Agent skill

clerk-local-dev-loop

Set up local development workflow with Clerk. Use when configuring development environment, testing auth locally, or setting up hot reload with Clerk. Trigger with phrases like "clerk local dev", "clerk development", "test clerk locally", "clerk dev environment".

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Forks 31

Install this agent skill to your Project

npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/data/clerk-local-dev-loop

SKILL.md

Clerk Local Dev Loop

Overview

Configure an efficient local development workflow with Clerk authentication.

Prerequisites

  • Clerk SDK installed
  • Development and production instances in Clerk dashboard
  • Node.js development environment

Instructions

Step 1: Configure Development Instance

bash
# Use development keys in .env.local
cat > .env.local << 'EOF'
# Development keys (start with pk_test_ and sk_test_)
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_...
CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...

# Optional: Custom sign-in/sign-up URLs
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL=/sign-in
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL=/sign-up
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_AFTER_SIGN_IN_URL=/dashboard
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_AFTER_SIGN_UP_URL=/onboarding
EOF

Step 2: Set Up Test Users

typescript
// scripts/create-test-user.ts
// Use Clerk Backend SDK for test user management
import { clerkClient } from '@clerk/nextjs/server'

async function createTestUser() {
  const user = await clerkClient.users.createUser({
    emailAddress: ['test@example.com'],
    password: 'testpassword123',
    firstName: 'Test',
    lastName: 'User'
  })
  console.log('Created test user:', user.id)
}

Step 3: Configure Hot Reload

typescript
// next.config.js
/** @type {import('next').NextConfig} */
const nextConfig = {
  // Clerk works with fast refresh out of the box
  reactStrictMode: true,

  // Environment-specific configuration
  env: {
    CLERK_DOMAIN: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development'
      ? 'clerk.your-dev-domain.com'
      : 'clerk.your-prod-domain.com'
  }
}

module.exports = nextConfig

Step 4: Development Scripts

json
{
  "scripts": {
    "dev": "next dev",
    "dev:https": "next dev --experimental-https",
    "clerk:dev": "npx @clerk/cli dev",
    "test:auth": "node scripts/test-auth.js"
  }
}

Step 5: Mock Authentication for Tests

typescript
// __tests__/setup.ts
import { vi } from 'vitest'

// Mock Clerk for unit tests
vi.mock('@clerk/nextjs', () => ({
  auth: () => ({ userId: 'test-user-id' }),
  currentUser: () => ({
    id: 'test-user-id',
    firstName: 'Test',
    emailAddresses: [{ emailAddress: 'test@example.com' }]
  }),
  useUser: () => ({
    user: { id: 'test-user-id', firstName: 'Test' },
    isLoaded: true,
    isSignedIn: true
  })
}))

Output

  • Development environment configured
  • Test users available
  • Hot reload working with auth
  • Mocked auth for testing

Error Handling

Error Cause Solution
Development/Production mismatch Using prod keys in dev Use pk_test_/sk_test_ keys locally
SSL Required Clerk needs HTTPS Use next dev --experimental-https
Cookies Not Set Wrong domain config Check Clerk dashboard domain settings
Session Not Persisting LocalStorage issues Clear browser storage, check domain

Examples

Environment Switching

typescript
// lib/clerk.ts
export const clerkConfig = {
  publishableKey: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY!,
  signInUrl: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL || '/sign-in',
  signUpUrl: process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL || '/sign-up',
}

// Validate configuration
if (!clerkConfig.publishableKey.startsWith('pk_')) {
  throw new Error('Invalid Clerk publishable key')
}

Local Webhook Testing

bash
# Use ngrok or similar for webhook testing
npx ngrok http 3000

# Update webhook URL in Clerk dashboard to ngrok URL
# https://abc123.ngrok.io/api/webhooks/clerk

Resources

Next Steps

Proceed to clerk-sdk-patterns for common SDK usage patterns.

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