/nuxt-better-auth

Installation and configuration

Happy path

npx nuxi module add @nuxtjs/better-auth

Required files:

• server/auth.config.ts
• app/auth.config.ts or the equivalent file inside your srcDir
• .env with NUXT_BETTER_AUTH_SECRET

Environment variables

NUXT_BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=replace-with-a-random-32-character-secret

Set the public site URL when the deployment platform cannot detect it:

NUXT_PUBLIC_SITE_URL=https://your-domain.com

BETTER_AUTH_SECRET is still accepted as a fallback. Prefer NUXT_BETTER_AUTH_SECRET.

For non-destructive secret rotation, keep the current and previous secrets in Better Auth's versioned variable:

BETTER_AUTH_SECRETS=2:current-secret-must-be-at-least-32-characters,1:previous-secret-must-be-at-least-32-characters

Minimal module setup

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  modules: ['@nuxtjs/better-auth'],
})

Minimal server config

import { defineServerAuth } from '@nuxtjs/better-auth/config'

export default defineServerAuth({
  emailAndPassword: {
    enabled: true,
  },
})

Minimal client config

import { defineClientAuth } from '@nuxtjs/better-auth/config'

export default defineClientAuth({})

Module-owned values

• Do not set secret manually in defineServerAuth(). The module injects it.
• Do not set baseURL manually in full mode. The module resolves it.
• Use auth.clientOnly = true only when Better Auth runs on an external backend.
• For database-backed auth with the shortest setup, prefer NuxtHub.

NuxtHub setup

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  modules: ['@nuxthub/core', '@nuxtjs/better-auth'],
  hub: { db: 'sqlite' },
})

See references/database.md for schema setup.

Client-only mode

For external auth backends:

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  modules: ['@nuxtjs/better-auth'],
  auth: {
    clientOnly: true,
  },
})

See references/client-only.md for full setup.