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Custom database connections let you connect Auth0 to an external user store. This supports use cases like:
  • Authenticating users using your own external user store as the identity provider instead of Auth0’s user store. In this application, after a user’s first successful login authenticating with the external user store, Auth0 creates a user account but does not store a hash of their passwords and never authenticates users with the Auth0 user store.
  • Incrementally migrating users to Auth0 from your external user store (sometimes called trickle or lazy migration). In this application, when a user tries to log in, Auth0 always tries to authenticate them with the Auth0 user store first. If the user does not exist there, Auth0 tries to authenticate them with the external user store and, if successful, creates the user in the Auth0 user store with the same ID and password used to log in.
  • Proxying access to an Auth0 tenant in multi-tenant architecture scenarios.
For example, as part of the workflow, custom database connections obtain user identity information from your external user store:
Custom Database Connections Anatomy
You control how Auth0 interfaces with your external user store by writing database action scripts, which are Node.js functions that Auth0 calls during functionality like logins and password changes. You can customize the behavior of database action scripts to suit your specific use case. We provide several templates for each database action script to help you get started.

How to Create Custom Database Connections

Use your own external user store as an IdP in Auth0 by creating a custom database connection.

Custom Database Action Scripts

Change Password Database Action Script and Templates

The Change Password script runs during when you or the user start a password change workflow.

Create User Database Action Script and Templates

The Create script runs when a user signs up through Universal Login or when you create a user through the Auth0 Dashboard or Management API.

Delete User Database Action Script and Templates

The Delete script runs when you need to delete a specified user from your external user store, and is required if you want to additionally delete the user from Auth0 in the same operation.

Get User Database Action Script and Templates

The Get User script runs when Auth0 needs to determine the current state of existence of a user.

Login Database Action Script and Templates

The Login script runs when a user tries to log in.

Verify Database Action Script and Templates

The Verify script runs when a user follows the link in Auth0's verification email.

Change Email Database Action Script and Template

The Change Email script runs when a user's email address or their email address verification status changes.

Best Practices for Database Action Scripts

View our recommendations for performance and reliability when using custom database action scripts.

Troubleshooting

How to Test Custom Database Connections

Describes how to test your custom database connections.

Error Handling for Custom Database Connections

Learn more about error handling when using custom database connections.