auth()

The auth() helper returns the Auth⁠ object of the currently active user, as well as the redirectToSignIn() method. It includes a single method, protect(), which you can use to check if a user is authenticated or authorized to access certain parts of your application or even entire routes.

• Only available for App Router.
• Only works on the server-side, such as in Server Components, Route Handlers, and Server Actions.
• Requires clerkMiddleware() to be configured.

auth.protect()

auth includes a single property, the protect() method, which you can use in two ways:

• to check if a user is authenticated (signed in)
• to check if a user is authorized (has the correct roles or permissions) to access something, such as a component or a route handler

The following table describes how auth.protect() behaves based on user authentication or authorization status:

auth.protect() accepts the following parameters:

Example

auth.protect() can be used to check if a user is authenticated or authorized to access certain parts of your application or even entire routes. See detailed examples in the guide on verifying if a user is authorized.

Returns

The auth() helper returns the following:

• The Auth⁠ object.
• The redirectToSignIn() method.

redirectToSignIn()

The auth() helper returns the redirectToSignIn() method, which you can use to redirect the user to the sign-in page.

redirectToSignIn() accepts the following parameters:

Example

The following example shows how to use redirectToSignIn() to redirect the user to the sign-in page if they are not authenticated. It's also common to use redirectToSignIn() in clerkMiddleware() to protect entire routes; see the clerkMiddleware() docs for more information.

import { auth } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'

export default async function Page() {
  const { userId, redirectToSignIn } = await auth()

  if (!userId) return redirectToSignIn()

  return <h1>Hello, {userId}</h1>
}

auth() usage

Protect pages and routes

You can use auth() to check if a userId exists. If it's null, then there is not an authenticated (signed in) user. See detailed examples in the dedicated guide.

Check if a user is authorized

You can use auth() to check if a user is authorized to access certain parts of your application or even entire routes by checking their type of access control. See detailed examples in the guide on verifying if a user is authorized.

Data fetching with getToken()

If you need to send a JWT along to a server, getToken() retrieves the current user's session token or a custom JWT template. See detailed examples in the Auth object reference⁠.