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Documentation Index

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The Auth service provides access to user authentication and identity information in your Confect functions. Built on Convex’s authentication system, it integrates seamlessly with Effect for type-safe auth handling.

​
Overview

User Identity

Get authenticated user information

Effect Integration

Type-safe error handling for auth failures

OAuth Support

Works with Convex OAuth providers

Custom Auth

Implement custom authentication logic

​
Auth Service

The Auth service is available in queries, mutations, and actions: 
import { Auth } from "@confect/server";
import { Effect } from "effect";

const getCurrentUser = Effect.gen(function* () {
  const auth = yield* Auth;
  
  const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
  
  return {
    userId: identity.subject,
    email: identity.email,
    name: identity.name,
  };
});

​
Getting User Identity

The getUserIdentity effect returns the authenticated user’s identity: 
import { Auth } from "@confect/server";
import { Effect } from "effect";

const getUserInfo = Effect.gen(function* () {
  const auth = yield* Auth;
  
  const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
  
  // Identity contains:
  // - subject: unique user ID
  // - email: user's email
  // - name: user's name
  // - tokenIdentifier: token for this session
  
  return identity;
});
getUserIdentity returns an Effect that fails with NoUserIdentityFoundError if the user is not authenticated.

​
Handling Unauthenticated Users

Handle authentication failures gracefully: 
import { Auth, NoUserIdentityFoundError } from "@confect/server";
import { Effect } from "effect";

const getProfile = Effect.gen(function* () {
  const auth = yield* Auth;
  
  const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity.pipe(
    Effect.catchTag("NoUserIdentityFoundError", () =>
      Effect.fail(new Error("Please sign in to view your profile"))
    )
  );
  
  return identity;
});
Or return a default value: 
const getOptionalUser = Effect.gen(function* () {
  const auth = yield* Auth;
  
  const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity.pipe(
    Effect.catchTag("NoUserIdentityFoundError", () =>
      Effect.succeed(null)
    )
  );
  
  return identity;
});

​
Protecting Functions

Require authentication in your functions: 
import { FunctionImpl, Auth, DatabaseWriter } from "@confect/server";
import { Effect } from "effect";

const createPost = FunctionImpl.make(
  api,
  "posts",
  "create",
  ({ title, content }) =>
    Effect.gen(function* () {
      const auth = yield* Auth;
      const db = yield* DatabaseWriter<typeof databaseSchema>();
      
      // Require authentication
      const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
      
      const postId = yield* db.table("posts").insert({
        title,
        content,
        authorId: identity.subject,
        createdAt: Date.now(),
      });
      
      return { postId };
    }).pipe(Effect.orDie)
);
If a user tries to call a protected function without authentication, they’ll receive a NoUserIdentityFoundError.

​
Role-Based Access Control

Implement role-based authorization: 
import { Schema } from "effect";

class UnauthorizedError extends Schema.TaggedError<UnauthorizedError>()()
  "UnauthorizedError",
  { message: Schema.String }
) {}

const requireAdmin = Effect.gen(function* () {
  const auth = yield* Auth;
  const db = yield* DatabaseReader<typeof databaseSchema>();
  
  const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
  
  const user = yield* db.table("users").get(
    "by_subject",
    identity.subject
  );
  
  if (user.role !== "admin") {
    return yield* Effect.fail(
      new UnauthorizedError({ message: "Admin access required" })
    );
  }
  
  return user;
});

const deleteUser = FunctionImpl.make(
  api,
  "admin",
  "deleteUser",
  ({ userId }) =>
    Effect.gen(function* () {
      // Verify admin
      yield* requireAdmin;
      
      const db = yield* DatabaseWriter<typeof databaseSchema>();
      
      yield* db.table("users").delete(userId);
    }).pipe(Effect.orDie)
);

​
User Management

Create user profiles after authentication: 
const getOrCreateUser = Effect.gen(function* () {
  const auth = yield* Auth;
  const db = yield* DatabaseReader<typeof databaseSchema>();
  const dbWrite = yield* DatabaseWriter<typeof databaseSchema>();
  
  const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
  
  // Check if user exists
  const existingUser = yield* db
    .table("users")
    .get("by_subject", identity.subject)
    .pipe(
      Effect.catchTag("GetByIndexFailure", () => Effect.succeed(null))
    );
  
  if (existingUser) {
    return existingUser;
  }
  
  // Create new user
  const userId = yield* dbWrite.table("users").insert({
    subject: identity.subject,
    email: identity.email,
    name: identity.name,
    role: "user",
    createdAt: Date.now(),
  });
  
  const newUser = yield* db.table("users").get(userId);
  return newUser;
});

