Clerk Update – November 12, 2024

The Clerk team has been hard at work shipping new features to help you build secure applications faster. Here’s a rundown of the highlights:

SDK Support for Next.js 15

The @clerk/nextjs package has been updated with Next.js 15 support, continuing the tradition of (nearly) same-day support for major releases of Next.js!

• Static rendering by default: The <ClerkProvider> component no longer opts your entire application into dynamic rendering.
• Asynchronous auth() helper: The auth() helper has been updated to support Next.js’s new asynchronous approach to request APIs.

Read more about Next.js 15 support on our changelog →

Express SDK

Our recommended way to use Clerk with Express was through the @clerk/clerk-sdk-node package which is designed as a generic way of using Clerk in Node projects. Now, with the release of @clerk/express, developers building with Express can more easily integrate their APIs with Clerk’s user management platform!

• Purpose-built middleware: The requireAuth helper function follows the same pattern as other Express middleware.
• Utilize the Clerk backend API: Easily create a client to connect to the Clerk APIs for querying additional user data.

Read more about the new Express SDK on our changelog →, or try it yourself with the Express Quickstart →

Python Backend SDK

As of this writing, Python is now the most popular language according to GitHub! So we’re moving forward to officially support Python with the new Python Backend SDK. Using this new SDK enables Python developers to integrate Clerk with their applications more easily.

• Multi-framework support: Authenticate backend requests in frameworks like Django, Flask, etc.
• Integrate Clerk Backend APIs: Use the included helpers to access Clerk user information from authenticated requests.

To explore how to use the new Python Backend SDK, check out the README in the public repository → for detailed information on getting started.

Other Features, Fixes & Improvements

• User export is now available in the dashboard: You may now export your user data to JSON or CSV without contacting support.
• Fastify SDK 2.0: The @clerk/fastify package has been updated to support Fastify v5.

Events & Community

Clerk and Stripe teamed up to host the DevTools Meetup on 10/23, the evening before Next.js Conference 2024. Joined by team members from companies like Spotify, Convex, Vercel, and many more, we engaged in an evening of friendly discussion about all things tech.

The evening concluded with a panel comprising Michael Glukhovsky (Developer Products at Stripe), Ian McCrystal (Developer AI at Stripe) and our very own Co-Founder & CEO Colin Sidoti to cover the ways in which Clerk and Stripe create tools for developers.

We want to thank everyone who joined us for this incredible meetup! We look forward to hosting another, so keep an eye on our social channels for the next one.

Community Highlights

Neon Authorize

Our friends at Neon have released Authorize, a way to automatically integrate third party authentication providers with a Neon database, with Clerk being one of the launch partners! You can now easily create a Neon client that integrates with Clerk to automatically authenticate requests to Neon and only return the data the user is permitted to view using Postgres Row Level Security.

Learn more about this new feature on the Neon Blog →

Next Forge

Next Forge is production-grade, monorepo-first, full stack Next.js template by Hayden Bleasel that can bootstrap a SaaS that includes features like payments, email, documentation, and more, all with automatic user management provided by Clerk! Using the new npx next-forge@latest init command, you can easily spin up a new SaaS in seconds.

Check out the official Next Forge website→ to get started!

Other resources

• Scheduling Audio Transcriptions with QStash by Rishi Raj Jain
• Next.js 15 Full-Stack Course For Beginners by Sonny Sangha
• Build a Threads Clone with React Native by Simon Grimm
• Build a daily workout tracker with Clerk, Convex, and Expo by Brian Morrison II
• Build a Full Stack Next.js App with Google Calendar by Web Dev Simplified
• Build a Full Stack Splitwise Clone app by Ankita Kulkarni
• Per-User Database Architecture with Xata, Clerk Webhooks, Hookdeck, and Next.js by Phil Leggetter
• Step-by-Step Tutorial on Building an AI text Humanizer with AI/ML API and Integration with Clerk Auth and Deploying to Vercel by Ibrohim Abdivokhidov
• Building a Role Based Navigation in NextJS using Clerk by Dominic Magnifico

If you have feedback or suggestions, we want to hear them! Let us know at feedback.clerk.com. For the latest on our product releases, follow @ClerkDev on 𝕏 or join the Clerk Community on Discord.