Daily.co Integration for Video Calls on Website

Daily.co Integration for Video Calls on Website

Daily.co provides WebRTC infrastructure with a simple JavaScript SDK. You create a room via REST API, send the URL to the user—they open a video call directly in the browser without installing an app. Suitable for video consultations, support chats, training.

Creating a Room via REST API

const DAILY_API_KEY = process.env.DAILY_API_KEY;

async function createRoom(options: {
  name?: string;
  expiresInMinutes?: number;
  maxParticipants?: number;
}): Promise<{ url: string; name: string }> {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.daily.co/v1/rooms', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${DAILY_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      name: options.name ?? `room-${Date.now()}`,
      properties: {
        exp: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + (options.expiresInMinutes ?? 60) * 60,
        max_participants: options.maxParticipants ?? 10,
        enable_screenshare: true,
        enable_chat: true,
        enable_recording: false,
        start_video_off: false,
        start_audio_off: false,
      },
    }),
  });

  const room = await response.json();
  return { url: room.url, name: room.name };
}

// API for session creation
app.post('/api/video/room', authenticate, async (req, res) => {
  const { consultationId } = req.body;
  const room = await createRoom({
    name: `consultation-${consultationId}`,
    expiresInMinutes: 90,
    maxParticipants: 2,
  });

  await db.consultations.update(consultationId, { roomUrl: room.url });
  res.json({ url: room.url });
});

Participant Token

For private rooms, you need a meeting token—otherwise anyone with the URL can join:

async function createMeetingToken(roomName: string, participantName: string, isOwner = false) {
  const response = await fetch('https://api.daily.co/v1/meeting-tokens', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Authorization': `Bearer ${DAILY_API_KEY}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({
      properties: {
        room_name: roomName,
        user_name: participantName,
        is_owner: isOwner,  // owner can remove other participants
        exp: Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + 90 * 60,
        enable_recording: isOwner,
      },
    }),
  });

  const { token } = await response.json();
  return token;
}

React Component with Daily JS SDK

npm install @daily-co/daily-js

import DailyIframe from '@daily-co/daily-js';
import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';

interface VideoCallProps {
  roomUrl: string;
  token: string;
  userName: string;
  onLeave?: () => void;
}

function VideoCall({ roomUrl, token, userName, onLeave }: VideoCallProps) {
  const callRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof DailyIframe.createFrame> | null>(null);
  const containerRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
  const [status, setStatus] = useState<'idle' | 'joining' | 'joined' | 'left'>('idle');

  useEffect(() => {
    if (!containerRef.current) return;

    const call = DailyIframe.createFrame(containerRef.current, {
      showLeaveButton: true,
      showFullscreenButton: true,
      iframeStyle: { width: '100%', height: '100%', border: 'none', borderRadius: '12px' },
    });

    callRef.current = call;

    call.on('joining-meeting', () => setStatus('joining'));
    call.on('joined-meeting', () => setStatus('joined'));
    call.on('left-meeting', () => {
      setStatus('left');
      onLeave?.();
    });
    call.on('error', (err) => console.error('Daily error:', err));

    call.join({ url: roomUrl, token, userName });

    return () => {
      call.destroy();
    };
  }, [roomUrl, token]);

  return (
    <div className="relative" style={{ height: 600 }}>
      {status === 'joining' && (
        <div className="absolute inset-0 flex items-center justify-center bg-gray-900 rounded-xl z-10">
          <p className="text-white">Connecting...</p>
        </div>
      )}
      {status === 'left' && (
        <div className="absolute inset-0 flex items-center justify-center bg-gray-900 rounded-xl z-10">
          <p className="text-white text-lg">Call ended</p>
        </div>
      )}
      <div ref={containerRef} className="w-full h-full" />
    </div>
  );
}

Webhooks for Events

Daily.co sends events to your server:

app.post('/api/webhooks/daily', async (req, res) => {
  const { event_type, payload } = req.body;

  switch (event_type) {
    case 'meeting.started':
      await db.videoSessions.markStarted(payload.room.name);
      break;
    case 'meeting.ended':
      await db.videoSessions.markEnded(payload.room.name, {
        duration: payload.meeting_duration,
      });
      break;
    case 'participant.joined':
      await db.videoSessions.addParticipant(payload.room.name, payload.participant.user_name);
      break;
  }

  res.status(200).end();
});

Timeline

Basic Daily.co integration with room creation and iframe—1–2 days. With tokens, webhooks, and recording—3–4 days.