problem: how do you add a real-time notification center to your app without building everything from scratch? Like most early-stage products, the first version was focused on getting to market fast.

Turns out, Inbox became one of our most popular products. And with that popularity came a lot of feedback. Developers wanted more flexibility, cleaner integration, and better performance. We knew we had a lot we could improve on.

So we took a step back and rebuilt it from the ground up.

Why We Rebuilt Courier Inbox for Web

We didn’t just patch a few things. We built a new foundation for scale and flexibility.

Our goal was to reimagine Inbox as something developers could drop into any app in minutes and rely on as their product evolves. Are three key objectives were

Give you full control

You can use the default UI, but you’re not locked into it. Theme it, extend it, or replace it entirely with your own components.

Make it reliable and invisible

Real-time delivery, cross-device sync, and efficient data loading should just work without extra effort or complexity.

Make it easy to drop in

Developers should be able to add a real-time inbox to any app with minimal setup. No need to wire up sockets, state, or syncing logic by hand.

What’s New

We rebuilt every layer of Courier Inbox from the integration surface to the real-time delivery infrastructure. Here’s what’s new:

Better UI Flexibility

• Support for custom components
• Works as a popup or full-screen view
• Theming with CourierInboxTheme — no CSS overrides required
• Support for custom notification data and dynamic layouts

Improved Performance

• Single WebSocket connection per tab
• Real-time sync across views, tabs, and delivery channels
• Improved backend architecture for enhanced reliability

Easier Integration

• One line of HTML and a few lines of JS or React to install
• New useCourier React hook for direct access to inbox state and events
• All functionality now included in a single package: @trycourier/courier-react

How Easy Is It to Drop In?

You can install and render Courier Inbox with just a few lines of code. Here’s a basic React setup using the new @trycourier/courier-react package:

npm install @trycourier/courier-react

And here's how easy it is to get standard inbox up and running:

import { useEffect } from 'react';
import { CourierInbox, useCourier } from '@trycourier/courier-react';

export default function App() {
  const courier = useCourier();

  useEffect(() => {
    // Generate a JWT for your user on your backend server
    const jwt = 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...';

    // Authenticate the user with the inbox
    courier.shared.signIn({
      userId: $YOUR_USER_ID,
      jwt: jwt,
    });
  }, []);

  return <CourierInbox />;
}

Courier handles authentication, sockets, and real-time syncing behind the scenes. You don’t have to worry about managing message state or delivery logic yourself.

Upgrading from a Previous Version of Courier Inbox?

The new version is a complete rebuild, but we’re not deprecating the old one. If you’re happy with your current integration, you don’t need to change anything. That said, if you’re ready for more flexibility, simpler integration, and better performance, upgrading is straightforward.

Here are a few important changes in this release:

• The SDK is now a single package: @trycourier/courier-react

• Authentication now requires JWTs (no more clientKey or HMAC)

• Hooks have been updated — use useCourier() instead of useInbox()

• Theming is handled via CourierInboxTheme, not styled-components

• Custom components are passed using new render* props

👉 React Inbox Migration Guide

Start Using the New Courier Inbox Today

The new Courier Inbox for web is ready to use today. Whether you’re starting from scratch or upgrading an existing integration, everything has been rebuilt to help you move faster with more control.

Choose the SDK that fits your stack:

• 📚 Using React? Start here:

  Courier React SDK Docs

• 🕹 Not using React? Use our web components:

  Courier UI Inbox Web Docs

• 🔄 Migrating from an older version?

  React Inbox Migration Guide

Have questions or feedback? Just reach out. We’d love to hear from you

Building for Mobile?

Courier Inbox isn’t just for web. We also offer native SDKs for iOS, Android, Flutter, and React Native. Each one is built with the same principles: real-time sync, flexible theming, and easy drop-in integration so your users stay in the loop across every platform.