Use Clerk with Remix

Learn how to use Clerk to quickly and easily add secure authentication and user management to your Remix application. This guide assumes that you are using Remix v2 or later.

Install `@clerk/remix`

Once you have a Remix application ready, you need to install Clerk's Remix SDK. This gives you access to our prebuilt components and hooks for Remix applications.

terminal
npm install @clerk/remix

terminal
yarn add @clerk/remix

terminal
pnpm add @clerk/remix

Set environment keys

Below is an example of an .env file. If you are signed into your Clerk Dashboard, your keys should become visible by clicking on the eye icon.

.env
CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY={{pub_key}}
CLERK_SECRET_KEY={{secret}}

Configure `rootAuthLoader`

To configure Clerk in your Remix application, you will need to update your root loader. This will enable you to have access to authentication state in any Remix routes.

app/root.tsx
import type { MetaFunction, LoaderFunction } from "@remix-run/node";
import {
  Links,
  LiveReload,
  Meta,
  Outlet,
  Scripts,
  ScrollRestoration,
} from "@remix-run/react";
 
import { rootAuthLoader } from "@clerk/remix/ssr.server";
 
export const meta: MetaFunction = () => ([{
  charset: "utf-8",
  title: "New Remix App",
  viewport: "width=device-width,initial-scale=1",
}]);
 
export const loader: LoaderFunction = (args) => rootAuthLoader(args);
 
export default function App() {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        <Meta />
        <Links />
      </head>
      <body>
        <Outlet />
        <ScrollRestoration />
        <Scripts />
        <LiveReload />
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}

If you need to load in additonal data, you can pass your loader directly to the rootAuthLoader.

app/root.tsx
// Imports
 
 
export const loader: LoaderFunction = args => {
  return rootAuthLoader(args, ({ request }) => {
    const { sessionId, userId, getToken } = request.auth;
    // fetch data
    return { yourData: 'here' };
  });
};
 
// Additonal application code

Configure `ClerkApp`

Clerk provides a ClerkApp wrapper to provide the authentication state to your React tree. This helper works with Remix SSR out-of-the-box and follows the "higher-order component" paradigm.

app/root.tsx
import type { MetaFunction, LoaderFunction } from "@remix-run/node";
 
import {
  Links,
  LiveReload,
  Meta,
  Outlet,
  Scripts,
  ScrollRestoration,
} from "@remix-run/react";
 
import { rootAuthLoader } from "@clerk/remix/ssr.server";
// Import ClerkApp
import { ClerkApp } from "@clerk/remix";
 
export const meta: MetaFunction = () => ({
  charset: "utf-8",
  title: "New Remix App",
  viewport: "width=device-width,initial-scale=1",
});
 
export const loader: LoaderFunction = (args) => rootAuthLoader(args);
 
function App() {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        <Meta />
        <Links />
      </head>
      <body>
        <Outlet />
        <ScrollRestoration />
        <Scripts />
        <LiveReload />
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}
 
// Wrap your app in ClerkApp(app)
export default ClerkApp(App);

Set root `ErrorBoundary`

Clerk uses short lived tokens to keep your application secure. To refresh expired tokens, Clerk uses Remix's error boundary.

If you are seeing a 401 after a short period of time, even though your user is logged in, please verify you have implemented this section.

app/root.tsx
import type { MetaFunction, LoaderFunction } from "@remix-run/node";
 
import {
  Links,
  LiveReload,
  Meta,
  Outlet,
  Scripts,
  ScrollRestoration,
} from "@remix-run/react";
 
import { rootAuthLoader } from "@clerk/remix/ssr.server";
import { ClerkApp, ClerkErrorBoundary } from "@clerk/remix";
 
export const meta: MetaFunction = () => ({
  charset: "utf-8",
  title: "New Remix App",
  viewport: "width=device-width,initial-scale=1",
});
 
export const loader: LoaderFunction = (args) => rootAuthLoader(args);
// add an Error Boundary
export const ErrorBoundary = ClerkErrorBoundary();
 
function App() {
  return (
    <html lang="en">
      <head>
        <Meta />
        <Links />
      </head>
      <body>
        <Outlet />
        <ScrollRestoration />
        <Scripts />
        <LiveReload />
      </body>
    </html>
  );
}
 
export default ClerkApp(App);

