Introduction to Next-Auth

Next-Auth is a flexible and easy-to-implement authentication library for Next.js applications. It provides a full suite of features that cover various authentication strategies including OAuth, Email/Password, and Social Logins with providers like Google, Facebook, etc. Next-Auth simplifies session management, making it a go-to choice for modern web applications.

Setting Up Next-Auth

To get started with Next-Auth, install the necessary packages:

  npm install next-auth @next-authProviders

Now, create a [...nextauth].js file in the pages/api/auth directory:

  
  import NextAuth from "next-auth";
  import Providers from "next-auth/providers";

  export default NextAuth({
    providers: [
      Providers.Google({
        clientId: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID,
        clientSecret: process.env.GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET
      }),
      // Add more providers here
    ],
    database: process.env.DATABASE_URL
  });
  

Authentication APIs

Next-Auth offers various API endpoints for managing authentication:

Signing In

  
  import { signIn } from 'next-auth/client';

  const handleSignIn = async () => {
    await signIn('google');
  };
  

Trigger the signIn function to initiate the login process with a supported provider.

Signing Out

  
  import { signOut } from 'next-auth/client';

  const handleSignOut = async () => {
    await signOut();
  };
  

Use the signOut function for logging out users.

Getting Session

  
  import { getSession } from 'next-auth/client';

  const fetchSession = async () => {
    const session = await getSession();
    console.log(session);
  };
  

The getSession function retrieves the user’s session data.

Protecting Pages

  
  import { getSession } from 'next-auth/client';

  export async function getServerSideProps(context) {
    const session = await getSession(context);
    if (!session) {
      return {
        redirect: {
          destination: '/auth/signin',
          permanent: false
        }
      }
    }
    return {
      props: { session }
    };
  }
  

Use getServerSideProps to protect routes in your Next.js application.

Example App

Here’s a basic example application demonstrating the use of Next-Auth APIs:

  
  import { Provider } from 'next-auth/client';

  export default function App({ Component, pageProps }) {
    return (
      
        
      
    );
  }
  

The above code sets up the Next-Auth Provider in your application, ensuring that session data is available throughout your app.