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Authentication Patterns in Next.js — measured AI agent skill | DecimalAI

davepoon/auth-patterns

SkillScore96Maintained

This skill should be used when the user asks about "authentication in Next.js", "NextAuth", "Auth.js", "middleware auth", "protected routes", "session management", "JWT", "login flow", or needs guidance on implementing authentication and authorization in Next.js applications.

by davepoon

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Raw file: /s/davepoon-auth-patterns/SKILL.md ↗ · machine-readable summary at /s/davepoon-auth-patterns.json ↗

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23 test cases from the publisher’s eval.yaml · each run twice on gemini-3.6-flash — with the skill injected, then without · last run 3h ago

Yes — +4% lift · at higher cost+110% tokens0% turns96% of whole cases pass with skill (22/23)

Test case	Without → With	Effect	Δ tokens	Δ turns
case-13	✗→✓	▲ Improved	116%	0%
case-23	✓→✓	＝ Same ✓	77%	0%
case-02	✓→✓	＝ Same ✓	368%	0%
case-03	✓→✓	＝ Same ✓	117%	0%
case-04	✓→✓	＝ Same ✓	111%	0%

Showing 5 of 23 cases

SkillSafety

✓ 3 of 3 passed

Code scan15 of 15 checks clean

0 critical · 0 warning · 0 info — scanner v4 — 8/3/2026

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Source

Imported

davepoon / buildwithclaude

plugins/nextjs-expert/skills/auth-patterns/SKILL.md

View on GitHub ↗

License MITImported 8/3/2026Version v1Bundled 2 files

Skill contents

references/

SKILL.md

Authentication Patterns in Next.js

Overview

Next.js supports multiple authentication strategies. This skill covers common patterns including NextAuth.js (Auth.js), middleware-based protection, and session management.

Authentication Libraries

| Library | Best For | |---------|----------| | NextAuth.js (Auth.js) | Full-featured auth with providers | | Clerk | Managed auth service | | Lucia | Lightweight, flexible auth | | Supabase Auth | Supabase ecosystem | | Custom JWT | Full control |

NextAuth.js v5 Setup

Installation

bash
npm install next-auth@beta

Configuration

tsx
// auth.ts
import NextAuth from 'next-auth'
import GitHub from 'next-auth/providers/github'
import Credentials from 'next-auth/providers/credentials'

export const { handlers, auth, signIn, signOut } = NextAuth({
  providers: [
    GitHub({
      clientId: process.env.GITHUB_ID,
      clientSecret: process.env.GITHUB_SECRET,
    }),
    Credentials({
      credentials: {
        email: { label: 'Email', type: 'email' },
        password: { label: 'Password', type: 'password' },
      },
      authorize: async (credentials) => {
        const user = await getUserByEmail(credentials.email)
        if (!user || !verifyPassword(credentials.password, user.password)) {
          return null
        }
        return user
      },
    }),
  ],
  callbacks: {
    authorized: async ({ auth }) => {
      return !!auth
    },
  },
})

API Route Handler

tsx
// app/api/auth/[...nextauth]/route.ts
import { handlers } from '@/auth'

export const { GET, POST } = handlers

Middleware Protection

tsx
// middleware.ts
export { auth as middleware } from '@/auth'

export const config = {
  matcher: ['/dashboard/:path*', '/api/protected/:path*'],
}

Getting Session Data

In Server Components

tsx
// app/dashboard/page.tsx
import { auth } from '@/auth'
import { redirect } from 'next/navigation'

export default async function DashboardPage() {
  const session = await auth()

  if (!session) {
    redirect('/login')
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Welcome, {session.user?.name}</h1>
    </div>
  )
}

In Client Components

tsx
// components/user-menu.tsx
'use client'

import { useSession } from 'next-auth/react'

export function UserMenu() {
  const { data: session, status } = useSession()

  if (status === 'loading') {
    return <div>Loading...</div>
  }

  if (!session) {
    return <SignInButton />
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <span>{session.user?.name}</span>
      <SignOutButton />
    </div>
  )
}

Session Provider Setup

tsx
// app/providers.tsx
'use client'

import { SessionProvider } from 'next-auth/react'

export function Providers({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return <SessionProvider>{children}</SessionProvider>
}

// app/layout.tsx
import { Providers } from './providers'

export default function RootLayout({ children }) {
  return (
    <html>
      <body>
        <Providers>{children}</Providers>
      </body>
    </html>
  )
}

