Better Auth 1.2+ Knowledge Patch

Claude's baseline knowledge covers Better Auth through ~1.1.x. This skill provides features from 1.2 onwards through 1.5.

Quick Reference

CLI

npx auth@latest generate                  # Generate ORM schema or SQL migration
npx auth@latest migrate                   # Apply migrations (Kysely adapter only)
npx auth@latest upgrade                   # Upgrade all better-auth packages
npx auth@latest generate --adapter prisma # Schema for specific adapter

Core Imports

Import	What
better-auth	betterAuth, createAuthMiddleware, createAuthEndpoint, sessionMiddleware, createAdapterFactory
better-auth/plugins	customSession, twoFactor, passkey, magicLink, emailOTP, username, anonymous, phoneNumber, multiSession, bearer, jwt, captcha, deviceAuthorization, testUtils, mcp, genericOAuth
better-auth/client/plugins	Client counterparts (e.g. twoFactorClient, passkeyClient)
better-auth/cookies	getSessionCookie, getCookieCache
better-auth/next-js	nextCookies
better-auth/svelte-kit	svelteKitHandler, sveltekitCookies
better-auth/node	fromNodeHeaders
better-auth/minimal	betterAuth without bundled Kysely (for ORM adapters)
better-auth/plugins/one-time-token	oneTimeToken
better-auth/plugins/access	createAccessControl
better-auth/plugins/organization/access	defaultStatements, adminAc for org RBAC
@better-auth/oauth-provider	OAuth 2.1 provider (replaces oidcProvider + mcp)
@better-auth/agent-auth	Agent Auth Protocol server
@auth/agent	Agent Auth client SDK + AI framework tool adapters
@better-auth/stripe	Stripe billing integration
@better-auth/api-key	API key plugin (moved from better-auth/plugins in v1.5)
@better-auth/i18n	Type-safe error message translations
@better-auth/sso	SSO with SAML SLO support
@better-auth/infra	Managed dashboard, sentinel, email/SMS (paid)
@better-auth/electron	Electron integration (server + proxy + client)

Session & Cookie Cache

session: {
  cookieCache: {
    enabled: true,
    maxAge: 5 * 60,
    strategy: "compact", // "compact" | "jwt" | "jwe"
  },
}
// Bypass: authClient.getSession({ query: { disableCookieCache: true } })

See references/sessions-and-hooks.md for stateless sessions, cookie cache details, databaseHooks, and createAuthMiddleware hooks.

Dynamic Base URL (Multi-Domain)

baseURL: {
  allowedHosts: ["myapp.com", "*.vercel.app", "localhost:3000"],
  fallback: "https://myapp.com",
  protocol: "auto",
}

Server API Helpers

// Get headers from server-side calls
const { headers, response } = await auth.api.signUpEmail({ returnHeaders: true, body: { ... } });
// Get raw Response
const response = await auth.api.signInEmail({ asResponse: true, body: { ... } });

ID Generation

advanced: { database: { generateId: false | "serial" | "uuid" | ((options) => string | false) } }

Essential Config Options

Option	Purpose
disabledPaths: ["/sign-up/email"]	Disable specific endpoints
advanced.disableCSRFCheck	Disable CSRF only
advanced.disableOriginCheck	Disable URL validation AND CSRF
advanced.trustedProxyHeaders: true	Derive baseURL from proxy headers
trustedOrigins: ["chrome-extension://ID"]	Browser extension support
experimental.joins: true	Reduce DB roundtrips (v1.4+)
experimental.opentelemetry: true	OpenTelemetry instrumentation

See references/configuration.md for onAPIError, verification.storeIdentifier, rate limiting, error codes, and security options.

Framework Handlers (Quick Patterns)

// Next.js — server action cookies (must be LAST plugin):
import { nextCookies } from "better-auth/next-js";
plugins: [nextCookies()]

// Next.js 16 — rename middleware.ts → proxy.ts, function middleware → proxy

// SvelteKit — handler requires `building` param:
import { svelteKitHandler } from "better-auth/svelte-kit";
import { building } from '$app/environment';
return svelteKitHandler({ event, resolve, auth, building });

// Express v5 — wildcard syntax changed:
app.all('/api/auth/{*any}', toNodeHandler(auth));

// Expo API route:
// app/api/auth/[...all]+api.ts
const handler = auth.handler;
export { handler as GET, handler as POST };

// Node.js headers → web Headers:
import { fromNodeHeaders } from "better-auth/node";
auth.api.getSession({ headers: fromNodeHeaders(req.headers) });

See references/framework-integrations.md for Elysia, NestJS, Encore, Convex, Electron, Lynx, Waku, TanStack Start.

