codexmachina
registry/nextjs-postgres-better-auth-ai-wrapper

AI Wrapper on Next.js 16 (App Router), Postgres (Neon) and Better Auth

verified 2026-07-15next16.2.9postgres3.4.9better-auth1.6.23@neondatabase/serverless1.1.0

Type-checked against the real SDKs, migration applied to a live Postgres (Neon), 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
Postgres (Neon)pooled

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).

Postgres (Neon)

Postgres on Neon via Drizzle ORM and the postgres-js driver.

Better Auth

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

AI Wrapper

AI-wrapper app — per-user profile extending Better Auth, per-call token metering, and append-only prompt/completion history.

Setup

bun add next react react-dom drizzle-orm postgres better-auth
DATABASE_URLNeon pooled (-pooler) connection string
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/postgres-js";
import postgres from "postgres";

// Neon pooled endpoint = PgBouncer transaction mode → prepared statements off.
// ponytail: single module-level client; the serverless runtime + PgBouncer do
// the pooling, so no custom pool/globalThis singleton dance needed.
const client = postgres(process.env.DATABASE_URL!, { prepare: false });

export const db = drizzle({ client });
import { boolean, pgTable, text, timestamp } from "drizzle-orm/pg-core";

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

export const account = pgTable("account", {
  id: text("id").primaryKey(),
  accountId: text("account_id").notNull(),
  providerId: text("provider_id").notNull(),
  userId: text("user_id")
    .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 = pgTable("verification", {
  id: text("id").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: "pg", 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*"],
};

AI app schema: user profiles, token metering & prompt logs

User profiles extending Better Auth

one profile per Better Auth user, carrying default model preference and soft monthly token budget

Per-call token usage & cost metering

append-only rows (one per upstream LLM call) that drive the per-user budget rollup and cost reporting

Prompt & completion log history

auditable record of every exchange — prompt, completion, token split, latency, and ok/error/filtered status

src/db/schema.ts
// === file: src/db/schema.ts ===
import { relations, sql } from "drizzle-orm";
import {
  bigint,
  check,
  index,
  integer,
  jsonb,
  pgTable,
  text,
  timestamp,
  uuid,
} from "drizzle-orm/pg-core";
// Better Auth owns identity; we only reference its `user` table by id.
import { user } from "./auth-schema";

export type CallStatus = "ok" | "error" | "filtered";

/** One profile per Better Auth user — extends identity with AI-app preferences
 *  and the soft monthly token budget the metering layer enforces. */
export const userProfiles = pgTable(
  "user_profiles",
  {
    id: uuid("id").primaryKey().defaultRandom(),
    // Better Auth's user.id is text — match it, don't recast. One profile per
    // user, so the FK itself is unique (this is the 1:1 extension of `user`).
    userId: text("user_id")
      .notNull()
      .unique()
      .references(() => user.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    displayName: text("display_name"),
    // Default model this user's requests fall back to (e.g. gpt-4o-mini).
    defaultModel: text("default_model").notNull().default("gpt-4o-mini"),
    // Soft cap the metering layer checks token_usage against per calendar month.
    monthlyTokenBudget: bigint("monthly_token_budget", { mode: "number" })
      .notNull()
      .default(0),
    createdAt: timestamp("created_at", { withTimezone: true })
      .notNull()
      .defaultNow(),
  },
  (t) => [index("idx_profile_model").on(t.defaultModel)],
);

