Monthly cost
Free
Popularity
5/5
LLM knowledge
5/5
Difficulty
Medium
#open-source#typescript
What NextAuth / Auth.js is good at
Strengths
- +Free
- +Many providers
- +Self-hosted
Tradeoffs
- −UI you build yourself
- −Session model opinionated
Coding-agent prompt
Drop into Claude / Cursor to get idiomatic NextAuth / Auth.js code.
You're using NextAuth / Auth.js. Follow these rules:
- Configure in `auth.config.ts`; export `auth`, `signIn`, `signOut` helpers.
- Sessions as JWTs for edge-compatibility; database sessions only if you need server-side revocation.
- Callbacks (`jwt`, `session`) are your extension points — keep them pure and fast.
- Protect routes with the middleware (`export { auth as middleware }`).
- Providers: start with `Credentials` for email+password, `Google` / `GitHub` for OAuth.
- Set `AUTH_SECRET` in env; rotate it to invalidate all sessions.Beginner's guide to NextAuth / Auth.js
In one line: Free, open-source auth for Next.js and other frameworks.
Auth.js (formerly NextAuth) is a library you install into your own app — no external service. You choose providers (Google, GitHub, email) and it handles the OAuth dance.
Try it in your terminal
npm install next-authInstall the library.
Popular pairings with NextAuth / Auth.js
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