name: convex-better-auth-user-management

description: |

Manage Better Auth user data in Convex component tables. Use when: (1) need to

manually verify user email in development, (2) "Email not verified" error blocking

login, (3) need to modify Better Auth user/session/account data directly, (4) can't

write mutations to access component tables, (5) debugging auth issues in Convex +

Better Auth setup. Covers CLI data access, export/import workflow, and common gotchas.

author: Claude Code

version: 1.0.0

date: 2026-01-21

Convex Better Auth User Management

Problem

Better Auth stores user data in Convex component tables that can't be accessed through

normal Convex queries/mutations. When you need to manually verify a user's email, modify

auth data, or debug authentication issues, standard approaches don't work.

Context / Trigger Conditions

• "Email not verified" error when trying to log in
• Need to bypass email verification in local development
• Can't send verification emails (no email service configured)
• Writing a mutation to access Better Auth tables fails with errors like:
• "Identifier betterAuth:user has invalid character ':'"
• "getComponentContext is not a function"
• Need to inspect or modify user, session, or account data

Solution

1. View Better Auth Component Tables

List available tables in the component:

npx convex data --component betterAuth

Common tables: user, session, account, verification

2. View User Data

npx convex data user --component betterAuth --limit 20

As JSON for processing:

npx convex data user --component betterAuth --format jsonl > users.jsonl

3. Modify User Data (Export/Import Workflow)

Since you can't write mutations to access component tables directly, use export/import:

# Export current data
npx convex data user --component betterAuth --format jsonl > /tmp/ba-users.jsonl

# Modify the file (e.g., set emailVerified: true)
sed -i 's/"emailVerified": false/"emailVerified": true/g' /tmp/ba-users.jsonl

# Or for a specific user:
sed -i 's/"email": "user@example.com", "emailVerified": false/"email": "user@example.com", "emailVerified": true/g' /tmp/ba-users.jsonl

# Reimport (replaces all data in the table)
npx convex import --component betterAuth --table user --replace /tmp/ba-users.jsonl --yes

4. Alternative: Disable Email Verification in Dev

In your Better Auth config (e.g., convex/betterAuth.ts):

emailAndPassword: {
  enabled: true,
  requireEmailVerification: process.env.NODE_ENV === "production",
  // ...
}

Note: This only affects NEW signups. Existing unverified users still need manual verification.

Verification

After modification:

npx convex data user --component betterAuth | grep "email@example.com"

Verify emailVerified shows true, then try logging in again.

Example

Scenario: User signed up but email verification failed. Need to verify manually.

# Check current state
npx convex data user --component betterAuth --format pretty | grep -A2 "me@example.com"
# Shows: emailVerified: false

# Export, modify, reimport
npx convex data user --component betterAuth --format jsonl > /tmp/users.jsonl
sed -i 's/"email": "me@example.com", "emailVerified": false/"email": "me@example.com", "emailVerified": true/g' /tmp/users.jsonl
npx convex import --component betterAuth --table user --replace /tmp/users.jsonl --yes

# Verify
npx convex data user --component betterAuth | grep "me@example.com"
# Shows: emailVerified: true

Notes

• Import replaces ALL data: The --replace flag deletes all existing rows before import.

Export the full table first, modify, then reimport.

• Can't write mutations for components: Convex component tables use a different namespace.

Direct DB queries like ctx.db.query("betterAuth:user") won't work from your app's mutations.

• Session/Account tables: Same pattern works for session and account tables if you

need to debug auth sessions.

• Production warning: Only use this for development/debugging. In production, use proper

email verification flows.

Related

• Cloudflare Turnstile test keys for development: Use site key 1x00000000000000000000AA

to bypass CAPTCHA in automated testing/development.

• Admin email auto-grant: Set ADMIN_EMAIL env var to automatically grant admin to that

user on first login sync.