codexmachina
registry/nextjs-mysql-better-auth-saas

SaaS on Next.js 16 (App Router), MySQL 8 and Better Auth

verified 2026-07-15next16.2.9mysql23.22.6postgres3.4.9better-auth1.6.23@polar-sh/sdk0.48.1@neondatabase/serverless1.1.0

Type-checked against the real SDKs, migration applied to a live MySQL 8, connection clients load-tested, then tracked for upstream drift and re-verified when it moves. How we verify

request path
Browserrequest
fetch
Next.js 16 (App Router)routing + proxy
verify
Better Authsession
query
MySQL 8pooled

session validation runs in server components and route handlers, not at the edge

What you're getting

Next.js 16 (App Router)

Next.js 16 App Router — file-based routing, server components, and the Edge proxy (Next 16's renamed middleware).

MySQL 8

MySQL 8 via Drizzle ORM and the mysql2 driver.

Better Auth

Better Auth — self-hosted auth running inside your app against your Postgres (Drizzle adapter).

SaaS

Multi-tenant SaaS — organizations, role-based memberships, plans/subscriptions, and credit metering.

Setup

bun add next react react-dom drizzle-orm mysql2 better-auth
DATABASE_URLMySQL connection string (mysql://…)
BETTER_AUTH_SECRETgenerate with `openssl rand -base64 32`
BETTER_AUTH_URLyour app's base URL

Apply the schema with bunx drizzle-kit push

Initialization

Database client

src/lib/db.ts
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/mysql2";
import mysql from "mysql2/promise";

// ponytail: single module-level pool; the runtime + mysql2's pool handle concurrency,
// so no globalThis singleton dance needed.
const pool = mysql.createPool(process.env.DATABASE_URL!);

export const db = drizzle({ client: pool });
import { boolean, mysqlTable, text, timestamp, varchar } from "drizzle-orm/mysql-core";

export const user = mysqlTable("user", {
  id: varchar("id", { length: 255 }).primaryKey(),
  name: text("name").notNull(),
  email: varchar("email", { length: 255 }).notNull().unique(),
  emailVerified: boolean("email_verified").notNull().default(false),
  image: text("image"),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  updatedAt: timestamp("updated_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
});

export const session = mysqlTable("session", {
  id: varchar("id", { length: 255 }).primaryKey(),
  expiresAt: timestamp("expires_at").notNull(),
  token: varchar("token", { length: 255 }).notNull().unique(),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  updatedAt: timestamp("updated_at").notNull(),
  ipAddress: text("ip_address"),
  userAgent: text("user_agent"),
  userId: varchar("user_id", { length: 255 })
    .notNull()
    .references(() => user.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
});

export const account = mysqlTable("account", {
  id: varchar("id", { length: 255 }).primaryKey(),
  accountId: text("account_id").notNull(),
  providerId: text("provider_id").notNull(),
  userId: varchar("user_id", { length: 255 })
    .notNull()
    .references(() => user.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
  accessToken: text("access_token"),
  refreshToken: text("refresh_token"),
  idToken: text("id_token"),
  accessTokenExpiresAt: timestamp("access_token_expires_at"),
  refreshTokenExpiresAt: timestamp("refresh_token_expires_at"),
  scope: text("scope"),
  password: text("password"),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  updatedAt: timestamp("updated_at").notNull(),
});

export const verification = mysqlTable("verification", {
  id: varchar("id", { length: 255 }).primaryKey(),
  identifier: text("identifier").notNull(),
  value: text("value").notNull(),
  expiresAt: timestamp("expires_at").notNull(),
  createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  updatedAt: timestamp("updated_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
});
// Better Auth instance (self-hosted, Next.js 16 (App Router)).
import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";
import { drizzleAdapter } from "better-auth/adapters/drizzle";
// Reuse the SAME postgres-js/Drizzle client the db slice exported in
// src/lib/db.ts — Better Auth shares the pooled `DATABASE_URL` connection.
import { db } from "./db";
import * as authSchema from "@/db/auth-schema";