Custom Boundary

If you need to add a custom boundary to your application, you can pass it as an argument to the ClerkErrorBoundary.

app/root.tsx
// Imports
 
// YourBoundary is passed as an argument to ClerkErrorBoundary
export const ErrorBoundary = ClerkErrorBoundary(YourBoundary);
 
// Additional application code

In addition to the Account Portal pages, Clerk also offers a set of prebuilt components that you can use instead to embed sign-in, sign-up, and other user management functions into your Remix application. We are going to use the <SignIn /> and <SignUp /> components by utilizing the Remix optional catch-all route.

The functionality of the components are controlled by the instance settings you specify in your Clerk Dashboard.

app/routes/sign-up.$.tsx
import { SignUp } from "@clerk/remix";
 
export default function SignUpPage() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Sign Up route</h1>
      <SignUp />
    </div>
  );
}

app/routes/sign-in.$.tsx
import { SignIn } from "@clerk/remix";
 
export default function SignInPage() {
  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Sign In route</h1>
      <SignIn />
    </div>
  );
}

Update your environment variables

Next, add environment variables for the signIn, signUp, afterSignUp, and afterSignIn paths:

.env
CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL=/sign-in
CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL=/sign-up
CLERK_AFTER_SIGN_IN_URL=/
CLERK_AFTER_SIGN_UP_URL=/

These values control the behavior of the components when you sign in or sign up and when you click on the respective links at the bottom of each component.

Protecting your pages

Client side

Clerk offers Control Components that allow you to protect your pages. These components are used to control the visibility of your pages based on the user's authentication state.

routes/index.tsx
import {
  SignedIn,
  SignedOut,
  RedirectToSignIn,
  UserButton,
} from "@clerk/remix";
 
export default function Index() {
  return (
    <div>
      <SignedIn>
        <h1>Index route</h1>
        <p>You are signed in!</p>
        <UserButton />
      </SignedIn>
      <SignedOut>
        <RedirectToSignIn />
      </SignedOut>
    </div>
  );
}

Server side

To protect your routes, you can use the the loader to check for the userId singleton. If it doesn't exist, redirect your user back to the sign-in page.

routes/index.tsx
import { UserButton } from "@clerk/remix";
import { getAuth } from "@clerk/remix/ssr.server";
import { LoaderFunction, redirect } from "@remix-run/node";
 
export const loader: LoaderFunction = async (args) => {
  const { userId } = await getAuth(args);
  if (!userId) {
    return redirect("/sign-in");
  }
  return {};
}
 
export default function Index() {
  return (
    <div>
        <h1>Index route</h1>
        <p>You are signed in!</p>
        <UserButton afterSignOutUrl="/"/>
    </div>
  );
}

Read session and user data

Clerk provides a set of hooks and helpers that you can use to access the active session and user data in your Remix application. Here are examples of how to use these helpers.

Client side

`useAuth()`

The useAuth hook is a convenient way to access the current auth state. This hook provides the minimal information needed for data-loading and helper methods to manage the current active session.

routes/example.tsx
import { useAuth } from "@clerk/remix";
 
export default function Example() {
  const { isLoaded, userId, sessionId, getToken } = useAuth();
 
  // In case the user signs out while on the page.
  if (!isLoaded || !userId) {
    return null;
  }
 
  return (
    <div>
      Hello, {userId} your current active session is {sessionId}
    </div>
  );
}

`useUser()`

The useUser hook is a convenient way to access the current user data where you need it. This hook provides the user data and helper methods to manage the current active session.