Sign In/Out Components

tsx
// components/auth-buttons.tsx
import { signIn, signOut } from '@/auth'

export function SignInButton() {
  return (
    <form
      action={async () => {
        'use server'
        await signIn('github')
      }}
    >
      <button type="submit">Sign in with GitHub</button>
    </form>
  )
}

export function SignOutButton() {
  return (
    <form
      action={async () => {
        'use server'
        await signOut()
      }}
    >
      <button type="submit">Sign out</button>
    </form>
  )
}

Middleware-Based Auth

Basic Pattern

tsx
// middleware.ts
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server'
import type { NextRequest } from 'next/server'

const protectedRoutes = ['/dashboard', '/settings', '/api/protected']
const authRoutes = ['/login', '/signup']

export function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
  const token = request.cookies.get('session')?.value
  const { pathname } = request.nextUrl

  // Redirect authenticated users away from auth pages
  if (authRoutes.some(route => pathname.startsWith(route))) {
    if (token) {
      return NextResponse.redirect(new URL('/dashboard', request.url))
    }
    return NextResponse.next()
  }

  // Protect routes
  if (protectedRoutes.some(route => pathname.startsWith(route))) {
    if (!token) {
      const loginUrl = new URL('/login', request.url)
      loginUrl.searchParams.set('callbackUrl', pathname)
      return NextResponse.redirect(loginUrl)
    }
  }

  return NextResponse.next()
}

export const config = {
  matcher: ['/((?!_next/static|_next/image|favicon.ico).*)'],
}

With JWT Verification

tsx
// middleware.ts
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server'
import { jwtVerify } from 'jose'

const secret = new TextEncoder().encode(process.env.JWT_SECRET)

export async function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
  const token = request.cookies.get('token')?.value

  if (!token) {
    return NextResponse.redirect(new URL('/login', request.url))
  }

  try {
    const { payload } = await jwtVerify(token, secret)
    // Token is valid, continue
    return NextResponse.next()
  } catch {
    // Token is invalid
    return NextResponse.redirect(new URL('/login', request.url))
  }
}

Role-Based Access Control

Extending Session Types

tsx
// types/next-auth.d.ts
import { DefaultSession } from 'next-auth'

declare module 'next-auth' {
  interface Session {
    user: {
      role: 'user' | 'admin'
    } & DefaultSession['user']
  }
}

// auth.ts
export const { handlers, auth } = NextAuth({
  callbacks: {
    session: ({ session, token }) => ({
      ...session,
      user: {
        ...session.user,
        role: token.role,
      },
    }),
    jwt: ({ token, user }) => {
      if (user) {
        token.role = user.role
      }
      return token
    },
  },
})

Role-Based Component

tsx
// components/admin-only.tsx
import { auth } from '@/auth'
import { redirect } from 'next/navigation'

export async function AdminOnly({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  const session = await auth()

  if (session?.user?.role !== 'admin') {
    redirect('/unauthorized')
  }

  return <>{children}</>
}

// Usage
export default async function AdminPage() {
  return (
    <AdminOnly>
      <AdminDashboard />
    </AdminOnly>
  )
}

Session Storage Options

JWT (Stateless)

tsx
// auth.ts
export const { auth } = NextAuth({
  session: { strategy: 'jwt' },
  // JWT stored in cookies, no database needed
})

Database Sessions

tsx
// auth.ts
import { PrismaAdapter } from '@auth/prisma-adapter'
import { prisma } from '@/lib/prisma'

export const { auth } = NextAuth({
  adapter: PrismaAdapter(prisma),
  session: { strategy: 'database' },
  // Sessions stored in database
})

Custom Login Page

tsx
// app/login/page.tsx
'use client'

import { signIn } from 'next-auth/react'
import { useSearchParams } from 'next/navigation'

export default function LoginPage() {
  const searchParams = useSearchParams()
  const callbackUrl = searchParams.get('callbackUrl') || '/dashboard'

  return (
    <div className="flex flex-col gap-4">
      <button
        onClick={() => signIn('github', { callbackUrl })}
        className="btn"
      >
        Sign in with GitHub
      </button>
      <button
        onClick={() => signIn('google', { callbackUrl })}
        className="btn"
      >
        Sign in with Google
      </button>
    </div>
  )
}

Security Best Practices

Use HTTPS in production
Set secure cookie flags (HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite)
Implement CSRF protection (built into NextAuth)
Validate redirect URLs to prevent open redirects
Use environment variables for secrets
Implement rate limiting on auth endpoints
Hash passwords with bcrypt or argon2

Resources

For detailed patterns, see:

references/middleware-auth.md - Advanced middleware patterns
references/session-management.md - Session strategies
examples/nextauth-setup.md - Complete NextAuth.js setup

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