---
title: Installtion
description: Learn how to configure Better Auth in your project.
---

<Steps>

<Step>
### Install the Package

Let's start by adding Better Auth to your project:

```package-install 
better-auth
```

<Callout type="info">
If you're using a separate client and server setup, make sure to install Better Auth in both parts of your project. (currnelty better auth only supports web platforms more clients will be added soon)
</Callout>
</Step>

<Step>
### Set Environment Variables

Create a `.env` file in the root of your project and add the following environment variables:

1. **Secret Key**

Random value used by the library for encryption and generating hashes. **You can generate one using the button below**  or you can use something like openssl.
```txt title=".env"
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=
```
<GenerateSecret/>

2. **Set Base URL (optional)**

```txt title=".env"
BETTER_AUTH_URL=http://localhost:3000 #Base URL of your app
```
</Step>

<Step>
### Create A Better Auth Instance

Create a file named `auth.ts` in one of these locations:
   - Project root
   - `lib/` folder
   - `utils/` folder

You can also nest any of these folders under `src/` folder. (e.g. `src/lib/auth.ts`)

And in this file, import Better Auth and create your instance.

<Callout type="warn">
Make sure to export the auth instance with the variable name `auth` or as a `default` export.
</Callout>

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

export const auth = betterAuth({
    //...
})
```
</Step>

<Step>
### Configure Database

 Better Auth requires a database to store user data. By default, it uses [Kysely](https://kysely.dev/) for database connections and queries, with support for `postgresql`, `mysql`, and `sqlite` out of the box.

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

export const auth = betterAuth({
  database: {
    provider: "sqlite", // or "mysql", "postgresql"
    url: "./db.sqlite", // path to your database or connection string
  }
})
```

You can also use any dialect supported by Kysely in the database configuration.

**Example with LibsqlDialect:**

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";
import { LibsqlDialect } from "@libsql/kysely-libsql";

export const auth = betterAuth({
  database: new LibsqlDialect({
    url: process.env.TURSO_DATABASE_URL || "",
    authToken: process.env.TURSO_AUTH_TOKEN || "",
  }),
});
```

**Adapters**

If your database isn’t supported by Kysely, you can use an adapter to connect. Simply import the adapter and pass it into the `database` option.

<Tabs items={["prisma", "drizzle", "mongodb"]}>
    <Tab value="prisma">
        ```ts title="auth.ts"
        import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";
        import { prismaAdapter } from "better-auth/adapters";
        import { PrismaClient } from "@prisma/client";

        const prisma = new PrismaClient();
        export const auth = betterAuth({
            database: prismaAdapter(prisma, {
                    provider: "sqlite", // or "mysql", "postgresql", ...etc
            }),
        });
    ```
    </Tab>

    <Tab value="drizzle">
    ```ts title="auth.ts"
    import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";
    import { drizzleAdapter } from "better-auth/adapters";
    import { db } from "@/db"; // your drizzle instance

    export const auth = betterAuth({
        database: drizzleAdapter(db, {
                provider: "pg", // or "mysql", "sqlite"
        })
    });
    ```
    </Tab>
    
    <Tab value="mongodb">
    ```ts title="auth.ts"
    import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";
    import { monogdbAdapter } from "better-auth/adapters";
    import { client } from "@/db"; // your mongodb client

    export const auth = betterAuth({
        database: monogdbAdapter(client)
    });
    ```
    </Tab>
</Tabs>

</Step>

<Step>
    ### Create Database Tables
    
    Better Auth includes a CLI tool to help manage your database tables. You can either migrate tables directly or generate an ORM schema or SQL migration file.

    **Migrate**: Creates the necessary tables in your database.

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    npx better-auth migrate
    ```

    **Generate**: Generates the required ORM schema (e.g., Prisma, Drizzle) or an SQL migration file.

    ```bash title="Terminal"
    npx better-auth generate    
    ```

    see the [CLI documentation](/docs/concepts/cli) for more information.

    <Callout>
     If you instead want to create the schema manually, you can find the core schema required in the [database section](/docs/concepts/database#core-schema).
    </Callout>
</Step>

<Step>
### Authentication Methods
Configure the authentication methods you want to use. Better auth comes with built-in support for email/password, and social sign-on providers.

```ts title="auth.ts"
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth"
import { github } from "better-auth/social-providers"

