Email

Configure email verification and password reset in Better Auth — send verification links, require verified emails, auto sign-in after verification, and handle post-verification callbacks.

Email is central to Better Auth. Every user has an email address regardless of their authentication method. Better Auth provides utilities for email verification, password reset, and related flows out of the box.

Email verification

Email verification confirms that a user’s email address is valid and belongs to them, helping prevent spam and abuse.

Setup

To enable email verification, provide a sendVerificationEmail function in your auth config:

auth.ts

import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";
import { sendEmail } from "./email";

export const auth = betterAuth({
  emailVerification: {
    sendVerificationEmail: async ({ user, url, token }, request) => {
      void sendEmail({
        to: user.email,
        subject: "Verify your email address",
        text: `Click the link to verify your email: ${url}`,
      });
    },
  },
});

The callback receives:

• user — the user object (includes email).
• url — the verification URL the user must visit.
• token — the raw verification token, useful for building custom verification URLs.
• request — the original request object.

Avoid awaiting the email sending to prevent timing attacks. On serverless platforms, use waitUntil or a similar mechanism to ensure the email is actually sent.

Triggering verification

1. During sign-up

   Set sendOnSignUp: true to automatically send a verification email when a user registers:

   auth.ts

   export const auth = betterAuth({
     emailVerification: {
       sendOnSignUp: true,
     },
   });
   

   For social logins, the verification status is read from the SSO provider. If the provider does not mark the email as verified, a verification email is sent but is not required to sign in — even when requireEmailVerification is enabled.

2. Require verification before sign-in

   Set requireEmailVerification: true to block sign-in until the email is verified. Every sign-in attempt triggers sendVerificationEmail when the email is unverified.

   auth.ts

   export const auth = betterAuth({
     emailVerification: {
       sendVerificationEmail: async ({ user, url }) => {
         void sendEmail({
           to: user.email,
           subject: "Verify your email address",
           text: `Click the link to verify your email: ${url}`,
         });
       },
       sendOnSignIn: true,
     },
     emailAndPassword: {
       requireEmailVerification: true,
     },
   });
   

   Handle the unverified state on the client:

   auth-client.ts

   await authClient.signIn.email({
     email: "[e-mail]",
     password: "password",
   }, {
     onError: (ctx) => {
       if (ctx.error.status === 403) {
         alert("Please verify your email address");
       }
     },
   });
   
3. Manually

   Trigger email verification programmatically from the client:

   await authClient.sendVerificationEmail({
     email: "[e-mail]",
     callbackURL: "/",
   });
   

Verifying the email

When the user clicks the verification URL, their email is automatically verified and they are redirected to callbackURL.

For a custom verification page, pass the token from the URL to verifyEmail:

await authClient.verifyEmail({
  query: {
    token: "", // token from the URL
  },
});

Auto sign-in after verification

Sign in the user automatically once they verify their email:

auth.ts

import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";

export const auth = betterAuth({
  emailVerification: {
    autoSignInAfterVerification: true,
  },
});

Post-verification callback

Run custom logic after a user verifies their email using afterEmailVerification:

auth.ts

import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";

export const auth = betterAuth({
  emailVerification: {
    async afterEmailVerification(user, request) {
      // e.g., grant access to premium features, log the event
      console.log(`${user.email} has been successfully verified!`);
    },
  },
});

Password reset

Password reset allows users to regain access when they forget their password.

Setup

Enable password reset by providing a sendResetPassword function in emailAndPassword:

auth.ts

import { betterAuth } from "better-auth";
import { sendEmail } from "./email";

export const auth = betterAuth({
  emailAndPassword: {
    enabled: true,
    sendResetPassword: async ({ user, url, token }, request) => {
      void sendEmail({
        to: user.email,
        subject: "Reset your password",
        text: `Click the link to reset your password: ${url}`,
      });
    },
  },
});

The callback receives:

• user — the user object.
• url — the password reset URL.
• token — the raw reset token for building custom reset URLs.
• request — the original request object.

Avoid awaiting the email sending to prevent timing attacks.

See the Email and Password guide for the complete client-side password reset flow.