Auth0 SDK vs. Passport: Choosing Your Authentication Architecture

📚 Documentation - 🚀 Getting Started - 💻 API Reference - 💬 Feedback

Documentation

• Docs Site - explore our docs site and learn more about Auth0
• SDK Documentation - explore the SDK documentation
• API Reference - full reference for this library
• v6 Migration Guide - upgrade from v5 to v6

Getting Started

Requirements

This library supports the following tooling versions:

• Node.js: ^20.19.0 || ^22.12.0 || ^24.0.0 || ^26.0.0

Installation

Using npm in your project directory run the following command:

npm install auth0

Configure the SDK

Authentication API Client

This client can be used to access Auth0's Authentication API.

import { AuthenticationClient } from "auth0";

const auth0 = new AuthenticationClient({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND REGION}.auth0.com",
    clientId: "{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}",
    clientSecret: "{OPTIONAL_CLIENT_SECRET}",
});

Management API Client

The Auth0 Management API is meant to be used by back-end servers or trusted parties performing administrative tasks. Generally speaking, anything that can be done through the Auth0 dashboard (and more) can also be done through this API.

Initialize your client class with a domain and token:

import { ManagementClient } from "auth0";

const management = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND REGION}.auth0.com",
    token: "{YOUR_API_V2_TOKEN}",
});

Or use client credentials:

import { ManagementClient } from "auth0";

const management = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND REGION}.auth0.com",
    clientId: "{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}",
    clientSecret: "{YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET}",
    withCustomDomainHeader: "auth.example.com", // Optional: Auto-applies to whitelisted endpoints
});

Individual Management sub-clients (smaller bundles)

If you only need a few Management API resources, you can import them individually instead of the full ManagementClient. Each resource has its own entry point (for example auth0/clients, auth0/users, auth0/connections), so a bundler ships only the resources you use. This keeps bundles small on size-constrained runtimes such as Cloudflare Workers.

To avoid wiring up authentication for every client, use createManagementAuth from auth0/management. It handles the token once (fetching and refreshing via client credentials, or accepting a static token) and gives you an options object you spread into any sub-client. The token is cached and shared, so you are not re-authenticating per client.

import { createManagementAuth } from "auth0/management";
import { ClientsClient } from "auth0/clients";
import { UsersClient } from "auth0/users";

// Configure auth once and reuse it across clients.
const auth = createManagementAuth({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND_REGION}.auth0.com",
    clientId: "{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}",
    clientSecret: "{YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET}",
});

// Create each sub-client once and reuse the instances throughout your app.
export const clients = new ClientsClient(auth.clientOptions);
export const users = new UsersClient(auth.clientOptions);

await users.list({ page: 0, per_page: 10 });

You can also pass a static token:

const auth = createManagementAuth({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND_REGION}.auth0.com",
    token: "{YOUR_API_V2_TOKEN}",
});

For lower-level control over the token lifecycle, TokenProvider is also exported from auth0/management. It performs the client credentials grant and caches the token until shortly before it expires:

import { TokenProvider } from "auth0/management";
import { ClientsClient } from "auth0/clients";

const tokenProvider = new TokenProvider({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND_REGION}.auth0.com",
    clientId: "{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}",
    clientSecret: "{YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET}",
    audience: "https://{YOUR_TENANT_AND_REGION}.auth0.com/api/v2/",
});

const clients = new ClientsClient({
    baseUrl: "https://{YOUR_TENANT_AND_REGION}.auth0.com/api/v2",
    token: () => tokenProvider.getAccessToken(),
});

Request and response types for these clients live under the shared Management namespace and are imported separately with import type { Management } from "auth0":

import type { Management } from "auth0";

const body: Management.CreateClientRequestContent = { name: "My App" };
const created: Management.CreateClientResponseContent = await clients.create(body);

Because they are TypeScript interfaces, import type is erased at compile time, so importing types from the root auth0 entry adds nothing to your bundle and does not pull in the full ManagementClient.

