diff --git a/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml b/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml
index 09bc44c43..ee3d3547b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/backend-tests.yml
@@ -72,14 +72,11 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
         if: needs.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
 
-      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
+      - name: Setup node
         if: needs.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-node
         with:
-          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
-
-      - run: yarn install --immutable
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
+          NODE_VERSION: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
 
       - run: yarn run build
         if: needs.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
@@ -93,14 +90,11 @@ jobs:
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Use Node.js ${{ env.NODEJS_VERSION }}
+      - name: Setup node
         if: needs.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
+        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-node
         with:
-          node-version: ${{ env.NODEJS_VERSION }}
-
-      - run: yarn install --immutable
-        if: needs.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
+          NODE_VERSION: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
 
       - run: yarn run test:cov
         if: needs.changes.outputs.changed == 'true'
diff --git a/backend/docker/Dockerfile b/backend/docker/Dockerfile
index 855e93abb..dec27a1fc 100644
--- a/backend/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -26,20 +26,27 @@ USER node
 WORKDIR /usr/src/app
 
 COPY --chown=node .yarn/plugins .yarn/plugins
+COPY --chown=node .yarn/patches .yarn/patches
 COPY --chown=node .yarn/releases .yarn/releases
 COPY --chown=node .yarnrc.yml .yarnrc.yml
 COPY --chown=node package.json package.json
 COPY --chown=node yarn.lock yarn.lock
 COPY --chown=node backend/package.json backend/
+COPY --chown=node commons/package.json commons/
 COPY --chown=node frontend/package.json frontend/
 
 # Install dependencies first to not invalidate the cache on every source change
 RUN --mount=type=cache,sharing=locked,uid=1000,gid=1000,target=/tmp/.yarn \
     yarn install --immutable && yarn workspaces focus @hedgedoc/backend
 
+COPY --chown=node commons/ commons/
 COPY --chown=node backend/nest-cli.json backend/tsconfig.json backend/tsconfig.build.json backend/
 COPY --chown=node backend/src backend/src
 
+WORKDIR /usr/src/app/commons
+
+RUN yarn build
+
 ## Stage 2a: Dev config files and tests
 FROM code-with-deps as development
 USER node
diff --git a/backend/package.json b/backend/package.json
index 86747103e..80f81f419 100644
--- a/backend/package.json
+++ b/backend/package.json
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@azure/storage-blob": "12.12.0",
-    "@hedgedoc/realtime": "0.3.0",
+    "@hedgedoc/commons": "workspace:commons",
     "@mrdrogdrog/optional": "1.0.0",
     "@nestjs/common": "9.2.1",
     "@nestjs/config": "2.2.0",
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.spec.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.spec.ts
index d3dd0791b..e4099dfc3 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.spec.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.spec.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import {
   encodeDocumentDeletedMessage,
   encodeMetadataUpdatedMessage,
-} from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+} from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Mock } from 'ts-mockery';
 
 import { Note } from '../../notes/note.entity';
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.ts
index 0a2457370..6ef212364 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/realtime-note.ts
@@ -6,10 +6,9 @@
 import {
   encodeDocumentDeletedMessage,
   encodeMetadataUpdatedMessage,
-} from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+} from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
-import { EventEmitter } from 'events';
-import TypedEventEmitter, { EventMap } from 'typed-emitter';
+import { EventEmitter2 } from 'eventemitter2';
 import { Awareness } from 'y-protocols/awareness';
 
 import { Note } from '../../notes/note.entity';
@@ -17,18 +16,10 @@ import { WebsocketAwareness } from './websocket-awareness';
 import { WebsocketConnection } from './websocket-connection';
 import { WebsocketDoc } from './websocket-doc';
 
-export type RealtimeNoteEvents = {
-  beforeDestroy: () => void;
-  destroy: () => void;
-};
-
-type TypedEventEmitterConstructor<T extends EventMap> =
-  new () => TypedEventEmitter<T>;
-
 /**
  * Represents a note currently being edited by a number of clients.
  */
-export class RealtimeNote extends (EventEmitter as TypedEventEmitterConstructor<RealtimeNoteEvents>) {
+export class RealtimeNote extends EventEmitter2 {
   protected logger: Logger;
   private readonly websocketDoc: WebsocketDoc;
   private readonly websocketAwareness: WebsocketAwareness;
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-realtime-note.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-realtime-note.ts
index 0c035f94c..e7ac0198f 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-realtime-note.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-realtime-note.ts
@@ -3,18 +3,17 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import { EventEmitter } from 'events';
+import { EventEmitter2 } from 'eventemitter2';
 import { Mock } from 'ts-mockery';
-import TypedEmitter from 'typed-emitter';
 
 import { Note } from '../../../notes/note.entity';
-import { RealtimeNote, RealtimeNoteEvents } from '../realtime-note';
+import { RealtimeNote } from '../realtime-note';
 import { WebsocketAwareness } from '../websocket-awareness';
 import { WebsocketDoc } from '../websocket-doc';
 import { mockAwareness } from './mock-awareness';
 import { mockWebsocketDoc } from './mock-websocket-doc';
 