routes/example.tsx
import { useUser } from "@clerk/remix";
 
export default function Example() {
  const { isLoaded, isSignedIn, user } = useUser();
 
  if (!isLoaded || !isSignedIn) {
    return null;
  }
 
  return <div>Hello, {user.firstName} welcome to Clerk</div>;
}

Server side

`getAuth()`

The getAuth() helper allows you to access the Authentication Object, including the current userId. You can use this helper to protect your loader function or get data for the initial render of the route.

routes/example.tsx
export const loader: LoaderFunction = async (args) => {
  // Use getAuth to retrieve user data 
  const { userId, sessionId, getToken } = await getAuth(args);
 
  // If there is no userId, then redirect to sign-in route
  if (!userId) {
    return redirect("/sign-in?redirect_url=" + args.request.url);
  }
 
  // Use the userId to fetch data from your database
  const posts = await mockGetPosts(userId);
 
  return { posts };
};

The getAuth() helper allows you to access the Authentication Object. You can use the returns from getAuth() to protect the action function, update the user or perform mutations on data in your database.

routes/example.tsx
export const action: ActionFunction = async (args) => {
 
  // Use getAuth to retrieve user data 
  const { userId, getToken } = await getAuth(args)
 
  // Use the userId to perform a mutation on data in your database
  const updatedPost = await mockUpdatePost(userId, postId, body)
 
  return { updatedPost };
}

Examples of fetching and mutating user data

routes/profile.tsx
import { LoaderFunction, redirect } from "@remix-run/node";
import { getAuth } from "@clerk/remix/ssr.server";
import { createClerkClient } from '@clerk/remix/api.server';
 
export const loader: LoaderFunction = async (args) => {
  const { userId } = await getAuth(args);
 
  if (!userId) {
    return redirect("/sign-in?redirect_url=" + args.request.url);
  }
 
  const user = await createClerkClient({secretKey: process.env.CLERK_SECRET_KEY}).users.getUser(userId);
  return { serialisedUser: JSON.stringify(user) };
};

routes/profile.tsx
import { ActionFunction, redirect } from "@remix-run/node";
import { getAuth } from "@clerk/remix/ssr.server";
import { createClerkClient } from '@clerk/remix/api.server';
 
export const action: ActionFunction = async (args) => {
  // Use getAuth to retrieve user data
  const { userId } = await getAuth(args)
 
  // If there is no userId, then redirect to sign-in route
  if (!userId) {
    return redirect("/sign-in?redirect_url=" + args.request.url);
  }
  // Prepare the data for the mutation
  const params = { firstName: 'John', lastName: 'Wicker' };
 
  // Initialize clerkClient and perform the mutations
  const updatedUser = await createClerkClient({ secretKey: process.env.CLERK_SECRET_KEY }).users.updateUser(userId, params);
 
  // Return the updated user
  return { serialisedUser: JSON.stringify(updatedUser) };
};

Next steps

Now that you have an application integrated with Clerk, you will want to read the following documentation:

Customization & Localization

Learn how to customize and localize the Clerk components.

Learn More

Authentication Components

Learn more about all our authentication components.

Learn More

Client Side Helpers

Learn more about our client side helpers and how to use them.

Learn More

Install @clerk/remix

Set environment keys

Configure rootAuthLoader

Configure ClerkApp

Set root ErrorBoundary

Custom Boundary

Build your own sign-in and sign-up pages

Build your sign-up page

Build your sign-in page

Update your environment variables

Protecting your pages

Client side

Server side

Read session and user data

Client side

useAuth()

useUser()

Server side

getAuth()

Examples of fetching and mutating user data

Next steps

Customization & Localization

Authentication Components

Client Side Helpers

Install `@clerk/remix`

Configure `rootAuthLoader`

Configure `ClerkApp`

Set root `ErrorBoundary`

`useAuth()`

`useUser()`

`getAuth()`