A Payload CMS 3 plugin for Auth.js 5
npm install payload-authjsA Payload CMS 3 plugin for integrating Auth.js 5 (beta).
> ⚠ This plugin and Auth.js 5 is in beta and may have some bugs. Please report any issues you find.
> [!CAUTION]
> ⚠ Auth.js is now part of Better Auth: It is unknown whether Auth.js 5 will ever be released as a stable version. Please consider this before using this plugin.
This plugin
- creates a users collection in Payload CMS.
- use an custom Database Adapter for Auth.js to store the users in the Payload CMS database.
- use a custom Auth Strategy for Payload CMS to retrieve the session from Auth.js.
Install the plugin using any JavaScript package manager such as PNPM, NPM, or Yarn:
``bash`
pnpm i payload-authjs
This plugin integrates Auth.js into Payload CMS by getting the user session from Auth.js. You need to setup Auth.js before you can use this plugin.
#### 1.1. Create your Auth.js configuration
Define your Auth.js configuration in a file (e.g. auth.config.ts):
`ts
// auth.config.ts
import type { NextAuthConfig } from "next-auth";
import github from "next-auth/providers/github";
export const authConfig: NextAuthConfig = {
providers: [
github, // <-- Add your provider here
],
};
`
#### 1.2. Create your Auth.js instance
Next, create your Auth.js instance in a file (e.g. auth.ts).
> ⚠ But unlike what you would normally do in Auth.js, you need to create the Payload instance first and using the getAuthjsInstance function to retrieve the Auth.js instance.
`ts
// auth.ts
import payloadConfig from "@payload-config";
import { getPayload } from "payload";
import { getAuthjsInstance } from "payload-authjs";
const payload = await getPayload({ config: payloadConfig });
export const { handlers, signIn, signOut, auth } = getAuthjsInstance(payload);
`
#### 1.3. Add Auth.js route handler
Add the Auth.js route handler under /app/api/auth/[...nextauth]/route.ts:
`ts
// app/api/auth/[...nextauth]/route.ts
import { handlers } from "@/auth";
export const { GET, POST } = handlers;
`
#### 1.4. Add Auth.js proxy / middleware (optional)
Add optional proxy.ts/middleware.ts to keep the session alive, this will update the session expiry each time it's called.
> Since Next.js 16, the middleware has been replaced with the proxy and uses the nodejs runtime. See the Next.js docs.
##### Next.js 16 or above
`ts
// proxy.ts
export { auth as proxy } from "./auth";
export const config = {
matcher: ["/((?!api|_next/static|_next/image|favicon.ico|admin).*)"],
};
`
##### Next.js 15
> ⚠ Unlike what you would normally do in Auth.js, you cannot use the middleware of @/auth directly. You have to create a new Auth.js instance to be edge-compatible.
`ts
// middleware.ts
import NextAuth from "next-auth";
import { authConfig } from "./auth.config";
export const { auth: middleware } = NextAuth(authConfig);
export const config = {
matcher: ["/((?!api|_next/static|_next/image|favicon.ico|admin).*)"],
};
`
And finally, add the authjsPlugin to your Payload configuration file:
`ts
// payload.config.ts
import { authjsPlugin } from "payload-authjs";
import { authConfig } from "./auth.config";
export const config = buildConfig({
plugins: [
authjsPlugin({
authjsConfig: authConfig,
}),
],
});
`
And that's it! Now you can sign-in via Auth.js and you are automatically authenticated in Payload CMS. Nice 🎉
> _You don't need to create a users collection. This plugin automatically creates a collection with the slug users._
---
This plugin also provides some utility functions to get the current payload session/user within your Next.js application.
)Instead of using the auth function of Auth.js, you can use the getPayloadSession function to get the current session in the server-side code (e.g. in RSC or API routes):
`tsx
// ServerComponentExample.tsx
import { getPayloadSession } from "payload-authjs";
const ServerComponentExample = async () => {
const session = await getPayloadSession();
return (
<>
{JSON.stringify(session?.user)}Client side (
usePayloadSession)useSession hook of Auth.js, you can use the usePayloadSession hook to get the current session in the client-side code:Before you can use the
usePayloadSession hook, you need to wrap your app with the PayloadSessionProvider:`tsx
// layout.tsx
import { PayloadSessionProvider } from "payload-authjs/client";
import { getPayloadSession } from "payload-authjs";const Layout: React.FC<{ children: React.ReactNode }> = async ({ children }) => {
return (
{children}
);
};export default Layout;
`> ℹ️ Passing the session to the
PayloadSessionProvider is optional, but it can be useful to avoid loading states.You are now ready to use the
usePayloadSession hook in your client-side code:`tsx
// ClientComponentExample.tsx
"use client";import { usePayloadSession } from "payload-authjs/client";
export const ClientComponentExample = () => {
const { session } = usePayloadSession();
return (
<>
Payload CMS User:
{JSON.stringify(session?.user)}
>
);
};
`Within Payload CMS
Click to expand
$3
If you want to access the current user in the Payload admin panel e.g. in a custom component. You can use the
useAuth hook from Payload CMS:`tsx
"use client";import { Banner, useAuth } from "@payloadcms/ui";
import type { User } from "@/payload-types";
export const CustomAdminComponent = () => {
const { user } = useAuth();
if (!user) {
return null;
}
return Hi, {user.name} ;
};
`$3
req.user object to determine the current user:`ts
const Examples: CollectionConfig = {
slug: "examples",
access: {
read: ({ req: { user } }) => {
return Boolean(user) // <-- Check if the user is authenticated
},
},
fields: [
...
