Next Integrate

While working on Conversio Hub, I encountered a significant challenge with OAuth implementations. Most existing libraries bundled OAuth with authentication features, making it difficult to handle multiple OAuth integrations for the same user. This led me to create Next Integrate, a library specifically designed to manage OAuth providers in Next.js applications.

The Problem

The challenge arose when users needed to connect multiple marketing platforms to their Conversio Hub account. While libraries like Auth.js worked well for user authentication, they weren't ideal for managing multiple OAuth connections with different scopes and purposes. We needed something more flexible.

Building the Solution

I decided to create a library that would focus solely on OAuth integration, giving developers complete control over how they handle the data. The goal was to make it as simple as possible to add new OAuth providers while maintaining maximum flexibility.

Here's a basic example of how easy it is to set up a Google OAuth integration with Next Integrate:

import { NextIntegrate } from "next-integrate";

export const { auth } = NextIntegrate({
  base_url: process.env.BASE_URL!,
  providers: [
    {
      provider: "google",
      client_id: process.env.AUTH_GOOGLE_ID!,
      client_secret: process.env.AUTH_GOOGLE_SECRET!,
      integrations: [
        {
          name: "user_info",
          options: {
            scope: "openid https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.profile",
          },
          callback: async (data) => {
            // Handle the OAuth data however you want
          },
        },
      ],
    },
  ],
});

Growing the Provider List

What started as a solution for Conversio Hub's OAuth needs has evolved into a library supporting a variety of OAuth providers. I implemented the providers we needed for Conversio Hub, while also adding several other popular providers that I thought would be useful for the wider developer community, including:

• Google
• Facebook
• Discord
• GitHub
• Spotify
• LinkedIn
• TikTok
• And more

Each provider is implemented with the same consistent interface, making it easy for developers to add multiple integrations without learning new patterns for each provider.

Design Decisions

One of the key decisions I made was to exclude session management and other authentication features that typically come bundled with OAuth libraries. This might seem counterintuitive, but it gives developers the freedom to implement these features in whatever way best suits their application.

The Impact

Next Integrate has significantly simplified how we handle OAuth integrations in Conversio Hub. What used to require custom implementations for each provider can now be done with a few lines of configuration. The library has also been published on npm, allowing other developers to benefit from this solution.

Open Source Journey

Building Next Integrate marks my first serious venture into open-source development. While the library hasn't gained much traction yet, I'm proud to have created something that focuses on making developers' lives easier. It's been rewarding to approach the project from a developer experience perspective, thinking about how to make OAuth integration as straightforward as possible.

Documentation: An Eye-Opening Experience

Creating the documentation for Next Integrate gave me a whole new appreciation for the work that goes into other libraries I use daily. Writing clear guides and examples took much more time and effort than I initially expected. It really opened my eyes to why good documentation is so crucial - if developers can't understand how to use your library, it doesn't matter how good the code is.

The Power of Focus

What started as a solution to a specific problem at Conversio Hub has evolved into something I'm genuinely proud of. While it may not have the broad feature set of other authentication libraries, its focus on doing OAuth integration well has taught me that sometimes less is more. Building something that does one thing really well can be more valuable than trying to solve every problem at once.

Looking Forward

Having Conversio Hub as a real-world application using Next Integrate has been invaluable. It provides practical validation of the library's functionality and helps identify areas for improvement. As we continue to develop Conversio Hub, any new OAuth providers we implement will naturally find their way into the library, benefiting both projects.