---
title: Session Management
description: Better Auth session management.
---

Better Auth manages session using a traditional cookie-based session management. The session is stored in a cookie and is sent to the server on every request. The server then verifies the session and returns the user data if the session is valid.

## Session table

The session table stores the session data. The session table has the following fields:

- `id`: The session token. Which is also used as the session cookie.
- `userId`: The user ID of the user.
- `expiresAt`: The expiration date of the session.
- `ipAddress`: The IP address of the user.
- `userAgent`: The user agent of the user. It stores the user agent header from the request.

## Session Expiration

The session expires after 7 days by default. But whenever the session is used and the `updateAge` is reached, the session expiration is updated to the current time plus the `expiresIn` value.

You can change both the `expiresIn` and `updateAge` values by passing the `session` object to the `auth` configuration.

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth"

export const auth = betterAuth({
    //... other config options
    session: {
        expiresIn: 60 * 60 * 24 * 7, // 7 days
        updateAge: 60 * 60 * 24 // 1 day (every 1 day the session expiration is updated)
    }
})
```

### Disable Session Refresh

You can disable session refresh so that the session is not updated regardless of the `updateAge` option.

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth"

export const auth = betterAuth({
    //... other config options
    session: {
        disableSessionRefresh: true
    }
})
```

## Session Freshness

Some endpoints in Better Auth require the session to be **fresh**. A session is considered fresh if its `createdAt` is within the `freshAge` limit. By default, the `freshAge` is set to **1 day** (60 * 60 * 24).  

You can customize the `freshAge` value by passing a `session` object in the `auth` configuration:  

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth"

export const auth = betterAuth({
    //... other config options
    session: {
        freshAge: 60 * 5 // 5 minutes (the session is fresh if created within the last 5 minutes)
    }
})
```

To **disable the freshness check**, set `freshAge` to `0`:  

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth"

export const auth = betterAuth({
    //... other config options
    session: {
        freshAge: 0 // Disable freshness check
    }
})
```
## Session Management

Better Auth provides a set of functions to manage sessions.

### Get Session

The `getSession` function retrieves the current active session.

```ts client="client.ts"
import { authClient } from "@/lib/client"

const { data: session } = await authClient.getSession()
```

To learn how to customize the session response check the [Customizing Session Response](#customizing-session-response) section.

### Use Session

The `useSession` action provides a reactive way to access the current session.

```ts client="client.ts"
import { authClient } from "@/lib/client"

const { data: session } = authClient.useSession()
```

### List Sessions

The `listSessions` function returns a list of sessions that are active for the user.

```ts title="auth-client.ts"
import { authClient } from "@/lib/client"

const sessions = await authClient.listSessions()
```

### Revoke Session

When a user signs out of a device, the session is automatically ended. However, you can also end a session manually from any device the user is signed into.

To end a session, use the `revokeSession` function. Just pass the session token as a parameter.

```ts title="auth-client.ts"
await authClient.revokeSession({
    token: "session-token"
})
```

### Revoke Other Sessions

To revoke all other sessions except the current session, you can use the `revokeOtherSessions` function.

```ts title="auth-client.ts"
await authClient.revokeOtherSessions()
```

### Revoke All Sessions

To revoke all sessions, you can use the `revokeSessions` function.

```ts title="auth-client.ts"
await authClient.revokeSessions()
```

### Revoking Sessions on Password Change

You can revoke all sessions when the user changes their password by passing `revokeOtherSessions` as true on `changePassword` function.

```ts title="auth.ts"
await authClient.changePassword({
    newPassword: newPassword,
    currentPassword: currentPassword,
    revokeOtherSessions: true,
})
```

## Session Caching

### Cookie Cache

Calling your database every time `useSession` or `getSession` invoked isn’t ideal, especially if sessions don’t change frequently. Cookie caching handles this by storing session data in a short-lived, signed cookie—similar to how JWT access tokens are used with refresh tokens.

When cookie caching is enabled, the server can check session validity from the cookie itself instead of hitting the database each time. The cookie is signed to prevent tampering, and a short `maxAge` ensures that the session data gets refreshed regularly. If a session is revoked or expires, the cookie will be invalidated automatically.

To turn on cookie caching, just set `session.cookieCache` in your auth config:

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth"

export const auth = betterAuth({
    session: {
        cookieCache: {
            enabled: true,
            maxAge: 5 * 60 // Cache duration in seconds
        }
    }
});
```

If you want to disable returning from the cookie cache when fetching the session, you can pass `disableCookieCache:true` this will force the server to fetch the session from the database and also refresh the cookie cache.

```ts title="auth-client.ts"
const session = await authClient.getSession({ query: {
    disableCookieCache: true
}})
```

or on the server

```ts title="server.ts"
await auth.api.getSession({
    query: {
        disableCookieCache: true,
    }, 
    headers: req.headers, // pass the headers
});
```


## Customizing Session Response

When you call `getSession` or `useSession`, the session data is returned as a `user` and `session` object. You can customize this response using the `customSession` plugin.

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { customSession } from "better-auth/plugins";

export const auth = betterAuth({
    plugins: [
        customSession(async ({ user, session }) => {
            const roles = findUserRoles(session.session.userId);
            return {
                roles,
                user: {
                    ...user,
                    newField: "newField",
                },
                session
            };
        }),
    ],
});
```

This will add `roles` and `user.newField` to the session response.

**Infer on the Client**

```ts title="auth-client.ts"
import { customSessionClient } from "better-auth/client/plugins";
import type { auth } from "@/lib/auth"; // Import the auth instance as a type

const authClient = createAuthClient({
    plugins: [customSessionClient<typeof auth>()],
});

const { data } = authClient.useSession();
const { data: sessionData } = await authClient.getSession();
// data.roles
// data.user.newField
```

**Some Caveats**: 

- The passed `session` object to the callback does not infer fields added by plugins.  

However, as a workaround, you can pull up your auth options and pass it to the plugin to infer the fields.

```ts
import { betterAuth, BetterAuthOptions } from "better-auth";

const options = {
  //...config options
  plugins: [
    //...plugins
  ]
} satisfies BetterAuthOptions;

export const auth = betterAuth({
    ...options,
    plugins: [
        ...(options.plugins ?? []),
        customSession(async ({ user, session }, ctx) => {
            // now both user and session will infer the fields added by plugins and your custom fields
            return {
                user,
                session
            }
        }, options), // pass options here  // [!code highlight]
    ]
})
```

- If you cannot use the `auth` instance as a type, inference will not work on the client.  
- Session caching, including secondary storage or cookie cache, does not include custom fields. Each time the session is fetched, your custom session function will be called.
