Autenticando desde GitHub

How to configure authentication with NextAuth and GitHub?

NextAuth has become an essential tool for configuring authentication in Next.js applications. With its ability to efficiently integrate with multiple services, it offers a versatile solution for handling complex authorization flows. This article will guide you through the process of integrating NextAuth with GitHub, allowing users to log in easily and securely.

How to create an application in GitHub for authentication?

To get started, you need to create an application on GitHub that will play a crucial role in the authentication process. This is an essential step that is done within the GitHub developer settings.

1. Access the developer settings in GitHub:

   • Head to github.com, navigate to the 'Settings' section and select 'Developer settings'.

2. Create a new OAuth application:

   • Select the option to create a new OAuth Application.
   • Complete the required fields such as the name and description. These can be anything that identifies your application.

3. Configure the relevant URLs:

   • Homepage URL: Must match your development domain. Usually it is localhost:3000 if you work in a local environment.
   • Authorization callback URL: Configure this URL as http://localhost:3000/api/auth/callback, which NextAuth will use to handle the authentication flow.

4. Save your application and save the key values:

   • Once created, GitHub will provide you with a Client ID and Client Secret. These values will be vital to integrate your application with NextAuth.

How to integrate NextAuth into your Next.js application?

With your GitHub application set up, the next step is to integrate NextAuth into your Next.js application to handle authentication. Simplistically, here's the procedure you need to follow:

1. Install NextAuth in your project:

   • Make sure you have NextAuth included in your Next.js project, usually from the npm module installation.

2. Configure the NextAuth providers:

   • Go to the pages/api/auth/[...nextauth].js file and add a new provider for GitHub.

   import NextAuth from 'next-auth';import Providers from 'next-auth/providers';
   export default NextAuth({ providers: [ Providers.GitHub({ clientId: process.env.GITHUB_ID, clientSecret: process.env.GITHUB_SECRET }) ] });

3. Set environment variables:

   • Create environment variables in your .env.local file for the Client ID and Client Secret values:

   GITHUB_ID=your_client_idGITHUB_SECRET=your_secret

   • Be sure to restart your development server after setting these variables so that the new values are recognized.

What happens during the authentication flow?

When a user tries to log in using GitHub, the entire OAuth flow is triggered. Here's what happens at each step:

1. Sign in:

   • The user selects "Sign in with GitHub" in your app.
   • He is redirected to GitHub for authorization, where he can review the permissions the app is requesting.

2. User authorization:

   • If the user approves, GitHub authenticates and redirects the user back to your app using the Authorization callback URL.

3. NextAuth session management:

   • NextAuth manages the session and stores the user's data, allowing you to customize and query additional information if desired.

How to add more providers?

NextAuth is not limited to GitHub; you can easily expand the support of authentication providers:

• Available providers: Apart from GitHub, NextAuth offers integration with multiple services such as Twitter, Facebook, Google, among others.
• Integration process: The process of adding new providers is similar to the one described for GitHub, you just need the specific credentials for each service.

NextAuth simplifies the management of multiple authentication flows with minimal configuration, allowing you to focus on the development of your application's features. Feel free to explore and experiment with different providers to find out which one best suits your project! Do you have a provider in mind to integrate? I'd love to hear about your experience and ideas - keep exploring and learning!