clerk-auth
Add authentication to web apps with Clerk — social login, email/password, magic links, organizations, RBAC, session management, webhooks, and multi-framework support. Use when tasks involve user authentication, team/org management, role-based access control, or integrating auth into Next.js, React, Remix, or Express applications.
What this skill does
# Clerk Authentication
Drop-in authentication for modern web apps. Handles login UI, social providers, session management, organizations, and RBAC.
## Setup (Next.js)
```bash
npm install @clerk/nextjs
```
```env
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_live_...
CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_live_...
```
```typescript
// app/layout.tsx — Wrap app in ClerkProvider
import { ClerkProvider } from '@clerk/nextjs';
export default function RootLayout({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
return (
<ClerkProvider>
<html><body>{children}</body></html>
</ClerkProvider>
);
}
```
## Middleware (Route Protection)
```typescript
// middleware.ts — Protect routes at the edge
import { clerkMiddleware, createRouteMatcher } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
const isPublicRoute = createRouteMatcher([
'/',
'/pricing',
'/sign-in(.*)',
'/sign-up(.*)',
'/api/webhooks(.*)',
]);
export default clerkMiddleware(async (auth, req) => {
if (!isPublicRoute(req)) {
await auth.protect();
}
});
export const config = {
matcher: ['/((?!.*\\..*|_next).*)', '/', '/(api|trpc)(.*)'],
};
```
## Server-Side Auth
### Server Components (App Router)
```typescript
import { auth, currentUser } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
export default async function Page() {
// Quick access to IDs and role
const { userId, orgId, orgRole } = await auth();
// Full user object when needed
const user = await currentUser();
return <p>Hello {user?.firstName}</p>;
}
```
### API Routes
```typescript
import { auth } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
import { NextResponse } from 'next/server';
export async function GET() {
const { userId, orgId } = await auth();
if (!userId) {
return NextResponse.json({ error: 'Unauthorized' }, { status: 401 });
}
// ... fetch data scoped to orgId
}
```
### Server Actions
```typescript
'use server';
import { auth } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
export async function createProject(name: string) {
const { userId, orgId, orgRole } = await auth();
if (!orgId || (orgRole !== 'org:admin' && orgRole !== 'org:owner')) {
throw new Error('Forbidden');
}
return db.projects.create({ data: { name, orgId, createdBy: userId } });
}
```
## Client-Side Auth
```typescript
'use client';
import { useAuth, useUser, useOrganization } from '@clerk/nextjs';
export function ProfileCard() {
const { isSignedIn, userId } = useAuth();
const { user } = useUser();
const { organization, membership } = useOrganization();
if (!isSignedIn) return <p>Not signed in</p>;
return (
<div>
<p>{user?.fullName}</p>
<p>Org: {organization?.name}</p>
<p>Role: {membership?.role}</p>
</div>
);
}
```
## Pre-Built Components
```typescript
import {
SignIn, // Full sign-in page
SignUp, // Full sign-up page
UserButton, // Avatar dropdown (profile, sign out)
UserProfile, // Full profile management page
OrganizationSwitcher, // Org dropdown + create org
OrganizationList, // List orgs + join/create
OrganizationProfile, // Org settings (members, roles)
} from '@clerk/nextjs';
// Sign-in page
// app/sign-in/[[...sign-in]]/page.tsx
export default function SignInPage() {
return <SignIn />;
}
// Header with org switcher and user menu
export function Header() {
return (
<nav>
<OrganizationSwitcher hidePersonal={true} />
<UserButton afterSignOutUrl="/" />
</nav>
);
}
```
## Organizations (Multi-Tenant)
Enable at dashboard.clerk.com → Organizations.
