diff --git a/src/queryClient.ts b/src/queryClient.ts
index 1cebd3fa..30cb2cbf 100644
--- a/src/queryClient.ts
+++ b/src/queryClient.ts
@@ -75,15 +75,14 @@ export default (config: Partial<QueryClientConfig>) => {
   const hooks = configureHooks(queryClient, queryConfig);
 
   // set up websocket client and hooks given config
-  if (queryConfig.enableWebsocket) {
-    configureWebsockets(queryClient, queryConfig);
-  }
+  const ws = (queryConfig.enableWebsocket) ? { ws: configureWebsockets(queryClient, queryConfig) } : {};
 
   // returns the queryClient and relative instances
   return {
     queryClient,
     QueryClientProvider,
     hooks,
+    ...ws,
     useMutation,
     ReactQueryDevtools,
   };
diff --git a/src/ws/hooks.ts b/src/ws/hooks.ts
index e69de29b..2d0e63b7 100644
--- a/src/ws/hooks.ts
+++ b/src/ws/hooks.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+/**
+ * Graasp websocket client
+ * React effect hooks to subscribe to real-time updates and mutate query client
+ * 
+ * @author Alexandre CHAU
+ */
+
+import { ServerMessage } from "graasp-websockets/src/interfaces/message";
+import { List } from "immutable";
+import { useEffect } from "react";
+import { QueryClient } from "react-query";
+import { buildItemChildrenKey, buildItemKey, SHARED_ITEMS_KEY } from "../config/keys";
+import { Item, UUID } from "../types";
+import { Channel, GraaspWebsocketClient } from "./ws-client";
+
+const ITEM_ENTITY_TYPE = "item"
+const MEMBER_ENTITY_TYPE = "member"
+
+export default (websocketClient: GraaspWebsocketClient, queryClient: QueryClient) => ({
+    /**
+     * React hook to subscribe to the children updates of the give parent item ID
+     *
+     * @param parentId The ID of the parent on which to observe children updates
+     */
+    useChildrenUpdates: (parentId: UUID) => {
+        useEffect(() => {
+            if (!parentId) {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            const channel: Channel = { name: parentId, entity: ITEM_ENTITY_TYPE };
+            const parentChildrenKey = buildItemChildrenKey(parentId);
+
+            const handler = (data: ServerMessage) => {
+                if (data.type === "update" && data.body.kind === "childItem" && data.body.entity === ITEM_ENTITY_TYPE) {
+                    const current: List<Item> | undefined = queryClient.getQueryData(parentChildrenKey);
+                    const value = data.body.value;
+                    let mutation;
+                    switch (data.body.op) {
+                        case "create": {
+                            if (current && !current.find(i => i.id === value.id)) {
+                                mutation = current.push(value);
+                                queryClient.setQueryData(parentChildrenKey, mutation);
+                                queryClient.setQueryData(buildItemKey(value.id), value);
+                            }
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        case "delete": {
+                            mutation = current?.filter(i => i.id !== value.id);
+                            queryClient.setQueryData(parentChildrenKey, mutation);
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            };
+
+            websocketClient.subscribe(channel, handler);
+
+            return function cleanup() {
+                websocketClient.unsubscribe(channel, handler);
+            };
+        }, [parentId]);
+    },
+
+    useSharedItemsUpdates: (userId: UUID) => {
+        useEffect(() => {
+            if (!userId) {
+                return;
+            }
+
+            const channel: Channel = { name: userId, entity: MEMBER_ENTITY_TYPE };
+
+            const handler = (data: ServerMessage) => {
+                if (data.type === "update" && data.body.kind === "sharedWith" && data.body.entity === MEMBER_ENTITY_TYPE) {
+                    const current: List<Item> | undefined = queryClient.getQueryData(SHARED_ITEMS_KEY);
+                    const value = data.body.value;
+                    let mutation;
+                    switch (data.body.op) {
+                        case "create": {
+                            if (current && !current.find(i => i.id === value.id)) {
+                                mutation = current.push(value);
+                                queryClient.setQueryData(SHARED_ITEMS_KEY, mutation);
+                                queryClient.setQueryData(buildItemKey(value.id), value);
+                            }
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        case "delete": {
+                            mutation = current?.filter(i => i.id !== value.id);
+                            queryClient.setQueryData(SHARED_ITEMS_KEY, mutation);
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+            };
+
+            websocketClient.subscribe(channel, handler);
+
+            return function cleanup() {
+                websocketClient.unsubscribe(channel, handler);
+            }
+        }, [userId]);
+    },
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ws/index.ts b/src/ws/index.ts
index 0d0a4611..1417a5b9 100644
--- a/src/ws/index.ts
+++ b/src/ws/index.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,23 @@
+/**
+ * Graasp websocket client top-level file
+ * Entry point to use the Graasp WebSocket client in front-end applications
+ * 
+ * @author Alexandre CHAU
+ */
+
 import { QueryClient } from "react-query";
 import { QueryClientConfig } from "../types";
+import configureWebsocketHooks from "./hooks";
+import { configureWebsocketClient } from "./ws-client";
 
-const configureWebsockets = (
+// to be called by the main query client configurator
+export default (
     queryClient: QueryClient,
     queryConfig: QueryClientConfig,
-) => ({
-
-});
+) => {
+    const websocketClient = configureWebsocketClient(queryConfig);
 
-export default configureWebsockets;
\ No newline at end of file
+    return {
+        hooks: configureWebsocketHooks(websocketClient, queryClient),
+    };
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ws/ws-client.ts b/src/ws/ws-client.ts
index 581c2572..29f22cb2 100644
--- a/src/ws/ws-client.ts
+++ b/src/ws/ws-client.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 import { ClientMessage, ServerMessage } from "graasp-websockets/src/interfaces/message";
 import { QueryClientConfig } from "../types";
 
-type Channel = {
+export type Channel = {
     entity: "item" | "member";
     name: string,
 };
@@ -38,7 +38,26 @@ function addToMappedArray<S, T>(map: Map<S, Array<T>>, key: S, value: T) {
     }
 }
 
-export const configureWebsocketClient = (config: QueryClientConfig) => {
+/**
+ * Websocket client for the graasp-websockets protocol
+ */
+export interface GraaspWebsocketClient {
+    /**
+     * Subscribe a handler to a given channel
+     * @param channel Channel to which to subscribe to
+     * @param handler Handler function to register
+     */
+    subscribe(channel: Channel, handler: UpdateHandlerFn): void
+
+    /**
+     * Unsubscribe a handler from a channel, THE HANDLER MUST === THE ONE PASSED TO SUBSCRIBE
+     * @param channel Channel from wihch to unsubscribe the provided handler from
+     * @param handler Handler function to unregster, MUST BE EQUAL (===) TO PREVIOUSLY REGISTERED HANDLE WITH @see subscribe !
+     */
+    unsubscribe(channel: Channel, handler: UpdateHandlerFn): void
+}
+
+export const configureWebsocketClient = (config: QueryClientConfig): GraaspWebsocketClient => {
     // native client WebSocket instance
     const ws = new WebSocket(config.WS_HOST);