OAuth 2.1 Provider (Replaces oidcProvider + mcp)

import { oauthProvider } from "@better-auth/oauth-provider";
// MUST disable JWT /token endpoint to avoid conflict:
betterAuth({
  disabledPaths: ["/token"],
  plugins: [
    jwt(),
    oauthProvider({
      loginPage: "/sign-in",
      consentPage: "/consent", // required (new in OAuth provider)
      scopes: ["openid", "profile", "email", "offline_access"],
      allowDynamicClientRegistration: true, // for MCP clients
    }),
  ],
});

Key differences from old OIDC Provider: PKCE required by default, consentPage required, pairwise subject identifiers, client credentials grant, token revocation/introspection. See references/oauth-provider.md.

Secondary Storage (Redis)

import { redisStorage } from "@better-auth/redis-storage";
secondaryStorage: redisStorage({ client: new Redis(), keyPrefix: "better-auth:" })

Rate Limiting

rateLimit: {
  storage: "database", // or "secondary-storage" or default in-memory
  customRules: {
    "/sign-in/email": { window: 10, max: 3 },
    "/get-session": false, // disable for this path
  },
}

v1.5 Breaking Changes (Critical)

Before	After
import { apiKey } from "better-auth/plugins"	import { apiKey } from "@better-auth/api-key"
createAdapter	createAdapterFactory
advanced.database.useNumberId	advanced.database.generateId: "serial"
InferUser<O> / InferSession<O>	User<...> / Session<...> from "better-auth"
better-auth/adapters/test	@better-auth/test-utils/adapter

See references/breaking-changes.md for full list.

Dual Module Hazard Fix

If No request state found error appears: Next.js → add serverExternalPackages: ['better-auth'] to config. Cloudflare → enable nodejs_compat. Always install in dependencies, not devDependencies.

Plugin Creation

const myPlugin = (opts) => ({
  id: "my-plugin",
  endpoints: { getHello: createAuthEndpoint("/my-plugin/hello", { method: "GET", use: [sessionMiddleware] }, async (ctx) => ctx.json({ ... })) },
  schema: { myTable: { fields: { name: { type: "string" } } } },
  hooks: { before: [{ matcher: (c) => c.path === "/sign-up/email", handler: createAuthMiddleware(async (ctx) => { ... }) }] },
}) satisfies BetterAuthPlugin;

See references/plugin-creation.md for client plugins, schema extensions, middleware, rate limits, and v1.5 plugin type system.

Reference Files

• references/sessions-and-hooks.md — Cookie cache strategies, stateless sessions, customSession, createAuthMiddleware hooks, databaseHooks, background tasks
• references/authentication.md — Email enumeration protection, generic OAuth, magic link, email OTP, username, anonymous, phone number, multi-session, account linking, change email, delete user
• references/core-plugins.md — 2FA (passwordless, server-side, OTP storage), passkey (pre-auth, WebAuthn), bearer tokens, JWT (JWKS, key rotation, custom signing), captcha, device authorization, test utils, one-time token
• references/oauth-provider.md — OAuth 2.1 provider plugin (replaces oidcProvider + mcp), PKCE, pairwise subjects, client credentials, token management, MCP handler, migration from OIDC
• references/agent-auth.md — Agent Auth Protocol server + client SDK + CLI + AI framework adapters, capability constraints, approval flows, streaming execution
• references/organization.md — Organization hooks, dynamic access control, teams, additional fields, default AC import path
• references/api-keys-and-billing.md — API key plugin (multiple configs, org-owned, permissions, storage, rate limits), Stripe billing (subscriptions, org billing, seat pricing, webhooks)
• references/framework-integrations.md — Next.js (nextCookies, proxy), SvelteKit, Expo, Express v5, TanStack Start, Elysia, NestJS, Encore, Convex, Electron, Lynx, Waku
• references/database-adapters.md — Drizzle, Prisma, MongoDB, MS SQL, PostgreSQL non-default schema, SQLite, custom adapter factory, adapter testing, recommended indexes
• references/infrastructure.md — Better Auth Infrastructure (paid): dash plugin, audit logs, sentinel security, email/SMS services
• references/breaking-changes.md — v1.5 breaking changes: API key moved to @better-auth/api-key, deprecated API removals, plugin type system changes, SSO improvements, i18n plugin
• references/configuration.md — onAPIError, trustedProxyHeaders, disabledPaths, CSRF vs origin check, verification storage, rate limiting, dual module hazard fix, secret rotation