### Create Organization
```typescript
import { auth, clerkClient } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
async function createOrg(name: string) {
const { userId } = await auth();
const client = await clerkClient();
return client.organizations.createOrganization({
name,
createdBy: userId!,
});
}
```
### Invite Members
```typescript
async function inviteMember(orgId: string, email: string, role: string) {
const client = await clerkClient();
return client.organizations.createOrganizationInvitation({
organizationId: orgId,
emailAddress: email,
role, // 'org:admin', 'org:member', or custom roles
inviterUserId: (await auth()).userId!,
});
}
```
### Custom Roles
Define at dashboard.clerk.com → Organizations → Roles:
```
org:owner — Full access, can delete org
org:admin — Manage members, settings
org:member — Standard access
org:viewer — Read-only (custom)
org:billing — Billing management only (custom)
```
Check roles in code:
```typescript
const { orgRole, has } = await auth();
// Direct role check
if (orgRole === 'org:admin') { ... }
// Permission-based check (preferred — decouples code from role names)
if (has({ permission: 'org:projects:manage' })) { ... }
```
## Webhooks
Sync Clerk events to your database:
```typescript
// app/api/webhooks/clerk/route.ts
import { Webhook } from 'svix';
import { WebhookEvent } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
export async function POST(req: Request) {
const wh = new Webhook(process.env.CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET!);
const body = await req.text();
const svixHeaders = {
'svix-id': req.headers.get('svix-id')!,
'svix-timestamp': req.headers.get('svix-timestamp')!,
'svix-signature': req.headers.get('svix-signature')!,
};
const event = wh.verify(body, svixHeaders) as WebhookEvent;
switch (event.type) {
case 'user.created':
await db.users.create({ data: {
clerkId: event.data.id,
email: event.data.email_addresses[0]?.email_address,
name: `${event.data.first_name} ${event.data.last_name}`.trim(),
}});
break;
case 'user.deleted':
await db.users.delete({ where: { clerkId: event.data.id } });
break;
case 'organization.created':
await db.orgs.create({ data: {
clerkOrgId: event.data.id,
name: event.data.name,
slug: event.data.slug,
}});
break;
}
return new Response('OK');
}
```
Key events: `user.created`, `user.updated`, `user.deleted`, `organization.created`, `organization.updated`, `organizationMembership.created`, `organizationMembership.deleted`.
## JWT Templates (API Auth)
For external APIs or microservices that need to verify Clerk tokens:
```typescript
// Configure at dashboard.clerk.com → JWT Templates
// Template name: "api-token"
// Claims: { "userId": "{{user.id}}", "orgId": "{{org.id}}", "role": "{{org.role}}" }
// Client: get a custom JWT
const { getToken } = useAuth();
const token = await getToken({ template: 'api-token' });
// External API: verify the JWT
import { createClerkClient } from '@clerk/backend';
const clerk = createClerkClient({ secretKey: process.env.CLERK_SECRET_KEY });
async function verifyRequest(req: Request) {
const token = req.headers.get('Authorization')?.replace('Bearer ', '');
if (!token) throw new Error('No token');
return clerk.verifyToken(token);
}
```
## Express.js
```typescript
import { ClerkExpressRequireAuth } from '@clerk/clerk-sdk-node';
// Protect routes
app.use('/api', ClerkExpressRequireAuth());
app.get('/api/me', (req, res) => {
res.json({ userId: req.auth.userId, orgId: req.auth.orgId });
});
```
## Guidelines
- **Middleware is the primary protection layer** — don't rely on component-level checks alone. Middleware runs at the edge before any page code.
- **Use `auth()` in server components, not `useAuth()`** — server-side checks can't be bypassed by the client
- **Webhook signature verification is mandatory** — use `svix` library to verify every webhook payload
- **Sync to your database via webhooks** — don't query Clerk's API for every database operation. Keep a local copy of users and orgs.
- **Use organizations for B2B** — even if you think you only need simple auth now. Adding multi-tenancy later is much harder than starting with it.
- **Permission-based checks over role checks** — `has({ permission: 'X' })` is more maintainable than `role === 'org:admin'`
- **`hidePersonal={true}` for B2B apps** — personal workspaces confusRelated in Web Dev
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