],
};
`$3
req.user object to determine the current user:`ts
const Examples: CollectionConfig = {
slug: "examples",
fields: [
...
],
endpoints: [
{
method: "get",
path: "/example",
handler: (req) => {
return Response.json(req.user); // <-- Return the user object
},
},
],
};
`🛠️ Advanced usage / Customization
If you want to customize the users collection, you can create a collection with the slug
users and add your customizations there.`ts
// users.ts
const Users: CollectionConfig = {
slug: "users",
fields: [],
};
`✏️ Customize existing fields
Click to expand
You can customize the existing fields in the users collection by adding the field to the collection and modifying the field. The fields are merged together.
`ts
// users.ts
const Users: CollectionConfig = {
slug: "users",
fields: [
{
name: "id",
type: "text",
label: "Identifier", // <-- Add a label to the id field
admin: {
hidden: true, // <-- Hide id field in admin panel
},
},
{
name: "accounts",
type: "array",
fields: [
{
name: "provider",
type: "text",
label: "Account Provider", // <-- Add label to provider field
},
],
},
],
};
`✨ Add additional fields
You can also add additional fields to the users collection.
Click to expand
There are 2 ways to add additional fields. It depends on the data you want to store and your Auth.js session strategy (
session.strategy).$3
If you want to store additional data in the database, you can add a new field to the users collection and extend your Auth.js provider to include the new field in the user.
For example, you could add a
locale field to the users collection:`ts
// users.ts
const Users: CollectionConfig = {
slug: "users",
fields: [
// Add custom field for 'locale'
{
name: "locale",
type: "text",
},
],
};
`Next, you need to extend the user object returned by your Auth.js provider. You can do this as shown in this example:
`ts
// auth.config.ts
const authConfig: NextAuthConfig = {
providers: [
keycloak({
/**
* Add additional fields to the user on first sign in
*/
profile(profile) {
return {
// Default fields from keycloak provider
id: profile.sub,
name: profile.name,
email: profile.email,
image: profile.picture,
// Custom fields
locale: profile.locale, // <-- Add your custom field (e.g. get locale from the profile)
};
},
}),
],
...
};
`> ⚠ Note that Auth.js doesn't update the user after the first sign-in. If you want to update the user on every sign-in, you can use the
signIn event. (See Events)$3
If you are using the Auth.js
jwt session strategy (it's the default), you can use a virtual field to add additional data that should not be stored in the database.
This plugin extracts the virtual fields from your Auth.js jwt session (if available) and adds them to the user object.For example, you could add a
roles field to the users collection:`ts
// users.ts
const Users: CollectionConfig = {
slug: "users",
fields: [
// Add custom field for 'roles'
{
name: "roles",
type: "json",
virtual: true, // <-- Make the field virtual
admin: {
hidden: true,
},
},
],
};
`This plugin can only get the virtual fields, if they are included in the Auth.js session. So you need to extend your Auth.js token and session with your field.
You can do this as shown in this example:
`ts
// auth.config.ts
const authConfig: NextAuthConfig = {
callbacks: {
jwt: ({ token, trigger }) => {
// Add the virtual field to the token only on signIn/signUp (jwt callback will be called multiple times)
if (trigger === "signIn" || trigger === "signUp") {
token.roles = ["example-role"]; // <-- Add your virtual field to the token
}
return token;
},
session: ({ session, token }) => {
if (token) {
session.user.roles = token.roles; // <-- Forward the virtual field from the token to the session
}
return session;
},
},
...
};
`At this point, you can implement your own logic to extend the session. For example extract from profile, fetch from a server, or something else.
_More information about extending your session can be found in the Auth.js documentation._
$3
Now you can access your custom field, e.g. in the access control operations or elsewhere:
`ts
const Examples: CollectionConfig = {
slug: "examples",
access: {
read: ({ req: { user } }) => {
return user?.roles?.includes("user") ?? false; // <-- Check if the user has the role "user"
},
},
fields: [
...
],
};
`🟦 Typescript
If you are using typescript you can declare your Auth.js user type as shown in the following example:
`ts
// auth.config.ts
import type { PayloadAuthjsUser } from "payload-authjs";
import type { User as PayloadUser } from "@/payload-types";declare module "next-auth" {
interface User extends PayloadAuthjsUser {}
}
`_More information about typescript can be found in the Auth.js documentation._
🎉 Events
Auth.js emits some events that you can listen to. This plugin extends the events with additional parameters such as the database
adapter and the payload instance._More information about the events can be found in the Auth.js documentation._
$3
The
signIn event is fired when a user successfully signs in. For example, you could use this event to update the user's name on every sign-in:`ts
// auth.config.ts
import { EnrichedAuthConfig } from "payload-authjs";export const authConfig: EnrichedAuthConfig = {
providers: [github],
events: {
/**
* Update user 'name', 'email' and 'image' on every sign in
*/
signIn: async ({ adapter, user, profile }) => {
if (!user.id || !profile) {
return;
}
await adapter?.updateUser?.({
id: user.id,
name:
(profile as unknown as GitHubProfile).name ?? (profile as unknown as GitHubProfile).login,
email: profile.email ?? undefined,
image: (profile as unknown as GitHubProfile).avatar_url,
});
},
},
};
`📓 Examples
- Basic - Basic example with GitHub provider
- With Payload local-strategy - Example with GitHub provider and Payload Local JWT Strategy
- Multiple Auth Collections - Example with multiple auth collections (
customers for general users and admins` for payload admin panel)