export const auth = betterAuth({
    database: {
        provider: "sqlite",
        url: "./db.sqlite",
    },
    emailAndPassword: {  // [!code highlight]
        enabled: true // [!code highlight]
    },// [!code highlight]
    socialProviders: { // [!code highlight]
       github: { // [!code highlight]
        clientId: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_ID, // [!code highlight]
        clientSecret: process.env.GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET, // [!code highlight] 
       } // [!code highlight]
    }, // [!code highlight]
}); 
```

<Callout type="info">
You can use even more authentication methods like passkey, username, magic link and more through plugins.
</Callout>
</Step>

<Step>
### Mount Handler
To handle api requests, you need to set up a route handler on your server. 
        
Create a new file or route in your framework's designated catch-all route handler. This route should handle requests for the path `/api/auth/*` (unless you've configured a different base path). 

<Callout>
Better auth supports any backend framework with standard Request and Response objects and offers helper functions for popular frameworks.
</Callout>

<Tabs items={["next-js", "remix", "nuxt", "svelte-kit",  "solid-start", "hono", "express"]} defaultValue="react">
    <Tab value="next-js">
        ```ts title="/app/api/auth/[...all]/route.ts"
        import { auth } from "@/lib/auth"; // path to your auth file
        import { toNextJsHandler } from "better-auth/next-js";

        export const { POST, GET } = toNextJsHandler(auth);
        ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="remix">
    ```ts title="/app/routes/api.auth.$.ts"
    import { auth } from "@/lib/auth"; // path to your auth file

    export async function loader({ request }) {
        return auth.handler(request);
    }
    ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="nuxt">
    ```ts title="/server/api/auth/[...all].ts"
    import { auth } from "~/utils/auth"; // path to your auth file

    export default defineEventHandler((event) => {
        return auth.handler(toWebRequest(event));
    });
    ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="svelte-kit">
    ```ts title="hooks.server.ts"
    import { auth } from "$lib/auth"; // path to your auth file
    import { svelteKitHandler } from "better-auth/svelte-kit";

    export async function handle({ event, resolve }) {
        return svelteKitHandler({ event, resolve, auth });
    }
    ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="solid-start">
    ```ts title="/routes/api/auth/*all.ts"
    import { auth } from "~/lib/auth"; // path to your auth file
    import { toSolidStartHandler } from "better-auth/solid-start";

    export const { GET, POST } = toSolidStartHandler(auth);
    ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="hono">
    ```ts title="src/index.ts"
    import { Hono } from "hono";
    import { auth } from "./auth"; // path to your auth file
    import { serve } from "@hono/node-server";
    import { cors } from "hono/cors";

    const app = new Hono();

    app.on(["POST", "GET"], "/api/auth/**", (c) => {
        return auth.handler(c.req.raw);
    });

    serve(app);
    ```
    </Tab>

    <Tab value="express">
    ```ts title="server.ts"
    import express from "express";
    import { toNodeHandler } from "better-auth/node";
    import { auth } from "./auth";

    const app = express();
    const port = 8000;

    app.all("/api/auth/*", toNodeHandler(auth));
    app.listen(port, () => {
        console.log(`Better Auth app listening on port ${port}`);
    });
    ``` 
    This also works for any other node server framework like express, fastify, hapi, etc.
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="astro">
    ```ts title="/pages/api/auth/[...all].ts"
    import type { APIRoute } from "astro";
    import { auth } from "@/auth"; // path to your auth file

    export const GET: APIRoute = async (ctx) => {
        return auth.handler(ctx.request);
    };

    export const POST: APIRoute = async (ctx) => {
        return auth.handler(ctx.request);
    };
    ``` 
    </Tab>
</Tabs>
</Step>

<Step>
### Create Client Instance

The client-side library helps you interact with the auth server. Better Auth comes with a client for all the popular web frameworks inlcuding for vanilla javascript. 

1. Import `createAuthClient` from the package for your framework (e.g., "better-auth/react" for React).
2. Call the function to create your client.
3. Pass the base url of your auth server. (If the auth server is running on the same domain as your client, you can skip this step.)

<Callout type="info">
If you're using a differnt base path other than `/api/auth` make sure to pass the whole url inlcuding the path. (e.g. `http://localhost:3000/custom-path/auth`)
</Callout>

<Tabs items={["react", "vue", "svelte", "solid", 
  "vanilla"]} defaultValue="react">
    <Tab value="vanilla">
            ```ts  title="lib/auth-client.ts" 
            import { createAuthClient } from  "better-auth/client"
            export const authClient = createAuthClient({
                baseURL: "http://localhost:3000" // the base url of your auth server // [!code highlight]
            })
            ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="react" title="lib/auth-client.ts">
            ```ts  title="lib/auth-client.ts"  
            import { createAuthClient } from "better-auth/react"
            export const client = createAuthClient({
                baseURL: "http://localhost:3000" // the base url of your auth server // [!code highlight]
            })
            ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="vue" title="lib/auth-client.ts">
            ```ts  title="lib/auth-client.ts" 
            import { createAuthClient } from "better-auth/vue"
            export const client = createAuthClient({
                baseURL: "http://localhost:3000" // the base url of your auth server // [!code highlight]
            })
            ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="svelte" title="lib/auth-client.ts"> 
            ```ts  title="lib/auth-client.ts" 
            import { createAuthClient } from "better-auth/svelte"
            export const client = createAuthClient({
                baseURL: "http://localhost:3000" // the base url of your auth server // [!code highlight]
            })
            ```
    </Tab>
    <Tab value="solid" title="lib/auth-client.ts">
            ```ts title="lib/auth-client.ts" 
            import { createAuthClient } from "better-auth/solid"
            export const client = createAuthClient({
                baseURL: "http://localhost:3000" // the base url of your auth server // [!code highlight]
            })
            ```
    </Tab>
</Tabs>

<Callout type="info">
Tip: You can also export specific methods if you prefer:
</Callout>
```ts
export const { signIn, signUp, useSession } = createAuthClient()
```
</Step>



<Step>
### 🎉 That's it!
That's it! You're now ready to use better-auth in your application. Continue to [basic usage](/docs/basic-usage) to learn how to use the auth instance to sign in users.
</Step>
</Steps>
