NestJS Better Auth Integration

A comprehensive NestJS integration library for Better Auth, providing seamless authentication and authorization for your NestJS applications.

Installation

Install the library in your NestJS project:

# Using npm
npm install @thallesp/nestjs-better-auth

# Using yarn
yarn add @thallesp/nestjs-better-auth

# Using pnpm
pnpm add @thallesp/nestjs-better-auth

# Using bun
bun add @thallesp/nestjs-better-auth

Prerequisites

Important

Requires better-auth >= 1.3.8. Older versions are deprecated and unsupported.

Before you start, make sure you have:

• A working NestJS application
• Better Auth (>= 1.3.8) installed and configured (installation guide)

Basic Setup

1. Disable Body Parser

Disable NestJS's built-in body parser to allow Better Auth to handle the raw request body:

import { NestFactory } from "@nestjs/core";
import { AppModule } from "./app.module";

async function bootstrap() {
  const app = await NestFactory.create(AppModule, {
    // Don't worry, the library will automatically re-add the default body parsers.
    bodyParser: false,
  });
  await app.listen(process.env.PORT ?? 3333);
}
bootstrap();

Important

Side Effect: Since we disable NestJS's built-in body parser, the rawBody: true option in NestFactory.create() has no effect. If you need access to req.rawBody (e.g., for webhook signature verification), use the enableRawBodyParser option in AuthModule.forRoot() instead. See Module Options for details.

Warning

Currently the library has beta support for Fastify, if you experience any issues with it, please open an issue.

2. Import AuthModule

Import the AuthModule in your root module:

import { Module } from "@nestjs/common";
import { AuthModule } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";
import { auth } from "./auth";

@Module({
  imports: [AuthModule.forRoot({ auth })],
})
export class AppModule {}

Route Protection

Global by default: An AuthGuard is registered globally by this module. All routes are protected unless you explicitly allow access with @AllowAnonymous() or mark them as optional with @OptionalAuth().

GraphQL is supported and works the same way as REST: the global guard applies to resolvers too, and you can use @AllowAnonymous()/@OptionalAuth() on queries and mutations.

WebSocket is also supported and works in the same way as REST and GraphQL: you can use @AllowAnonymous()/@OptionalAuth() on any connections, but you must set the AuthGuard for all of them, either at the Gateway or Message level, like so:

import { SubscribeMessage, WebSocketGateway } from "@nestjs/websockets";
import { UseGuards } from "@nestjs/common";
import { AuthGuard } from '@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth';

@WebSocketGateway({
	path: "/ws",
	namespace: "test",
	cors: {
		origin: "*",
	},
})
@UseGuards(AuthGuard)
export class TestGateway { /* ... */ }

Check the test gateway for a full example.

Decorators

Better Auth provides several decorators to enhance your authentication setup:

Session Decorator

Access the user session in your controllers:

import { Controller, Get } from "@nestjs/common";
import { Session, UserSession } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";

@Controller("users")
export class UserController {
  @Get("me")
  async getProfile(@Session() session: UserSession) {
    return session;
  }
}

AllowAnonymous and OptionalAuth Decorators

Control authentication requirements for specific routes:

import { Controller, Get } from "@nestjs/common";
import { AllowAnonymous, OptionalAuth } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";

@Controller("users")
export class UserController {
  @Get("public")
  @AllowAnonymous() // Allow anonymous access (no authentication required)
  async publicRoute() {
    return { message: "This route is public" };
  }

  @Get("optional")
  @OptionalAuth() // Authentication is optional for this route
  async optionalRoute(@Session() session: UserSession) {
    return { authenticated: !!session, session };
  }
}

Alternatively, use as a class decorator for an entire controller:

@AllowAnonymous() // All routes inside this controller are public
@Controller("public")
export class PublicController {
  /* */
}

@OptionalAuth() // Authentication is optional for all routes
@Controller("optional")
export class OptionalController {
  /* */
}

Role-Based Access Control

This library provides two role decorators for different use cases:

Decorator	Checks	Use Case
@Roles()	user.role only	System-level roles (admin plugin)
@OrgRoles()	Organization member role only	Organization-level roles (organization plugin)

Important

These decorators are intentionally separate to prevent privilege escalation. The @Roles() decorator only checks user.role and does not check organization member roles. This ensures an organization admin cannot bypass system-level admin protection.