/** Append-only token meter: one row per upstream LLM call. Roll up by
 *  user + window for budget enforcement and cost reporting. */
export const tokenUsage = pgTable(
  "token_usage",
  {
    id: uuid("id").primaryKey().defaultRandom(),
    userId: text("user_id")
      .notNull()
      .references(() => user.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    // Which upstream model was billed (provider model id, opaque to us).
    model: text("model").notNull(),
    promptTokens: integer("prompt_tokens").notNull().default(0),
    completionTokens: integer("completion_tokens").notNull().default(0),
    // ponytail: store cost in micro-cents as an integer — no float money, and
    // fine-grained enough for sub-cent per-token pricing without a numeric type.
    costMicrocents: bigint("cost_microcents", { mode: "number" })
      .notNull()
      .default(0),
    createdAt: timestamp("created_at", { withTimezone: true })
      .notNull()
      .defaultNow(),
  },
  (t) => [
    // Drives the "tokens used this month" rollup + budget check.
    index("idx_usage_user_time").on(t.userId, t.createdAt),
    index("idx_usage_model").on(t.model),
  ],
);

/** Append-only prompt/completion history — the auditable record of every
 *  exchange (prompt in, completion out, model, token split, outcome). */
export const promptLogs = pgTable(
  "prompt_logs",
  {
    id: uuid("id").primaryKey().defaultRandom(),
    userId: text("user_id")
      .notNull()
      .references(() => user.id, { onDelete: "cascade" }),
    model: text("model").notNull(),
    prompt: text("prompt").notNull(),
    // Null while a streamed completion is still in flight.
    completion: text("completion"),
    promptTokens: integer("prompt_tokens").notNull().default(0),
    completionTokens: integer("completion_tokens").notNull().default(0),
    latencyMs: integer("latency_ms"),
    status: text("status").$type<CallStatus>().notNull().default("ok"),
    // ponytail: opaque per-call metadata (tool calls, finish_reason, etc.) —
    // jsonb bag beats a column-per-provider-field churn.
    metadata: jsonb("metadata"),
    createdAt: timestamp("created_at", { withTimezone: true })
      .notNull()
      .defaultNow(),
  },
  (t) => [
    // Drives the per-user history feed (most-recent-first).
    index("idx_log_user_time").on(t.userId, t.createdAt),
    check(
      "prompt_logs_status_check",
      sql`${t.status} in ('ok','error','filtered')`,
    ),
  ],
);

export const userProfilesRelations = relations(userProfiles, ({ one }) => ({
  user: one(user, {
    fields: [userProfiles.userId],
    references: [user.id],
  }),
}));

export const tokenUsageRelations = relations(tokenUsage, ({ one }) => ({
  user: one(user, { fields: [tokenUsage.userId], references: [user.id] }),
}));

export const promptLogsRelations = relations(promptLogs, ({ one }) => ({
  user: one(user, { fields: [promptLogs.userId], references: [user.id] }),
}));

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/postgres-js";
import postgres from "postgres";

// Serverless: one connection per (short-lived) instance; Neon's pooler multiplexes.
export const sql = postgres(process.env.DATABASE_URL!, { prepare: false, max: 1 });
export const db = drizzle(sql);
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/postgres-js";
import postgres from "postgres";

// Long-running process: a real, reused pool. Still prepare:false on the pooled endpoint.
export const sql = postgres(process.env.DATABASE_URL!, { prepare: false, max: 10, idle_timeout: 20 });
export const db = drizzle(sql);
import { neon } from "@neondatabase/serverless";
import { drizzle } from "drizzle-orm/neon-http";

// Edge/Workers have NO TCP sockets, so postgres-js cannot run here. Neon's HTTP
// driver speaks Postgres over fetch — the only client that works on Workers.
export const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL!);
export const db = drizzle(sql);

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

prepare: false is mandatory — Neon's pooled endpoint is PgBouncer in transaction mode, where server-side prepared statements break across the pool.

note

Drizzle is paired here (not Prisma): Prisma's prepared-statement reliance is incompatible with transaction-mode pooling.

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

user_profiles.userId carries a UNIQUE constraint — it is the 1:1 extension of Better Auth's user row; the FK itself is the identity, so no separate join table is needed.

note

token_usage is append-only and stores cost as costMicrocents (bigint integer): no float money, fine-grained enough for sub-cent per-token pricing without a numeric type.