supabase

name	supabase
description	Supabase Auth, Database, and SSR patterns. Use when working with Supabase client setup, authentication, Row Level Security, database queries, storage, realtime, or @supabase/ssr middleware.

Supabase Skill

When to Use

• Setting up Supabase client (browser or server)
• Implementing authentication (sign in, sign up, OAuth, session management)
• Writing database queries via Supabase client or postgres tagged templates
• Configuring middleware for session refresh
• Setting up Row Level Security (RLS) policies
• Working with Supabase Storage, Realtime, or Edge Functions

Core Patterns

Client Setup

Browser Client (@supabase/ssr)

"use client";
import { createBrowserClient } from "@supabase/ssr";

export function createSupabaseBrowser() {
  return createBrowserClient(
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL!,
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY!
  );
}

Server Client (@supabase/ssr + cookies)

import "server-only";
import { createServerClient } from "@supabase/ssr";
import { cookies } from "next/headers";

export async function createSupabaseServer() {
  const cookieStore = await cookies();
  return createServerClient(
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL!,
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY!,
    {
      cookies: {
        getAll() { return cookieStore.getAll(); },
        setAll(cookiesToSet) {
          try {
            cookiesToSet.forEach(({ name, value, options }) =>
              cookieStore.set(name, value, options)
            );
          } catch {
            // Safe to ignore in Server Components
          }
        },
      },
    }
  );
}

Middleware (session refresh)

// src/middleware.ts (or src/proxy.ts for Next.js 16+)
import { createServerClient } from "@supabase/ssr";
import { NextResponse, type NextRequest } from "next/server";

export async function middleware(request: NextRequest) {
  let supabaseResponse = NextResponse.next({ request });
  const supabase = createServerClient(
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL!,
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY!,
    {
      cookies: {
        getAll() { return request.cookies.getAll(); },
        setAll(cookiesToSet) {
          cookiesToSet.forEach(({ name, value }) => request.cookies.set(name, value));
          supabaseResponse = NextResponse.next({ request });
          cookiesToSet.forEach(({ name, value, options }) =>
            supabaseResponse.cookies.set(name, value, options)
          );
        },
      },
    }
  );
  await supabase.auth.getUser();
  return supabaseResponse;
}

Authentication

Get current user (server)

const supabase = await createSupabaseServer();
const { data: { user }, error } = await supabase.auth.getUser();
// NEVER use getSession() for auth checks — only getUser() is secure

Sign in with OAuth

const { data, error } = await supabase.auth.signInWithOAuth({
  provider: "github", // or "google", "discord", etc.
  options: { redirectTo: `${origin}/auth/callback` },
});

Sign out

await supabase.auth.signOut();

Auth callback route (exchange code for session)

// src/app/auth/callback/route.ts
export async function GET(request: Request) {
  const { searchParams, origin } = new URL(request.url);
  const code = searchParams.get("code");
  if (code) {
    const supabase = await createSupabaseServer();
    const { error } = await supabase.auth.exchangeCodeForSession(code);
    if (!error) return NextResponse.redirect(`${origin}/`);
  }
  return NextResponse.redirect(`${origin}/auth/sign-in`);
}

Auth UI (pre-built components)

import { Auth } from "@supabase/auth-ui-react";
import { ThemeSupa } from "@supabase/auth-ui-shared";

<Auth
  supabaseClient={supabase}
  appearance={{ theme: ThemeSupa }}
  providers={["google", "github"]}
  redirectTo={`${origin}/auth/callback`}
/>

Auth state listener (client)

useEffect(() => {
  const { data: { subscription } } = supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange(
    (_event, session) => {
      setUser(session?.user ?? null);
    }
  );
  return () => subscription.unsubscribe();
}, [supabase]);

Database Queries

Via Supabase client

// Select
const { data, error } = await supabase.from("posts").select("*").eq("user_id", userId);

// Insert
const { data, error } = await supabase.from("posts").insert({ title, body }).select().single();

// Update
const { data, error } = await supabase.from("posts").update({ title }).eq("id", id).select().single();

// Delete
const { error } = await supabase.from("posts").delete().eq("id", id);

Via postgres tagged templates (direct SQL)

import postgres from "postgres";
const sql = postgres(process.env.DATABASE_URL!, { ssl: "require" });

const rows = await sql`SELECT * FROM posts WHERE user_id = ${userId}`;

Row Level Security (RLS)

-- Enable RLS
ALTER TABLE posts ENABLE ROW LEVEL SECURITY;

-- Policy: users can only see their own posts
CREATE POLICY "Users see own posts" ON posts
  FOR SELECT USING (auth.uid() = user_id);

-- Policy: users can insert their own posts
CREATE POLICY "Users insert own posts" ON posts
  FOR INSERT WITH CHECK (auth.uid() = user_id);

Storage

// Upload
const { data, error } = await supabase.storage
  .from("avatars")
  .upload(`${userId}/avatar.png`, file);

// Get public URL
const { data } = supabase.storage.from("avatars").getPublicUrl("path/to/file");

// Download
const { data, error } = await supabase.storage.from("avatars").download("path/to/file");

Realtime

const channel = supabase
  .channel("posts")
  .on("postgres_changes", { event: "INSERT", schema: "public", table: "posts" },
    (payload) => console.log("New post:", payload.new)
  )
  .subscribe();

Environment Variables

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=https://<project-ref>.supabase.co
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=eyJ...  (JWT anon key, safe for client)
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://...          (direct Postgres connection)

• NEXT_PUBLIC_* vars are safe for client-side (anon key has RLS restrictions)
• DATABASE_URL is server-only (bypasses RLS)
• Never expose service_role key client-side

Soft Delete + RLS Gotcha

PostgREST applies the SELECT RLS policy to RETURNING * after UPDATE/DELETE. If your SELECT policy hides the updated row (e.g. status != 'deleted'), PostgREST sees 0 rows returned and the client gets empty data with no error — the update committed in the DB but the client thinks nothing happened.

Fix: Use a SECURITY DEFINER RPC for soft deletes. It bypasses RLS; enforce ownership manually inside the function.

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION soft_delete_row(row_id UUID)
RETURNS VOID LANGUAGE plpgsql SECURITY DEFINER SET search_path = public AS $$
BEGIN
  UPDATE my_table SET status = 'deleted', updated_at = now()
  WHERE id = row_id AND user_id = auth.uid();
  IF NOT FOUND THEN RAISE EXCEPTION 'Not found or not owned'; END IF;
END; $$;

const { error } = await supabase.rpc('soft_delete_row', { row_id: id });

Refs: PostgREST #1844, supabase-js #1941

Anti-Patterns

• Don't use getSession() for auth checks — use getUser() which validates with the server
• Don't skip middleware — session cookies need refreshing to stay alive
• Don't expose service_role key — it bypasses RLS; use anon key client-side
• Don't create a new Supabase client per request in client components — use useState(() => createClient()) to create once
• Don't forget try/catch around createSupabaseServer() during static generation when env vars may be absent
• Don't use .update() for soft deletes when RLS hides the result — use SECURITY DEFINER RPC instead (see above)

Integration

• Works with @supabase/auth-ui-react for pre-built auth forms
• Use @supabase/ssr (not @supabase/auth-helpers-nextjs which is deprecated)
• For direct SQL, use postgres package alongside Supabase client
• Supabase client respects RLS; postgres direct connection bypasses it