export const auth = betterAuth({
  // Drizzle adapter over the shared client. The schema is passed HERE (not into
  // drizzle()) — it is the only consumer that needs it, so the db client stays
  // schema-less. ponytail: do NOT enable experimental.joins; it is the one option
  // that would make the adapter reach into db._.fullSchema.
  // ponytail: usePlural stays false (the default) — with it true Better Auth would
  // look for `sessions`/`accounts` and could bind to the analytics/ledger app-type tables.
  database: drizzleAdapter(db, { provider: "mysql", schema: authSchema }),
  // ponytail: email+password is the shortest real auth that works out of
  // the box — add socialProviders / plugins here when the app needs them.
  emailAndPassword: { enabled: true },
  secret: process.env.BETTER_AUTH_SECRET,
  baseURL: process.env.BETTER_AUTH_URL,
});

export type Session = typeof auth.$Infer.Session;
// Mount Better Auth on Next's route layer.
import { toNextJsHandler } from "better-auth/next-js";
import { auth } from "@/lib/auth";

export const { GET, POST } = toNextJsHandler(auth);
// Session-protection proxy for Next.js 16 (App Router) (Next 16 renamed middleware.ts → proxy.ts).
// ponytail: getSessionCookie only checks the cookie EXISTS (no DB hit at
// the Edge runtime) — do the real auth.api.getSession() check inside
// protected Server Components / route handlers. This just bounces
// logged-out users before render.
import { NextResponse, type NextRequest } from "next/server";
import { getSessionCookie } from "better-auth/cookies";

export function proxy(request: NextRequest) {
  const sessionCookie = getSessionCookie(request);
  if (!sessionCookie) {
    return NextResponse.redirect(new URL("/sign-in", request.url));
  }
  return NextResponse.next();
}

export const config = {
  // ponytail: guard the SaaS app surface; widen the matcher per app-type.
  matcher: ["/dashboard/:path*", "/settings/:path*"],
};

Multi-tenant SaaS schema: organizations, billing & usage metering

Organizations & multi-tenancy

the tenant boundary every billable and metered row hangs off

Memberships & role-based access

org↔user join carrying owner/admin/member roles, unique per pair

Plans & subscription billing tables

the billable plan catalog and each org's current subscription state

API usage & credit/token metering

append-only usage rows that drive quota checks and usage billing

src/db/schema.ts
// === file: src/db/schema.ts ===
import { relations, sql } from "drizzle-orm";
import {
  bigint,
  check,
  index,
  int,
  mysqlTable,
  text,
  timestamp,
  unique,
  varchar,
} from "drizzle-orm/mysql-core";
// Better Auth owns identity; we only reference its `user` table by id. With Clerk
// the identity-sync mirror occupies this same ./auth-schema slot (src/db/auth-schema.ts).
import { user } from "./auth-schema";

export type MemberRole = "owner" | "admin" | "member";
export type SubscriptionStatus =
  | "trialing"
  | "active"
  | "past_due"
  | "canceled";

/** Tenant boundary: every billable/metered row hangs off an organization. */
export const organizations = mysqlTable(
  "organizations",
  {
    id: varchar("id", { length: 36 }).primaryKey(),
    slug: varchar("slug", { length: 255 }).notNull().unique(),
    name: text("name").notNull(),
    createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  },
  (t) => [index("idx_org_slug").on(t.slug)],
);

/** org <-> user join with role. The composite unique is the membership identity. */
export const memberships = mysqlTable(
  "memberships",
  {
    id: varchar("id", { length: 36 }).primaryKey(),
    organizationId: varchar("organization_id", { length: 36 })
      .notNull()
      .references(() => organizations.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    // Better Auth's user.id is text — match it as varchar(255).
    userId: varchar("user_id", { length: 255 })
      .notNull()
      .references(() => user.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    role: varchar("role", { length: 32 }).$type<MemberRole>().notNull().default("member"),
    createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  },
  (t) => [
    unique("memberships_org_user_unique").on(t.organizationId, t.userId),
    index("idx_membership_user").on(t.userId),
    check(
      "memberships_role_check",
      sql`${t.role} in ('owner','admin','member')`,
    ),
  ],
);

