NextAuth.js is a tool to add authentication to our application easily. It handles the complexity of managing user sessions, sign-in, sign-out, and other authentication tasks. Instead of manually building these features, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors, NextAuth.js streamlines the process, offering a unified solution for authentication in Next.js applications.

Setting up NextAuth.js

Important: Windows users, please avoid using the PowerShell terminal and instead use the Bash terminal.

• Install NextAuth.js: Use the command npm install next-auth@beta in the terminal to install the beta version of NextAuth.js. This version is compatible with Next.js 14;
• Generate a Secret Key: Create a secret key to encrypt cookies, securing user sessions. Run openssl rand -base64 32 in the terminal to generate this key;
• Add Key to .env File: Include the generated key in your .env file, assigning it to the AUTH_SECRET variable:

• Update Environment Variables in Vercel: If you're deploying the app on Vercel for production, update environment variables there too.

In Practice