Recommendations for small bundles

• Import each client as a value from its own entry point (auth0/clients, auth0/users, and so on), not from the root auth0. A value import from the root pulls the full ManagementClient and all resources into the module graph.
• Import request and response types with import type { Management } from "auth0". Types are erased, so this is always free regardless of the entry point.
• Prefer import type over a plain import for anything you only use in type positions. It guarantees the import is erased and never accidentally ships runtime code (the one thing that does add bytes is referencing an enum value, such as OauthScope.CreateActions).
• Configure authentication once with createManagementAuth (or a single shared TokenProvider) and reuse the returned clientOptions across every sub-client. Create each sub-client once and reuse the instance rather than constructing new clients per request.

These smaller bundles rely on tree-shaking, so they apply when you consume the SDK as ESM through a bundler. A plain CommonJS require() cannot tree-shake and loads the full resource graph.

UserInfo API Client

This client can be used to retrieve user profile information.

import { UserInfoClient } from "auth0";

const userInfo = new UserInfoClient({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND REGION}.auth0.com",
});

// Get user info with an access token
const userProfile = await userInfo.getUserInfo(accessToken);

Legacy Usage

If you are migrating from the legacy node-auth0 package (v4.x) or need to maintain compatibility with legacy code, you can use the legacy export which provides the node-auth0 v4.x API interface.

Installing Legacy Version

The legacy version (node-auth0 v4.x) is available through the /legacy export path:

// Import the legacy version (node-auth0 v4.x API)
import { ManagementClient, AuthenticationClient } from "auth0/legacy";

// Or using CommonJS
const { ManagementClient, AuthenticationClient } = require("auth0/legacy");

Legacy Configuration

The legacy API uses the node-auth0 v4.x configuration format and method signatures, which are different from the current v6 API:

Legacy Management Client

import { ManagementClient } from "auth0/legacy";

const management = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND REGION}.auth0.com",
    clientId: "{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}",
    clientSecret: "{YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET}",
    scope: "read:users update:users",
});

// Legacy API methods use promise-based patterns (node-auth0 v4.x style)
management.users
    .getAll()
    .then((users) => console.log(users))
    .catch((err) => console.error(err));

// Or with async/await
try {
    const users = await management.users.getAll();
    console.log(users);
} catch (err) {
    console.error(err);
}

Legacy Authentication Client

import { AuthenticationClient } from "auth0/legacy";

const auth0 = new AuthenticationClient({
    domain: "{YOUR_TENANT_AND REGION}.auth0.com",
    clientId: "{YOUR_CLIENT_ID}",
    clientSecret: "{YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET}",
});

// Legacy authentication methods (node-auth0 v4.x style)
auth0.oauth
    .passwordGrant({
        username: "user@example.com",
        password: "password",
        audience: "https://api.example.com",
    })
    .then((userData) => {
        console.log(userData);
    })
    .catch((err) => {
        console.error("Authentication error:", err);
    });

// Or with async/await
try {
    const userData = await auth0.oauth.passwordGrant({
        username: "user@example.com",
        password: "password",
        audience: "https://api.example.com",
    });
    console.log(userData);
} catch (err) {
    console.error("Authentication error:", err);
}

Migration from Legacy (node-auth0 v4) to v5

When migrating from node-auth0 v4.x to the current v5 SDK, note the following key differences:

1. Method Names: Many method names have changed to be more descriptive
2. Type Safety: Enhanced TypeScript support with better type definitions
3. Error Handling: Unified error handling with specific error types
4. Configuration: Simplified configuration options

Example Migration

Legacy (node-auth0 v4.x) code:

const { ManagementClient } = require("auth0/legacy");

const management = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
    clientSecret: "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
    scope: "read:users",
});

// With promises
management.users
    .getAll({ search_engine: "v3" })
    .then((users) => {
        console.log(users);
    })
    .catch((err) => {
        console.error(err);
    });

// Or with async/await
try {
    const users = await management.users.getAll({ search_engine: "v3" });
    console.log(users);
} catch (err) {
    console.error(err);
}

v5 equivalent:

import { ManagementClient } from "auth0";

const management = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
    clientSecret: "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
});

// With promises
management.users
    .list({
        searchEngine: "v3",
    })
    .then((users) => {
        console.log(users);
    })
    .catch((error) => {
        console.error(error);
    });