/** Catalog of billable plans (seed-managed). priceCents keeps money integer. */
export const plans = mysqlTable("plans", {
  id: varchar("id", { length: 36 }).primaryKey(),
  slug: varchar("slug", { length: 255 }).notNull().unique(), // free | pro | scale
  name: text("name").notNull(),
  priceCents: int("price_cents").notNull().default(0),
  // Monthly included credits; metering checks usage against this.
  monthlyCredits: bigint("monthly_credits", { mode: "number" })
    .notNull()
    .default(0),
});

/** One active subscription per org. Mirrors the billing provider's state. */
export const subscriptions = mysqlTable(
  "subscriptions",
  {
    id: varchar("id", { length: 36 }).primaryKey(),
    organizationId: varchar("organization_id", { length: 36 })
      .notNull()
      .references(() => organizations.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    planId: varchar("plan_id", { length: 36 })
      .notNull()
      .references(() => plans.id),
    status: varchar("status", { length: 32 })
      .$type<SubscriptionStatus>()
      .notNull()
      .default("trialing"),
    // The generic billing-sync contract every webhook provider (Polar/Stripe/LemonSqueezy)
    // needs: the provider's subscription id as a UNIQUE idempotency key, plus the last
    // event timestamp as an out-of-order/staleness guard. The billing fragment maps a
    // provider's events onto these — it does NOT redeclare this table (compose, not duplicate).
    providerSubId: varchar("provider_sub_id", { length: 255 }).unique(),
    providerEventAt: timestamp("provider_event_at"),
    currentPeriodEnd: timestamp("current_period_end"),
    createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  },
  (t) => [
    // One live subscription per org (the metering layer reads exactly one).
    unique("subscriptions_org_unique").on(t.organizationId),
    index("idx_sub_status").on(t.status),
    check(
      "subscriptions_status_check",
      sql`${t.status} in ('trialing','active','past_due','canceled')`,
    ),
  ],
);

/** Append-only credit/token meter. Roll up by org+window for quota + billing. */
export const apiUsage = mysqlTable(
  "api_usage",
  {
    id: varchar("id", { length: 36 }).primaryKey(),
    organizationId: varchar("organization_id", { length: 36 })
      .notNull()
      .references(() => organizations.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    // Who/what spent — opaque key id, nullable for org-level system calls.
    apiKeyId: text("api_key_id"),
    creditsUsed: bigint("credits_used", { mode: "number" }).notNull(),
    createdAt: timestamp("created_at").notNull().defaultNow(),
  },
  (t) => [
    // Drives the "credits used this period" rollup query.
    index("idx_usage_org_time").on(t.organizationId, t.createdAt),
  ],
);

export const organizationsRelations = relations(organizations, ({ many }) => ({
  memberships: many(memberships),
  subscriptions: many(subscriptions),
  usage: many(apiUsage),
}));

export const membershipsRelations = relations(memberships, ({ one }) => ({
  organization: one(organizations, {
    fields: [memberships.organizationId],
    references: [organizations.id],
  }),
  user: one(user, { fields: [memberships.userId], references: [user.id] }),
}));

export const subscriptionsRelations = relations(subscriptions, ({ one }) => ({
  organization: one(organizations, {
    fields: [subscriptions.organizationId],
    references: [organizations.id],
  }),
  plan: one(plans, {
    fields: [subscriptions.planId],
    references: [plans.id],
  }),
}));

export const apiUsageRelations = relations(apiUsage, ({ one }) => ({
  organization: one(organizations, {
    fields: [apiUsage.organizationId],
    references: [organizations.id],
  }),
}));

Verified billing (Polar)

✓ Idempotency proven: a duplicate webhook delivery yields one subscription, not two; a stale, out-of-order event can't overwrite newer state. Replayed against a live database, not just type-checked.
src/lib/billing/record.ts
import { and, eq, isNull, lt, or } from "drizzle-orm";
import { subscriptions } from "@/db/schema";

export type PolarSubscriptionEvent = {
  type: string;
  data: {
    id: string;
    status: string;
    currentPeriodEnd: string | null;
    modifiedAt: string;
    metadata: { organizationId: string; planId: string };
  };
};

const STATUS_MAP: Record<string, "trialing" | "active" | "past_due" | "canceled"> = {
  trialing: "trialing",
  active: "active",
  past_due: "past_due",
  unpaid: "past_due",
  canceled: "canceled",
  revoked: "canceled",
};

