auth

name	auth
description	Authentication integration guidance — Clerk (native Vercel Marketplace), Descope, and Auth0 setup for Next.js applications. Covers middleware auth patterns, sign-in/sign-up flows, and Marketplace provisioning. Use when implementing user authentication.
metadata	{"priority":6,"docs":["https://authjs.dev/getting-started","https://nextjs.org/docs/app/building-your-application/authentication"],"sitemap":"https://authjs.dev/sitemap.xml","pathPatterns":["middleware.ts","middleware.js","src/middleware.ts","src/middleware.js","clerk.config.*","app/sign-in/**","app/sign-up/**","src/app/sign-in/**","src/app/sign-up/**","app/(auth)/**","src/app/(auth)/**","auth.config.*","auth.ts","auth.js"],"bashPatterns":["\\bnpm\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@clerk/nextjs\\b","\\bpnpm\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@clerk/nextjs\\b","\\bbun\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@clerk/nextjs\\b","\\byarn\\s+add\\s+[^\\n]*@clerk/nextjs\\b","\\bnpm\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@descope/nextjs-sdk\\b","\\bpnpm\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@descope/nextjs-sdk\\b","\\bbun\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@descope/nextjs-sdk\\b","\\byarn\\s+add\\s+[^\\n]*@descope/nextjs-sdk\\b","\\bnpm\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@auth0/nextjs-auth0\\b","\\bpnpm\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@auth0/nextjs-auth0\\b","\\bbun\\s+(install|i|add)\\s+[^\\n]*@auth0/nextjs-auth0\\b","\\byarn\\s+add\\s+[^\\n]*@auth0/nextjs-auth0\\b"]}
validate	[{"pattern":"VERCEL_CLIENT_(ID|SECRET)|vercel\\.com/oauth/(authorize|access_token|token)","message":"Hand-rolled Vercel OAuth detected. Use the Sign in with Vercel OIDC provider instead of manual token exchange.","severity":"recommended","skipIfFileContains":"signInWithVercel|@vercel/auth"}]
retrieval	{"aliases":["authentication","login system","sign in","auth flow"],"intents":["add auth","protect routes","manage sessions","implement login","secure api endpoints"],"entities":["NextAuth","Auth.js","JWT","OAuth","session","middleware","getServerSession"],"examples":["add login to my app","protect this route with auth","set up NextAuth"]}
chainTo	[{"pattern":"export\\s+(default\\s+)?function\\s+middleware","targetSkill":"routing-middleware","message":"Auth logic in middleware.ts — loading Routing Middleware guidance for proxy.ts migration in Next.js 16."},{"pattern":"from\\s+['\\\"](jsonwebtoken)['\"]|require\\s*\\(\\s*['\\\"](jsonwebtoken)['\"]|jwt\\.sign\\s*\\(","targetSkill":"auth","message":"Manual JWT handling with jsonwebtoken detected — use Clerk or Auth.js for managed auth with built-in JWT session handling, CSRF protection, and token rotation."},{"pattern":"from\\s+['\\\"](next-auth)['\"]|NextAuthOptions|authOptions\\s*:","targetSkill":"auth","message":"Legacy next-auth (v4) pattern detected — loading auth guidance for Auth.js v5 migration with the new universal auth() helper."},{"pattern":"from\\s+['\"]@clerk/nextjs['\"]","targetSkill":"auth","message":"Clerk import detected — loading Auth guidance for Clerk v7 patterns, middleware setup, organization handling, and Vercel Marketplace integration.","skipIfFileContains":"clerkMiddleware|ClerkProvider"},{"pattern":"bcrypt|argon2","targetSkill":"auth","message":"Manual password hashing detected (bcrypt/argon2) — use Clerk or Auth0 for managed authentication with built-in password hashing, rate limiting, and breach detection.","skipIfFileContains":"@clerk|@auth0"}]

Authentication Integrations

You are an expert in authentication for Vercel-deployed applications — covering Clerk (native Vercel Marketplace integration), Descope, and Auth0.

Clerk (Recommended — Native Marketplace Integration)

Clerk is a native Vercel Marketplace integration with auto-provisioned environment variables and unified billing. Current SDK: @clerk/nextjs v7 (Core 3, March 2026).

Install via Marketplace

# Install Clerk from Vercel Marketplace (auto-provisions env vars)
vercel integration add clerk

Auto-provisioned environment variables:

• CLERK_SECRET_KEY — server-side API key
• NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY — client-side publishable key

SDK Setup

# Install the Clerk Next.js SDK
npm install @clerk/nextjs

Middleware Configuration

// middleware.ts
import { clerkMiddleware } from "@clerk/nextjs/server";

export default clerkMiddleware();

export const config = {
  matcher: [
    // Skip Next.js internals and static files
    "/((?!_next|[^?]*\\.(?:html?|css|js(?!on)|jpe?g|webp|png|gif|svg|ttf|woff2?|ico|csv|docx?|xlsx?|zip|webmanifest)).*)",
    // Always run for API routes
    "/(api|trpc)(.*)",
  ],
};

Protect Routes

// middleware.ts — protect specific routes
import { clerkMiddleware, createRouteMatcher } from "@clerk/nextjs/server";

const isProtectedRoute = createRouteMatcher(["/dashboard(.*)", "/api(.*)"]);

export default ( (auth, req) => {
   ((req)) {
     auth.();
  }
});