@Roles() - System-Level Roles

Use @Roles() for system-wide admin protection. This checks only the user.role field from Better Auth's admin plugin.

import { Controller, Get } from "@nestjs/common";
import { Roles } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";

@Controller("admin")
export class AdminController {
  @Roles(["admin"])
  @Get("dashboard")
  async adminDashboard() {
    // Only users with user.role = 'admin' can access
    // Organization admins CANNOT access this route
    return { message: "System admin dashboard" };
  }
}

// Or as a class decorator
@Roles(["admin"])
@Controller("admin")
export class AdminController {
  /* All routes require user.role = 'admin' */
}

@OrgRoles() - Organization-Level Roles

Use @OrgRoles() for organization-scoped protection. This checks only the organization member role and requires an active organization (activeOrganizationId in session).

import { Controller, Get } from "@nestjs/common";
import { OrgRoles, Session, UserSession } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";

@Controller("org")
export class OrgController {
  @OrgRoles(["owner", "admin"])
  @Get("settings")
  async getOrgSettings(@Session() session: UserSession) {
    // Only org owners/admins can access (requires activeOrganizationId)
    // System admins (user.role = 'admin') CANNOT access without org context
    return { orgId: session.session.activeOrganizationId };
  }

  @OrgRoles(["owner"])
  @Get("billing")
  async getOrgBilling() {
    // Only org owners can access
    return { message: "Billing settings" };
  }
}

Note

Both role decorators accept any role strings you define. Better Auth's organization plugin provides default roles (owner, admin, member), but you can configure custom roles. The organization creator automatically gets the owner role.

Hook Decorators

Important

To use @Hook, @BeforeHook, @AfterHook, set hooks: {} (empty object) in your betterAuth(...) config. You can still add your own Better Auth hooks; hooks: {} (empty object) is just the minimum required.

Minimal Better Auth setup with hooks enabled:

import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";

export const auth = betterAuth({
  basePath: "/api/auth",
  // other better-auth options...
  hooks: {}, // minimum required to use hooks. read above for more details.
});

Create custom hooks that integrate with NestJS's dependency injection:

import { Injectable } from "@nestjs/common";
import {
  BeforeHook,
  Hook,
  AuthHookContext,
} from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";
import { SignUpService } from "./sign-up.service";

@Hook()
@Injectable()
export class SignUpHook {
  constructor(private readonly signUpService: SignUpService) {}

  @BeforeHook("/sign-up/email")
  async handle(ctx: AuthHookContext) {
    // Custom logic like enforcing email domain registration
    // Can throw APIError if validation fails
    await this.signUpService.execute(ctx);
  }
}

Register your hooks in a module:

import { Module } from "@nestjs/common";
import { AuthModule } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";
import { SignUpHook } from "./hooks/sign-up.hook";
import { SignUpService } from "./sign-up.service";
import { auth } from "./auth";

@Module({
  imports: [AuthModule.forRoot({ auth })],
  providers: [SignUpHook, SignUpService],
})
export class AppModule {}

AuthService

The AuthService is automatically provided by the AuthModule and can be injected into your controllers to access the Better Auth instance and its API endpoints.

import { Controller, Get, Post, Request, Body } from "@nestjs/common";
import { AuthService } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";
import { fromNodeHeaders } from "better-auth/node";
import type { Request as ExpressRequest } from "express";
import { auth } from "../auth";