// Or with async/await
try {
    const users = await management.users.list({
        searchEngine: "v3",
    });
    console.log(users);
} catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
}

Request and Response Types

The SDK exports all request and response types as TypeScript interfaces. You can import them directly:

import { ManagementClient, Management, ManagementError } from "auth0";

const client = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    token: "YOUR_TOKEN",
});

// Use the request type
const listParams: Management.ListActionsRequestParameters = {
    triggerId: "post-login",
    actionName: "my-action",
};

const actions = await client.actions.list(listParams);

API Reference

Generated Documentation

• Full Reference - complete API reference guide

Key Classes

• ManagementClient - for Auth0 Management API operations
• AuthenticationClient - for Auth0 Authentication API operations
• UserInfoClient - for retrieving user profile information

Exception Handling

When the API returns a non-success status code (4xx or 5xx response), a subclass of the following error will be thrown.

import { ManagementError } from "auth0";

try {
    await client.actions.create({
        name: "my-action",
        supported_triggers: [{ id: "post-login" }],
        code: "exports.onExecutePostLogin = async (event, api) => { console.log('Hello World'); };",
    });
} catch (err) {
    if (err instanceof ManagementError) {
        console.log(err.statusCode);
        console.log(err.message);
        console.log(err.body);
        console.log(err.rawResponse);
    }
}

Pagination

Some list endpoints are paginated. You can iterate through pages using default values:

import { ManagementClient } from "auth0";

const client = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    token: "YOUR_TOKEN",
});

// Using default pagination (page size defaults vary by endpoint)
let page = await client.actions.list();
for (const item of page.data) {
    console.log(item);
}

while (page.hasNextPage()) {
    page = await page.getNextPage();
    for (const item of page.data) {
        console.log(item);
    }
}

Or you can explicitly control pagination using page and per_page parameters:

// Offset-based pagination (most endpoints)
let page = await client.actions.list({
    page: 0, // Page number (0-indexed)
    per_page: 25, // Number of items per page
});

for (const item of page.data) {
    console.log(item);
}

while (page.hasNextPage()) {
    page = await page.getNextPage();
    for (const item of page.data) {
        console.log(item);
    }
}

Some endpoints use checkpoint pagination with from and take parameters:

// Checkpoint-based pagination (e.g., connections, organizations)
let page = await client.connections.list({
    take: 50, // Number of items per page
});

for (const item of page.data) {
    console.log(item);
}

while (page.hasNextPage()) {
    page = await page.getNextPage();
    for (const item of page.data) {
        console.log(item);
    }
}

Advanced

Additional Headers

If you would like to send additional headers as part of the request, use the headers request option.

const response = await client.actions.create(
    {
        name: "my-action",
        supported_triggers: [{ id: "post-login" }],
    },
    {
        headers: {
            "X-Custom-Header": "custom value",
        },
    },
);

Request Helpers

The SDK provides convenient helper functions for common request configuration patterns:

import { ManagementClient, CustomDomainHeader, withTimeout, withRetries, withHeaders, withAbortSignal } from "auth0";

const client = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    token: "YOUR_TOKEN",
});

// Example 1: Use custom domain header for specific requests
const reqOptions = {
    ...CustomDomainHeader("auth.example.com"),
    timeoutInSeconds: 30,
};
await client.actions.list({}, reqOptions);

// Example 2: Combine multiple options
const reqOptions = {
    ...withTimeout(30),
    ...withRetries(3),
    ...withHeaders({
        "X-Request-ID": crypto.randomUUID(),
        "X-Operation-Source": "admin-dashboard",
    }),
};
await client.actions.list({}, reqOptions);

// Example 3: For automatic custom domain header on whitelisted endpoints
const client = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    token: "YOUR_TOKEN",
    withCustomDomainHeader: "auth.example.com", // Auto-applies to whitelisted endpoints
});

// Example 4: Request cancellation
const controller = new AbortController();
const reqOptions = {
    ...withAbortSignal(controller.signal),
    ...withTimeout(30),
};
const promise = client.actions.list({}, reqOptions);

// Cancel after 10 seconds
setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 10000);

Available helper functions:

• CustomDomainHeader(domain) - Configure custom domain header for specific requests
• withTimeout(seconds) - Set request timeout
• withRetries(count) - Configure retry attempts
• withHeaders(headers) - Add custom headers
• withAbortSignal(signal) - Enable request cancellation

To apply the custom domain header globally across your application, use the withCustomDomainHeader option when initializing the ManagementClient. This will automatically inject the header for all whitelisted endpoints.

