What to Look for in a Next.js AI Agent Dashboard Template

You have decided to use a template for your OpenClaw Mission Control dashboard. Smart choice — it saves months of development time. But the template market has grown crowded, and not every template is worth your investment. Here is what separates a great agent dashboard template from a mediocre one.

Must-Have Features

1. Built for Agent Monitoring, Not Generic Admin

The biggest mistake teams make is buying a generic admin dashboard and trying to adapt it for agent monitoring. Generic admin templates are designed for CRUD operations — creating, reading, updating, and deleting records. Agent dashboards have fundamentally different requirements:

• **Real-time status updates** instead of static data tables
• **Pipeline and flow visualizations** instead of basic lists
• **Live activity feeds** instead of simple audit logs
• **Time-series performance charts** instead of snapshot metrics

Look for a template that was designed specifically for the agent monitoring use case. The components, layouts, and data flow patterns should reflect how agent systems actually work.

2. Real-Time Data Support

A dashboard that only shows data from the last page load is already stale. Your template needs built-in support for real-time updates — typically through WebSocket connections that push changes to the browser as they happen.

Check for: - WebSocket connection management (including reconnection when connections drop) - Live-updating components for agent status, activity feeds, and metrics - Connection status indicators so users know if they are seeing live data

3. Responsive Design

Your team will check agent status from different devices: - **Desktop**: The primary monitoring experience with full dashboards - **Tablet**: For operators checking status while on the move - **Mobile**: Quick status checks from a phone

The template should look and work well on all three. Not just "it does not break on mobile" — it should provide a genuinely usable mobile experience.

4. Dark Mode

This might seem like a cosmetic preference, but for teams monitoring agents around the clock, dark mode is a practical necessity. Staring at a bright white screen during an overnight shift is not sustainable. A proper dark mode should be: - A complete design — not just a dark background with the same light-themed components - Easy to toggle - Persistent across sessions

5. Clean Component Architecture

You will customize the template. That is the entire point. The template's component architecture determines how easy or painful that customization will be.

Look for: - **Modular components**: Each dashboard section is a self-contained component, not tangled spaghetti - **Clear file structure**: You can find what you need without searching through dozens of files - **Consistent patterns**: Every page follows the same data-fetching and rendering approach - **No vendor lock-in**: The template uses standard libraries and can be extended with any tool you choose

Technology Checklist

Next.js Version

The template should use **Next.js 15 with the App Router**. The App Router provides: - Server Components for fast initial page loads - Streaming for progressive content rendering - Better code organization with file-based routing - Built-in loading and error states

Avoid templates still using the Pages Router — it is the older architecture and will receive less attention going forward.

TypeScript

Full TypeScript support is non-negotiable for a dashboard that your team will maintain over time. TypeScript catches errors before they reach production and makes the codebase much easier to navigate and modify.

Tailwind CSS

Tailwind CSS is the standard for modern dashboard development. It allows rapid customization without fighting CSS specificity issues. Look for a template that uses Tailwind thoughtfully — not just as a styling tool, but with a consistent design system (spacing, colors, typography) that you can adjust from a central configuration.

shadcn/ui Components

shadcn/ui has become the go-to component library for Next.js dashboards. Unlike traditional component libraries that you install as packages, shadcn/ui components are copied into your project as source code. This means you own them completely and can modify anything without fighting library constraints.

Red Flags to Avoid

Too Many Dependencies

A template with 50+ npm dependencies is a maintenance burden. Every dependency is a potential security vulnerability, breaking change, or abandoned project. Good templates are lean — they use well-established libraries and avoid unnecessary abstractions.

No Source Code Access

Some templates only provide compiled or obfuscated code. You need full, readable source code to customize effectively. If you cannot read and modify every file in the template, pass.

No Documentation

Even a well-structured template needs documentation: - How to set up the project - How to connect to your data source - How to customize the design - How the component architecture works - How to add new pages and features

A template without documentation is a template you will struggle with.

Last Updated More Than 6 Months Ago

The Next.js ecosystem moves fast. A template that has not been updated in 6+ months may use deprecated patterns, have security vulnerabilities in dependencies, or not support the latest framework features.

Demo Looks Great, Code Is a Mess

Always look beyond the demo site. A beautiful demo can hide poorly written code. If possible, review the code quality before purchasing. Look for: - Consistent naming conventions - Logical file organization - No commented-out code or TODO items everywhere - Clean, readable component structure

Evaluation Checklist

Use this checklist when comparing templates:

| Criteria | Check | |----------|-------| | Built specifically for agent monitoring | | | Real-time WebSocket support | | | Responsive (desktop, tablet, mobile) | | | Dark mode included | | | Next.js 15 with App Router | | | Full TypeScript | | | Tailwind CSS with design system | | | shadcn/ui components | | | Clean component architecture | | | Full source code access | | | Documentation included | | | Recently updated | | | Reasonable dependency count | | | Designed for OpenClaw compatibility | |

The ClawDash Difference

ClawDash templates are purpose-built for OpenClaw Mission Control dashboards. They check every box on this list because they are designed by people who understand the agent monitoring use case — not generic admin panels adapted for a different purpose.

Every ClawDash template includes: - Agent status grids with real-time health indicators - Task pipeline visualizations for multi-agent workflows - Performance metric charts with live updates - Activity feeds with filtering and search - Responsive design across all devices - Full dark mode - Next.js 15, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui - Complete source code with documentation

Conclusion

A dashboard template is an investment in your team's productivity. The right template pays for itself on day one by giving your team instant visibility into agent operations. The wrong template creates frustration, customization headaches, and eventually gets abandoned in favor of a from-scratch rebuild.

Use the checklist in this guide to evaluate your options. Then explore our [template collection](/templates) to see templates built specifically for OpenClaw.