-class MockRealtimeNote extends (EventEmitter as new () => TypedEmitter<RealtimeNoteEvents>) {
+class MockRealtimeNote extends EventEmitter2 {
   constructor(
     private note: Note,
     private doc: WebsocketDoc,
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-websocket-transporter.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-websocket-transporter.ts
index 46ef5c887..b5ea303f6 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-websocket-transporter.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/test-utils/mock-websocket-transporter.ts
@@ -3,13 +3,11 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import { WebsocketTransporter } from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
-import { MessageTransporterEvents } from '@hedgedoc/realtime/dist/mjs/y-doc-message-transporter';
-import { EventEmitter } from 'events';
+import { WebsocketTransporter } from '@hedgedoc/commons';
+import { EventEmitter2 } from 'eventemitter2';
 import { Mock } from 'ts-mockery';
-import TypedEmitter from 'typed-emitter';
 
-class MockMessageTransporter extends (EventEmitter as new () => TypedEmitter<MessageTransporterEvents>) {
+class MockMessageTransporter extends EventEmitter2 {
   setupWebsocket(): void {
     //intentionally left blank
   }
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.spec.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.spec.ts
index c22405037..e27c7f917 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.spec.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.spec.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import * as hedgedocRealtimeModule from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+import * as hedgedocRealtimeModule from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Mock } from 'ts-mockery';
 
 import { RealtimeNote } from './realtime-note';
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import { ClientIdUpdate, WebsocketAwareness } from './websocket-awareness';
 import { WebsocketConnection } from './websocket-connection';
 import { WebsocketDoc } from './websocket-doc';
 
+jest.mock('@hedgedoc/commons');
+
 describe('websocket-awareness', () => {
   it('distributes content updates to other synced clients', () => {
     const mockEncodedUpdate = new Uint8Array([0, 1, 2, 3]);
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.ts
index 60cc55936..a9d0a963c 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-awareness.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import { encodeAwarenessUpdateMessage } from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+import { encodeAwarenessUpdateMessage } from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Awareness } from 'y-protocols/awareness';
 
 import { RealtimeNote } from './realtime-note';
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.spec.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.spec.ts
index 9388277af..eac4155f4 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.spec.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.spec.ts
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import * as hedgedocRealtimeModule from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
-import { WebsocketTransporter } from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+import * as hedgedocRealtimeModule from '@hedgedoc/commons';
+import { WebsocketTransporter } from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Mock } from 'ts-mockery';
 import WebSocket from 'ws';
 import * as yProtocolsAwarenessModule from 'y-protocols/awareness';
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ import { WebsocketDoc } from './websocket-doc';
 
 import SpyInstance = jest.SpyInstance;
 
+jest.mock('@hedgedoc/commons');
+
 describe('websocket connection', () => {
   let mockedDoc: WebsocketDoc;
   let mockedAwareness: WebsocketAwareness;
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.ts
index 289bbc064..1058d53fe 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-connection.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import { WebsocketTransporter } from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+import { WebsocketTransporter } from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Logger } from '@nestjs/common';
 import WebSocket from 'ws';
 import { Awareness, removeAwarenessStates } from 'y-protocols/awareness';
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.spec.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.spec.ts
index fedc65fab..7458e2840 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.spec.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.spec.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import * as hedgedocRealtimeModule from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+import * as hedgedocRealtimeModule from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Mock } from 'ts-mockery';
 
 import { RealtimeNote } from './realtime-note';
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import { mockConnection } from './test-utils/mock-connection';
 import { WebsocketConnection } from './websocket-connection';
 import { WebsocketDoc } from './websocket-doc';
 
+jest.mock('@hedgedoc/commons');
+
 describe('websocket-doc', () => {
   it('saves the initial content', () => {
     const textContent = 'textContent';
diff --git a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.ts b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.ts
index effb43f20..36bec32cf 100644
--- a/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.ts
+++ b/backend/src/realtime/realtime-note/websocket-doc.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
  */
-import { encodeDocumentUpdateMessage } from '@hedgedoc/realtime';
+import { encodeDocumentUpdateMessage } from '@hedgedoc/commons';
 import { Doc } from 'yjs';
 
 import { RealtimeNote } from './realtime-note';