mobile-auth

The mobile app uses Better Auth with @better-auth/expo plugin.

The Problem

Better Auth's session state doesn't sync reliably with React context on Expo. The plugin stores cookies in expo-secure-store, but reactive session updates don't propagate as expected.

Our Solution

Custom SessionProvider that:

1. Initializes from cache - Read cached session from SecureStore on app start
2. Subscribes to auth signals - Listen to $sessionSignal for auth state changes
3. Manual refresh - Call onAuthSuccess() after sign-in/sign-up

Reading Cached Session

// src/lib/auth.ts
export function getCachedSession(): AuthSession | null {
  const raw = SecureStore.getItem(SESSION_DATA_KEY);
  // validate and return
}

Session Provider

// src/providers/session-provider.tsx
useEffect(() => {
  const store = getAuthClient().$store;
  const sessionSignal = store.atoms.$sessionSignal;
  const unsubscribe = sessionSignal.subscribe(() => {
    setData(getCachedSession());
  });
  return () => unsubscribe();
}, []);

Required Configuration

| Config | Value | Notes | |--------|-------|-------| | cookiePrefix | yourcompany | Must match backend's advanced.cookiePrefix | | scheme | mobile | Must match scheme in app.json | | storagePrefix | mobile | Prefix for device storage keys |

Key Files

• Mobile auth client: apps/frontend/mobile/src/lib/auth.ts
• Session provider: apps/frontend/mobile/src/providers/session-provider.tsx
• Backend auth config: apps/backend/api/src/auth.ts

Known Issues

• Session expiry detection relies on parsing expiresAt from cached data
• $sessionSignal subscription is undocumented API and may change
• Web platform falls back to standard cookie-based auth (no SecureStore)

Troubleshooting

| Issue | Check | |-------|-------| | Session not updating | Verify onAuthSuccess() called after sign-in | | Cookie mismatch | Compare cookiePrefix between mobile and backend | | Auth redirect fails | Check scheme matches app.json |