Glossary

This glossary defines key terms used throughout the Better Auth Console documentation.

Core Concepts

Instance

A connection to a better-auth database. Each instance represents a separate better-auth deployment, which could be:

• Different environments (development, staging, production)
• Different applications using better-auth
• Different versions of the same application

Instances are configured in instances.config.ts and can be switched using the sidebar dropdown.

Adapter

The database adapter provided by better-auth. The console supports all adapters that better-auth supports, including:

• Drizzle ORM (recommended)
• Prisma
• Kysely
• Raw SQL

The adapter is configured when creating your better-auth instance.

Plugin

A better-auth extension that adds additional functionality. The console automatically detects installed plugins and adapts the UI accordingly.

See the Plugins page for details.

Version

The better-auth version installed in your application. The console auto-detects the version from the database schema and adjusts column visibility and API calls accordingly.

Resources

User

A registered user in your better-auth database. User records include:

• ID: Unique identifier
• Email: User's email address
• Name: Display name
• Email Verified: Whether the email has been verified
• Role: User role (if admin plugin is installed)
• Banned: Whether the user is banned (if admin plugin is installed)
• Created/Updated: Timestamps

Session

An active authentication session for a user. Sessions are created when users sign in and can be revoked from the console.

Account

A linked authentication provider (OAuth) for a user. Users can have multiple accounts linked (e.g., Google, GitHub, email/password).

Organization

A group of users with shared access to resources. Requires the organization plugin.

Organizations contain:

• Name: Display name
• Slug: URL-friendly identifier
• Members: Users who belong to the organization
• Teams: Sub-groups within the organization

Team

A sub-group within an organization. Requires the organization plugin.

Teams allow organizing members into smaller groups with specific roles or responsibilities.

Invitation

A pending invitation to join an organization. Requires the organization plugin.

Invitations include:

• Email: Recipient's email
• Role: Role to assign when accepted
• Status: Pending, accepted, or expired

API Key

A programmatic access token for API authentication. Requires the apiKey plugin.

API keys include:

• Name: Descriptive name
• Key: The actual secret (shown once on creation)
• Status: Enabled or disabled
• Expiration: Optional expiry date
• Rate Limits: Request limits if configured

Console Features

Dashboard

The main overview page showing analytics and metrics for the selected instance:

• Active users
• New user signups
• Session counts
• Organization counts (if plugin installed)
• Provider distribution

Data Tables

Interactive tables with:

• Search: Filter by text
• Filters: Column-specific filters
• Sorting: Click column headers
• Pagination: Navigate large datasets
• Column Visibility: Show/hide columns

Detail Sheet

A slide-out panel showing quick details for a resource. Click any row in a data table to open the detail sheet.

Full Profile

A dedicated page with tabs for detailed resource management. Access from the detail sheet via "View Full Profile".

Command Palette

Quick navigation using ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux). Search for:

• Pages
• Users
• Organizations
• Actions