​
Access Control Patterns

​
Owner-Only Access

const updatePost = FunctionImpl.make(
  api,
  "posts",
  "update",
  ({ postId, title, content }) =>
    Effect.gen(function* () {
      const auth = yield* Auth;
      const db = yield* DatabaseReader<typeof databaseSchema>();
      const dbWrite = yield* DatabaseWriter<typeof databaseSchema>();
      
      const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
      
      // Check ownership
      const post = yield* db.table("posts").get(postId);
      
      if (post.authorId !== identity.subject) {
        return yield* Effect.fail(
          new UnauthorizedError({ message: "Not the post owner" })
        );
      }
      
      // Update post
      yield* dbWrite.table("posts").patch(postId, {
        title,
        content,
        updatedAt: Date.now(),
      });
    }).pipe(Effect.orDie)
);

​
Team-Based Access

const requireTeamMember = (teamId: string) =>
  Effect.gen(function* () {
    const auth = yield* Auth;
    const db = yield* DatabaseReader<typeof databaseSchema>();
    
    const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
    
    const membership = yield* db
      .table("team_members")
      .get("by_team_and_user", teamId, identity.subject)
      .pipe(
        Effect.catchTag("GetByIndexFailure", () =>
          Effect.fail(
            new UnauthorizedError({ message: "Not a team member" })
          )
        )
      );
    
    return membership;
  });

const createTeamPost = FunctionImpl.make(
  api,
  "teams",
  "createPost",
  ({ teamId, title, content }) =>
    Effect.gen(function* () {
      const auth = yield* Auth;
      const db = yield* DatabaseWriter<typeof databaseSchema>();
      
      // Verify team membership
      yield* requireTeamMember(teamId);
      
      const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity;
      
      const postId = yield* db.table("posts").insert({
        teamId,
        title,
        content,
        authorId: identity.subject,
        createdAt: Date.now(),
      });
      
      return { postId };
    }).pipe(Effect.orDie)
);

​
Custom Authentication

Implement custom authentication with API keys: 
import { ActionCtx } from "@confect/server";
import { Effect } from "effect";

const verifyAPIKey = (apiKey: string) =>
  Effect.gen(function* () {
    const db = yield* DatabaseReader<typeof databaseSchema>();
    
    // Hash the API key
    const hashedKey = hashAPIKey(apiKey);
    
    // Look up key
    const keyRecord = yield* db
      .table("apiKeys")
      .get("by_hash", hashedKey)
      .pipe(
        Effect.catchTag("GetByIndexFailure", () =>
          Effect.fail(new Error("Invalid API key"))
        )
      );
    
    return keyRecord.userId;
  });

const apiEndpoint = FunctionImpl.make(
  api,
  "api",
  "data",
  ({ apiKey }) =>
    Effect.gen(function* () {
      const db = yield* DatabaseReader<typeof databaseSchema>();
      
      // Verify API key
      const userId = yield* verifyAPIKey(apiKey);
      
      // Return user's data
      const data = yield* db
        .table("data")
        .index("by_user", (q) => q.eq("userId", userId))
        .collect();
      
      return data;
    }).pipe(Effect.orDie)
);

​
HTTP API Authentication

Authenticate HTTP requests: 
import { HttpApiBuilder, HttpServerRequest } from "@effect/platform";
import { Effect } from "effect";

const authMiddleware = (app: HttpApp.Default) =>
  HttpMiddleware.make((request) =>
    Effect.gen(function* () {
      const req = yield* HttpServerRequest.HttpServerRequest;
      const auth = yield* Auth;
      
      // Check if user is authenticated
      const identity = yield* auth.getUserIdentity.pipe(
        Effect.catchTag("NoUserIdentityFoundError", () =>
          Effect.fail(
            HttpServerResponse.unauthorized(
              Schema.Struct({ error: Schema.Literal("Unauthorized") })
            )
          )
        )
      );
      
      // Continue with authenticated request
      return yield* app(request);
    })
  );

​
User Schema

Define a user table with authentication fields:
schema.ts
import { Table } from "@confect/server";
import { Schema } from "effect";

const usersTable = Table.make(
  "users",
  Schema.Struct({
    subject: Schema.String, // Convex user ID
    email: Schema.String,
    name: Schema.String,
    role: Schema.Literal("user", "admin", "moderator"),
    createdAt: Schema.Number,
    lastLoginAt: Schema.Number,
  })
)
  .index("by_subject", ["subject"])
  .index("by_email", ["email"]);

​
Best Practices

1

Always Verify

Always verify user identity in protected functions - never trust client-provided user IDs.
2

Handle Errors

Handle NoUserIdentityFoundError explicitly to provide clear error messages.
3

Store User Data

Create user profiles in your database to store additional user information.
4

Implement RBAC

Use role-based access control for complex authorization requirements.
Never expose the user’s tokenIdentifier to other users - it’s sensitive authentication information.
Convex handles authentication tokens automatically. You don’t need to manage JWTs or sessions manually.

​
Next Steps

Functions

Learn about queries and mutations

Database

Store user data

HTTP API

Authenticate HTTP requests

Convex Auth

Set up Convex authentication

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