Add Live Commenting to Drupal Sites
Quick Start 
This is the "too long did not read" version of the Drupal instructions.
- Install the module with
composer require drupal/fcom, or drop it inmodules/custom/fastcomments/. - Enable it with
drush en fastcomments, or from the admin UI at/admin/modules. - Go to
Administration > Configuration > Content > FastComments(/admin/config/content/fastcomments). - Enter your Tenant ID and API Secret from Settings > API/SSO (EU).
- Add the
FastCommentsfield to any content type viaStructure > Content types > [type] > Manage fields.
The module is published at drupal.org/project/fcom.
Installation
The FastComments Drupal module replaces Drupal's built-in comments with a fast, real-time commenting system. The module is published on drupal.org and works with Drupal 10 and 11.
There are two ways to install it.
Install with Composer
composer require drupal/fcom
drush en fastcommentsInstall manually
Download the module from drupal.org/project/fcom and place it in your site's modules/custom/fastcomments/ directory. Then enable it with drush en fastcomments, or from the admin UI at Extend (/admin/modules).
Note! The module only depends on Drupal core (user and field). There are no other Drupal modules or libraries required.
Once the module is enabled, head to the Configuration section to set up your Tenant ID and API Secret.
Configuration
All settings live under Administration > Configuration > Content > FastComments (/admin/config/content/fastcomments).
Required
- Tenant ID - Your FastComments Tenant ID. Find this under Settings > API/SSO (EU).
- API Secret - Required for Secure SSO, webhook verification, and page sync. Found under Settings > API/SSO (EU).
Commenting Style
Pick the widget that matches how you want people to talk on your site.
- Live Comments - Real-time threaded comments.
- Streaming Chat - Live chat interface, good for events and livestreams.
- Collab Chat - Text-selection annotation on the main content area. Visitors highlight text and start a discussion in context.
- Collab Chat + Comments - Both collab chat and standard comments on the same page.
SSO Mode
- None - No SSO. Users comment as guests or create a FastComments account.
- Simple - Passes Drupal user info (name, email, avatar) to FastComments without server-side verification.
- Secure - Uses HMAC-SHA256 to verify Drupal users with FastComments. Recommended when you have an API Secret configured.
See the Single Sign-On (SSO) section for details.
Other Settings
- CDN URL - Defaults to
https://cdn.fastcomments.com. - Site URL - Defaults to
https://fastcomments.com. - Email notifications - Send an email to a content author when a new comment is posted on their content.
For EU data residency, see the EU Data Residency section.
Widget Blocks
The module ships several blocks you can place from Structure > Block layout (/admin/structure/block).
- FastComments Widget - The main commenting widget. Auto-detects the current entity. It will skip entities that already have the FastComments field attached, so you won't see duplicate widgets on the same page.
- FastComments Live Chat - Real-time streaming chat. Can be placed alongside the comment field on the same page.
- FastComments Collab Chat - Text-selection annotation and discussion.
- FastComments Image Chat - Coordinate-based annotation on images. Visitors click on an image to leave comments tied to specific locations.
- FastComments Recent Comments - Displays recent comments across your site. The count is configurable on the block.
- FastComments Top Pages - Shows the pages on your site with the most comments.
The content-centric blocks (Live Chat, Collab Chat, Image Chat) auto-detect the current entity, and fall back to a path-based identifier on non-entity pages. That means they work on taxonomy pages, views, and custom routes without any extra setup.
Content Type Fields
For most sites, the easiest way to add comments is to attach the FastComments field to your content types. Go to Structure > Content types > [type] > Manage fields and add the field.
Each entity that has the field gets:
- A status toggle so editors can turn commenting on or off per entity.
- An optional custom identifier so you can use a stable ID that isn't tied to the Drupal entity path.
The main FastComments Widget block knows about this field, and will skip entities that already have it attached. That way you can mix per-entity comments with the block without seeing the widget twice on the same page.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
FastComments integrates with Drupal's user system through SSO, or single-sign-on. Your users sign in to your Drupal site, and the module passes their identity to FastComments automatically. No extra accounts to create, no initial sync to run.
The module supports three SSO modes, set under Administration > Configuration > Content > FastComments.
None
No SSO. Users comment as guests or create a FastComments account. Use this if your site is public and you don't need to tie comments to Drupal users.
Simple
Passes the Drupal user's name, email, and avatar to FastComments without server-side verification. No API Secret needed. Good for internal or low-risk sites.
Secure (recommended)
Uses HMAC-SHA256 to verify each user identity with FastComments. This is the mode you want when you have an API Secret configured, and it's the only mode that prevents a visitor from impersonating another user.
User identity is passed to FastComments each time a user views a comment thread. There is no initial or continuous sync that needs to run.
(Optional) Add your administrators to Users & Administrators and moderators to Comment Moderators to improve their experience and enable stat tracking for moderators.
For a deeper look at how SSO works, see the SSO section of the customization docs.
Permissions
The module adds three Drupal permissions that you can assign per role under People > Permissions.
- Administer FastComments - Access to the FastComments settings form at
/admin/config/content/fastcomments. - View FastComments - Required to see the commenting widget. Without this permission the widget does not render.
- Toggle FastComments - Allows users to enable or disable comments on a per-entity basis using the field widget.
By default, only users with the administer site configuration permission can change FastComments settings. Grant View FastComments to anonymous and authenticated users if you want visitors to see the widget.
Multilingual
The module automatically passes the current Drupal site language to every FastComments widget. If your Drupal site is configured for multiple languages, the commenting UI will render in the matching language without any extra configuration.
This applies to all widget types: Live Comments, Streaming Chat, Collab Chat, Image Chat, Recent Comments, and Top Pages.
EU Data Residency
If your FastComments account is hosted in the EU, update two settings at Administration > Configuration > Content > FastComments:
- CDN URL -
https://cdn-eu.fastcomments.com - Site URL -
https://eu.fastcomments.com
You'll also want to pull your Tenant ID and API Secret from the EU dashboard at eu.fastcomments.com/auth/my-account/api instead of the default US dashboard. Everything else in the module works the same.
Customization
FastComments is designed to be customized to match your site.
If you'd like to add custom styling, or tweak configuration, Checkout our Customization Documentation to learn how.
Requirements
- Drupal 10 or 11
- PHP 8.1 or newer
- A FastComments account
The module does not require any other Drupal modules or third-party libraries. It only depends on Drupal core (user, field).
A <noscript> fallback provides server-rendered comments for visitors without JavaScript, so Live Comments and Streaming Chat still work on browsers with scripting disabled.