@Controller("users")
export class UsersController {
  constructor(private authService: AuthService<typeof auth>) {}

  @Get("accounts")
  async getAccounts(@Request() req: ExpressRequest) {
    // Pass the request headers to the auth API
    const accounts = await this.authService.api.listUserAccounts({
      headers: fromNodeHeaders(req.headers),
    });

    return { accounts };
  }

  @Post("api-keys")
  async createApiKey(@Request() req: ExpressRequest, @Body() body) {
    // Access plugin-specific functionality with request headers
    // createApiKey is a method added by a plugin, not part of the core API
    return this.authService.api.createApiKey({
      ...body,
      headers: fromNodeHeaders(req.headers),
    });
  }
}

When using plugins that extend the Auth type with additional functionality, use generics to access the extended features as shown above with AuthService<typeof auth>. This ensures type safety when using plugin-specific API methods like createApiKey.

Request Object Access

You can access the session and user through the request object:

import { Controller, Get, Request } from "@nestjs/common";
import type { Request as ExpressRequest } from "express";

@Controller("users")
export class UserController {
  @Get("me")
  async getProfile(@Request() req: ExpressRequest) {
    return {
      session: req.session, // Session is attached to the request
      user: req.user, // User object is attached to the request
    };
  }
}

The request object provides:

• req.session: The full session object containing user data and authentication state
• req.user: A direct reference to the user object from the session (useful for observability tools like Sentry)

Advanced: Disable the global AuthGuard

If you prefer to manage guards yourself, you can disable the global guard and then apply @UseGuards(AuthGuard) per controller/route or register it via APP_GUARD.

import { Module } from "@nestjs/common";
import { AuthModule } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";
import { auth } from "./auth";

@Module({
  imports: [
    AuthModule.forRoot({
      auth,
      disableGlobalAuthGuard: true,
    }),
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

import { Controller, Get, UseGuards } from "@nestjs/common";
import { AuthGuard } from "@thallesp/nestjs-better-auth";

@Controller("users")
@UseGuards(AuthGuard)
export class UserController {
  @Get("me")
  async getProfile() {
    return { message: "Protected route" };
  }
}

Module Options

When configuring AuthModule.forRoot(), you can provide options to customize the behavior:

AuthModule.forRoot({
  auth,
  disableTrustedOriginsCors: false,
  disableBodyParser: false,
  enableRawBodyParser: false,
  disableGlobalAuthGuard: false,
  disableControllers: false,
});

The available options are:

Option	Default	Description
disableTrustedOriginsCors	false	When set to true, disables the automatic CORS configuration for the origins specified in trustedOrigins. Use this if you want to handle CORS configuration manually.
disableBodyParser	false	When set to true, disables the automatic body parser middleware. Use this if you want to handle request body parsing manually.
enableRawBodyParser	false	When set to true, enables raw body parsing and attaches the raw buffer to req.rawBody. Use this for webhook signature verification. Note: Since this library disables NestJS's built-in body parser, NestJS's rawBody: true option has no effect - use this option instead.
disableGlobalAuthGuard	false	When set to true, does not register AuthGuard as a global guard. Use this if you prefer to apply AuthGuard manually or register it yourself via APP_GUARD.
disableControllers	false	When set to true, does not register any controllers. Use this if you want to handle routes manually.
middleware	undefined	Optional middleware function that wraps the Better Auth handler. Receives (req, res, next) parameters. Useful for integrating with request-scoped libraries like MikroORM's RequestContext.

Using Custom Middleware

You can provide a custom middleware function that wraps the Better Auth handler. This is particularly useful when integrating with libraries like MikroORM that require request context:

import { RequestContext } from '@mikro-orm/core';

AuthModule.forRoot({
  auth,
  middleware: (req, res, next) => {
    RequestContext.create(orm.em, next);
  },
});

The middleware receives standard Express middleware parameters (req, res, next) where next is a function that invokes the Better Auth handler.