Retries

The SDK is instrumented with automatic retries with exponential backoff. A request will be retried as long as the request is deemed retryable and the number of retry attempts has not grown larger than the configured retry limit (default: 2).

A request is deemed retryable when any of the following HTTP status codes is returned:

• 408 (Timeout)
• 429 (Too Many Requests)
• 5XX (Internal Server Errors)

Use the maxRetries request option to configure this behavior.

const response = await client.actions.create(
    {
        name: "my-action",
        supported_triggers: [{ id: "post-login" }],
    },
    {
        maxRetries: 0, // override maxRetries at the request level
    },
);

Timeouts

The SDK defaults to a 60 second timeout. Use the timeoutInSeconds option to configure this behavior.

const response = await client.actions.create(
    {
        name: "my-action",
        supported_triggers: [{ id: "post-login" }],
    },
    {
        timeoutInSeconds: 30, // override timeout to 30s
    },
);

Aborting Requests

The SDK allows users to abort requests at any point by passing in an abort signal.

const controller = new AbortController();
const response = await client.actions.create(
    {
        name: "my-action",
        supported_triggers: [{ id: "post-login" }],
    },
    {
        abortSignal: controller.signal,
    },
);
controller.abort(); // aborts the request

Logging

The SDK supports configurable logging for debugging API requests and responses. By default, logging is silent.

import { ManagementClient } from "auth0";

const client = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
    clientSecret: "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
    logging: {
        level: "debug", // "debug" | "info" | "warn" | "error"
        silent: false, // Set to false to enable logging output
    },
});

You can also provide a custom logger implementation:

import { ManagementClient } from "auth0";

const customLogger = {
    debug: (msg, ...args) => myLogger.debug(msg, args),
    info: (msg, ...args) => myLogger.info(msg, args),
    warn: (msg, ...args) => myLogger.warn(msg, args),
    error: (msg, ...args) => myLogger.error(msg, args),
};

const client = new ManagementClient({
    domain: "your-tenant.auth0.com",
    clientId: "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
    clientSecret: "YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
    logging: {
        level: "info",
        logger: customLogger,
        silent: false,
    },
});

Access Raw Response Data

The SDK provides access to raw response data, including headers, through the .withRawResponse() method. The .withRawResponse() method returns a promise that results to an object with a data and a rawResponse property.

const { data, rawResponse } = await client.actions
    .create({
        name: "my-action",
        supported_triggers: [{ id: "post-login" }],
    })
    .withRawResponse();

console.log(data);
console.log(rawResponse.headers);

Runtime Compatibility

The SDK defaults to node-fetch but will use the global fetch client if present. The SDK works in the following runtimes:

• Node.js 20.19.0+, 22.12.0+, 24+, 26+
• Vercel
• Cloudflare Workers
• Deno v1.25+
• Bun 1.0+
• React Native

Feedback

Contributing

We appreciate feedback and contribution to this repo! Before you get started, please see the following:

• Auth0's general contribution guidelines
• Auth0's code of conduct guidelines

While we value open-source contributions to this SDK, this library is generated programmatically. Additions made directly to this library would have to be moved over to our generation code, otherwise they would be overwritten upon the next generated release. Feel free to open a PR as a proof of concept, but know that we will not be able to merge it as-is. We suggest opening an issue first to discuss with us!

On the other hand, contributions to the README are always very welcome!

Raise an issue

To provide feedback or report a bug, please raise an issue on our issue tracker.

Vulnerability Reporting

Please do not report security vulnerabilities on the public GitHub issue tracker. The Responsible Disclosure Program details the procedure for disclosing security issues.

What is Auth0?

Auth0 is an easy to implement, adaptable authentication and authorization platform. To learn more checkout Why Auth0?

This project is licensed under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more info.