// Idempotent + CONCURRENCY-safe sync of a Polar subscription (MySQL). The staleness guard lives
// in the UPDATE's WHERE, so the row lock serializes concurrent retries. MySQL has no RETURNING —
// affectedRows tells us if a row advanced. The insert path catches the unique-key race (a
// concurrent delivery of the same NEW event) as an idempotent no-op, rethrowing every other error.
// Returns changed=true only on a real advance so callers can guard side effects (emails) against
// Polar's duplicate deliveries.
export async function recordPolarEvent(
  // ponytail: loosely typed Drizzle client so the emitted core stays portable.
  db: any,
  event: PolarSubscriptionEvent,
): Promise<{ changed: boolean }> {
  const sub = event.data;
  const status = STATUS_MAP[sub.status];
  if (!status) return { changed: false }; // unknown status — ignore, don't default
  const eventAt = new Date(sub.modifiedAt);
  const currentPeriodEnd = sub.currentPeriodEnd ? new Date(sub.currentPeriodEnd) : null;

  // Guarded UPDATE: applies only when our event is strictly newer than what's stored.
  // No TOCTOU — the comparison is in the WHERE, evaluated under the row lock.
  const updated = await db
    .update(subscriptions)
    .set({ status, currentPeriodEnd, providerEventAt: eventAt })
    .where(
      and(
        eq(subscriptions.providerSubId, sub.id),
        or(isNull(subscriptions.providerEventAt), lt(subscriptions.providerEventAt, eventAt)),
      ),
    );
  if (updated[0].affectedRows > 0) return { changed: true };

  // No row advanced: the row exists but our event is stale (guard rejected it), or it doesn't
  // exist yet. If it exists, this is a stale/duplicate delivery — ignore.
  const [existing] = await db
    .select({ id: subscriptions.id })
    .from(subscriptions)
    .where(eq(subscriptions.providerSubId, sub.id))
    .limit(1);
  if (existing) return { changed: false };

  // The row doesn't exist yet — insert it. A concurrent delivery of the SAME new subscription can
  // win the race between our SELECT and this INSERT; the unique key then rejects ours (ER_DUP_ENTRY)
  // — an idempotent no-op, NOT a change. Any other error is real: rethrow so the webhook fails loud
  // and Polar retries.
  try {
    await db.insert(subscriptions).values({
      id: crypto.randomUUID(),
      organizationId: sub.metadata.organizationId,
      planId: sub.metadata.planId,
      status,
      currentPeriodEnd,
      providerSubId: sub.id,
      providerEventAt: eventAt,
    });
    return { changed: true };
  } catch (err: any) {
    if ((err?.cause?.code ?? err?.code) === "ER_DUP_ENTRY") return { changed: false };
    throw err;
  }
}
// Polar webhook for Next.js 16 (App Router). Verifies the HMAC signature, then hands the
// event to the idempotent recordPolarEvent. Returns 200 even if non-critical work
// fails; only a signature failure is rejected.
import { validateEvent, WebhookVerificationError } from "@polar-sh/sdk/webhooks";
import { db } from "@/lib/db";
import { recordPolarEvent, type PolarSubscriptionEvent } from "@/lib/billing/record";

const SUBSCRIPTION_EVENTS = new Set([
  "subscription.created",
  "subscription.active",
  "subscription.updated",
  "subscription.canceled",
  "subscription.revoked",
  "subscription.uncanceled",
]);

export async function POST(request: Request): Promise<Response> {
  const secret = process.env.POLAR_WEBHOOK_SECRET;
  if (!secret) return Response.json({ error: "Server misconfigured" }, { status: 500 });

  const raw = await request.text();
  const headers = Object.fromEntries(request.headers.entries());

  let event: { type: string; data: unknown };
  try {
    event = validateEvent(raw, headers, secret);
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof WebhookVerificationError) {
      return Response.json({ error: "Invalid signature" }, { status: 403 });
    }
    throw error;
  }

  if (SUBSCRIPTION_EVENTS.has(event.type)) {
    await recordPolarEvent(db, event as PolarSubscriptionEvent);
  }
  return Response.json({ ok: true });
}

