# Core SDK Reference

The **Whereby Core SDK** is the low-level foundation of the Whereby SDK. It exposes a set of containers, actions, and client classes for working with local media and room connections. It's used to power the [Whereby Browser SDK,](https://docs.whereby.com/whereby-for-web-browser/react-based-browser-sdk/quick-start) [Whereby Assistants](https://docs.whereby.com/reference/assistant-sdk-reference/api-reference/assistant),[ React Native](https://docs.whereby.com/reference/react-native-reference) and other forms of Whereby meetings. It also contains utils which may be useful in custom experiences. 

### Audience

Core is designed for developers who need fine-grained control over the Whereby experience. It is best suited if you:

* Are building a custom video UI from scratch (not using React or our higher level components)
* Need to integrate Whereby into a non-React environment or a framework of your choice
* Want direct access to connection, media and layout state
* Are working on advanced use cases such as automation or headless integrations where you want to orchestrate media yourself at a lower level

For most web applications, we recommend starting with our higher level [`@whereby.com/browser-sdk`](https://docs.whereby.com/whereby-for-web-browser/react-based-browser-sdk/quick-start) , or if you can [`@whereby.com/assistant`](https://docs.whereby.com/reference/assistant-sdk-reference/api-reference/assistant) to create custom bots that might work for your use case. Reach for `@whereby.com/core` when you need deeper controls. 

### Use Cases

* Implementing a **custom meeting UI** that renders participants with your own layout engine
* Running **automated tests** or **headless monitoring** clients with fine control over media state
* Building **framework integrations** (e.g. Vue, Svelte, Angular) on top of Whereby's primitives
* Experimenting with **advanced media workflows** like custom device selection

### Requirements

The Core SDK is intended for **browser environments** and requires access to browser APIs:

* `navigator.mediaDevices` (to request camera/microphone)
* `MediaStream` and `MediaTrack`
* `RTCPeerConnection` (WebRTC signaling and transport). 

It can also be used in Node.js if you provide compatible polyfills for the necessary Media and WebRTC APIs. However, if you're considering using Node.js we would recommend checking out our [Assistant SDK](https://docs.whereby.com/reference/assistant-sdk-reference/api-reference/assistant) that handles this for you! 

## Getting started

### Installation

Install the `@whereby.com/core` package from the public[ npm registry.](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@whereby.com/core)

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="npm" %}

```bash
npm install @whereby.com/core
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="yarn" %}

```bash
yarn add @whereby.com/core
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="pnpm" %}

```bash
pnpm add @whereby.com/core
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}