Add Giscus Comments Without a Backend

Enable GitHub Discussions, install the Giscus app, copy configuration from giscus.app, and wire NEXT_PUBLIC_GISCUS_* variables into your deployment.

Why Giscus

Self-hosted comment systems need a database and spam controls. Giscus stores threads in GitHub Discussions, which is ideal for developer blogs and template users who already have a GitHub repository.

Setup steps

Enable Discussions on your blog repository (Settings → General)
Install the Giscus GitHub App for that repository
Open giscus.app, enter repo name, pick a discussion category
Copy repo ID, category ID, and repo slug into .env.local

bash

NEXT_PUBLIC_GISCUS_ENABLED=true
NEXT_PUBLIC_GISCUS_REPO=yourname/your-blog-repo
NEXT_PUBLIC_GISCUS_REPO_ID=xxxxxxxx
NEXT_PUBLIC_GISCUS_CATEGORY=Announcements
NEXT_PUBLIC_GISCUS_CATEGORY_ID=xxxxxxxx

How it renders

src/components/comments/Giscus.tsx wraps @giscus/react, respects dark mode via next-themes, and maps pathname to discussion threads. Comment.tsx lazy-loads the widget client-side to avoid SSR issues.

Moderation

Use GitHub’s discussion moderation tools. For public blogs, keep COMMENT_AUDIT-style workflows in GitHub by requiring approval on new discussions if needed.

💬

Comments are optional. Leave Giscus env vars empty and the discussion section simply won’t render.

Update your privacy policy to mention GitHub/Giscus data handling — see src/app/privacy-policy/page.tsx for a starting template.