Better Auth•3mo ago

I'm trying to seed a user into the database during my setup process

Is there a way to seed a user directly into the database using Better Auth without relying on the request context(cookies)?

const superAdminResult = await auth.api.signUpEmail({
      body: {
        email: "admin@example.com",
        password: "kjk2nduhu23dsa2",
        name: "ADMIN",
      }
    })

12 Replies

Spipov•3mo ago

Its a massive pita. You need to figure out password hashing using argon2 and scrypt. Im honestly recommending scripting to make 1st user register, or otp or somethinf

Omar-7ioo•3mo ago

You could create a seed script using your ORM and setup GitHub actions.

The Untraceable•3mo ago

I personally use auth.api.admin.createUser iirc. Give that a try

Omar-7ioo•3mo ago

This is how I handled seeding for my use case

    // --- Check for Admin User ---
    const [existingAdminUser] = await db
      .select({ userId: schema.user.id })
      .from(schema.user)
      .where(eq(schema.user.username, "admin"));

    if (existingAdminUser?.userId) {
      console.log("✅ Admin user already exists.");
    } else {
      console.log("Creating admin user...");
      const { user: admin } = await betterAuth.api.createUser({
        body: {
          role: "admin",
          name: "Admin User",
          email: env.ADMIN_EMAIL,
          password: env.ADMIN_PASSWORD,
        },
      });

      if (!admin?.id) {
        console.error("❌ Failed to create admin user.");
        shouldExit = true; // Mark for exit later
      } else {
        await db
          .update(schema.user)
          .set({ username: "admin" })
          .where(eq(schema.user.id, admin.id));
        console.log("✅ Admin user created.");
      }
    }

    // --- Check for Admin User ---
    const [existingAdminUser] = await db
      .select({ userId: schema.user.id })
      .from(schema.user)
      .where(eq(schema.user.username, "admin"));

    if (existingAdminUser?.userId) {
      console.log("✅ Admin user already exists.");
    } else {
      console.log("Creating admin user...");
      const { user: admin } = await betterAuth.api.createUser({
        body: {
          role: "admin",
          name: "Admin User",
          email: env.ADMIN_EMAIL,
          password: env.ADMIN_PASSWORD,
        },
      });

      if (!admin?.id) {
        console.error("❌ Failed to create admin user.");
        shouldExit = true; // Mark for exit later
      } else {
        await db
          .update(schema.user)
          .set({ username: "admin" })
          .where(eq(schema.user.id, admin.id));
        console.log("✅ Admin user created.");
      }
    }

Budi•3mo ago

Can you do this if there's no admin user in the database? So when you're starting from 0 users?

The Untraceable•3mo ago

yup, that's what i do to create the first user

The Untraceable•3mo ago

/** biome-ignore-all lint/suspicious/noConsole: Console logs in CLI tools are acceptable */

import { auth } from '@/lib/auth';
import { registerSchema } from '@/schemas/auth';
import prompts from 'prompts';

(async () => {
    const response = await prompts(
        [
            {
                type: 'text',
                name: 'email',
                message: 'Enter admin email',
            },
            {
                type: 'text',
                name: 'name',
                message: 'Enter admin name',
            },
            {
                type: 'password',
                name: 'password',
                message: 'Enter admin password',
            },
            {
                type: 'password',
                name: 'confirmPassword',
                message: 'Confirm admin password',
            },
        ],
        {
            onCancel: () => {
                console.log('Admin creation cancelled.');
                process.exit(0);
            },
        }
    );

    if (response.password !== response.confirmPassword) {
        console.error('Passwords do not match.');
        process.exit(1);
    }

    const parsed = registerSchema.safeParse(response);
    if (!parsed.success) {
        for (const error of parsed.error.errors) {
            console.error(`Validation error: ${error.message}`);
        }
        process.exit(1);
    }

    try {
        const createUserResponse = await auth.api.createUser({
            body: {
                email: parsed.data.email,
                password: parsed.data.password,
                name: parsed.data.name,
                role: 'admin',
            },
        });

        if (createUserResponse.user) {
            console.log(
                `Admin user created successfully: ${createUserResponse.user.email} `
            );
            process.exit(0);
        }
    } catch (error) {
        if (error instanceof Error) {
            console.error(`An unexpected error occurred: ${error.message}`);
        } else {
            console.error('An unexpected error occurred.');
        }
        process.exit(1);
    }
})();

/** biome-ignore-all lint/suspicious/noConsole: Console logs in CLI tools are acceptable */

import { auth } from '@/lib/auth';
import { registerSchema } from '@/schemas/auth';
import prompts from 'prompts';

(async () => {
    const response = await prompts(
        [
            {
                type: 'text',
                name: 'email',
                message: 'Enter admin email',
            },
            {
                type: 'text',
                name: 'name',
                message: 'Enter admin name',
            },
            {
                type: 'password',
                name: 'password',
                message: 'Enter admin password',
            },
            {
                type: 'password',
                name: 'confirmPassword',
                message: 'Confirm admin password',
            },
        ],
        {
            onCancel: () => {
                console.log('Admin creation cancelled.');
                process.exit(0);
            },
        }
    );

    if (response.password !== response.confirmPassword) {
        console.error('Passwords do not match.');
        process.exit(1);
    }

    const parsed = registerSchema.safeParse(response);
    if (!parsed.success) {
        for (const error of parsed.error.errors) {
            console.error(`Validation error: ${error.message}`);
        }
        process.exit(1);
    }

    try {
        const createUserResponse = await auth.api.createUser({
            body: {
                email: parsed.data.email,
                password: parsed.data.password,
                name: parsed.data.name,
                role: 'admin',
            },
        });

        if (createUserResponse.user) {
            console.log(
                `Admin user created successfully: ${createUserResponse.user.email} `
            );
            process.exit(0);
        }
    } catch (error) {
        if (error instanceof Error) {
            console.error(`An unexpected error occurred: ${error.message}`);
        } else {
            console.error('An unexpected error occurred.');
        }
        process.exit(1);
    }
})();

Here's my code, works just fine for me.

The Untraceable•3mo ago

Doesn't require the auth server to be online

Budi•3mo ago

Awesome thank you for sharing this. How do you get access to the createUser API call? Is that because you have the admin plugin installed?

The Untraceable•3mo ago

Yup Makes it super easy

Budi•3mo ago

Terrific I'm going to try this. You're awesome.

d3adb0y•2mo ago

im seeing Property 'createUser' does not exist on type when I try and access it. What am I doing wrong? nevermind im a goober, figured it out

Gaming

Programming

I'm trying to seed a user into the database during my setup process

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