Verified tenant scoping

✓ Enforced in application code: MySQL 8 has no row-level security, so isolation runs through the fail-closed forOrg(db, orgId) helper. Route every org-scoped query through it; a raw query does leak. See the decisions below.
src/lib/tenant.ts
import { eq } from "drizzle-orm";
import { memberships, subscriptions, apiUsage } from "@/db/schema";

// MySQL has NO row-level security. Tenant isolation is enforced HERE: route EVERY org-scoped
// read/write through forOrg(db, orgId). Fail-closed — a missing orgId throws rather than running
// unscoped. The global `plans` catalog is intentionally NOT scoped.
export function forOrg(db: any, orgId: string) {
  if (!orgId) throw new Error("forOrg: missing orgId — refusing to run an unscoped tenant query");
  const scoped = (table: any, orgCol: any) => ({
    select: () => db.select().from(table).where(eq(orgCol, orgId)),
    update: (values: Record<string, unknown>) => db.update(table).set(values).where(eq(orgCol, orgId)),
    delete: () => db.delete(table).where(eq(orgCol, orgId)),
  });
  return {
    memberships: scoped(memberships, memberships.organizationId),
    subscriptions: scoped(subscriptions, subscriptions.organizationId),
    apiUsage: scoped(apiUsage, apiUsage.organizationId),
  };
}

Deploy targets

✓ The right DB client for where you deploy: load-tested with concurrent queries against a live database. Edge needs the HTTP driver (no TCP); serverless needs a tiny pool.
src/lib/db.ts
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/mysql2";
import mysql from "mysql2/promise";

// Serverless: a small pool per short-lived instance — many instances × a big pool exhausts MySQL.
export const pool = mysql.createPool({ uri: process.env.DATABASE_URL!, connectionLimit: 2 });
export const db = drizzle({ client: pool });
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/mysql2";
import mysql from "mysql2/promise";

// Long-running process: a real, reused pool (mysql2 manages idle recycling).
export const pool = mysql.createPool({ uri: process.env.DATABASE_URL!, connectionLimit: 10 });
export const db = drizzle({ client: pool });
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/planetscale-serverless";
import { Client } from "@planetscale/database";

// Edge/Workers have NO TCP sockets, so mysql2 cannot run here. PlanetScale's HTTP driver
// speaks MySQL over fetch — the client that works on Workers (the MySQL analog of Neon's HTTP driver).
const client = new Client({ url: process.env.DATABASE_URL! });
export const db = drizzle({ client });

Decisions and compatibility

note

Auth runs in proxy.ts (Next 16's renamed middleware) on the Edge runtime: it gates on the session cookie's presence only — full session validation happens in Server Components and route handlers, not in the proxy.

note

mysql2's pool multiplexes connections; drizzle-orm/mysql2 wraps it. One module-level pool is right for a serverless/edge app — the runtime and the pool handle concurrency.

note

MySQL has no row-level security: multi-tenant isolation is enforced in application code via the forOrg helper (src/lib/tenant.ts), not by the database. See the tenant-scoping section on SaaS pages.

note

Self-hosted: Better Auth owns the user/session/account/verification tables. This stack emits them (db/auth-schema.ts) and hands them to the Drizzle adapter, so app-type schemas can foreign-key `user` directly.

note

One active subscription per organization (unique on organization_id) — the metering layer reads exactly one.

note

Usage is an append-only meter (api_usage): roll up by organization + time window for quota and billing rather than mutating a running total.

caveat

MySQL provides no row-level security. On MySQL, multi-tenant isolation is APP-ENFORCED via the forOrg helper (src/lib/tenant.ts), not database-enforced like Postgres RLS. Every org-scoped query MUST go through forOrg — a missed query leaks across tenants. Postgres cells enforce this in the database itself (RLS), so it holds even for a query that forgets to scope.