Build a User Management App with Nuxt 3

This tutorial demonstrates how to build a basic user management app. The app authenticates and identifies the user, stores their profile information in the database, and allows the user to log in, update their profile details, and upload a profile photo. The app uses:

Supabase Database - a Postgres database for storing your user data and Row Level Security so data is protected and users can only access their own information.
Supabase Auth - allow users to sign up and log in.
Supabase Storage - users can upload a profile photo.

Supabase User Management example

If you get stuck while working through this guide, refer to the full example on GitHub.

Project setup

Before we start building we're going to set up our Database and API. This is as simple as starting a new Project in Supabase and then creating a "schema" inside the database.

Create a project

Create a new project in the Supabase Dashboard.
Enter your project details.
Wait for the new database to launch.

Set up the database schema

Now we are going to set up the database schema. We can use the "User Management Starter" quickstart in the SQL Editor, or you can just copy/paste the SQL from below and run it yourself.

Go to the SQL Editor page in the Dashboard.
Click User Management Starter.
Click Run.

You can easily pull the database schema down to your local project by running the db pull command. Read the local development docs for detailed instructions.


_10supabase link --project-ref <project-id>
_10# You can get <project-id> from your project's dashboard URL: https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/<project-id>
_10supabase db pull

Get the API Keys

Now that you've created some database tables, you are ready to insert data using the auto-generated API. We just need to get the Project URL and anon key from the API settings.

Go to the API Settings page in the Dashboard.
Find your Project URL, anon, and service_role keys on this page.

Building the app

Let's start building the Vue 3 app from scratch.

Initialize a Nuxt 3 app

We can use nuxi init to create an app called nuxt-user-management:


_10npx nuxi init nuxt-user-management
_10
_10cd nuxt-user-management

Then let's install the only additional dependency: NuxtSupabase. We only need to import NuxtSupabase as a dev dependency.


_10npm install @nuxtjs/supabase --save-dev

And finally we want to save the environment variables in a .env. All we need are the API URL and the anon key that you copied earlier.

.env


_10SUPABASE_URL="YOUR_SUPABASE_URL"
_10SUPABASE_KEY="YOUR_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY"

These variables will be exposed on the browser, and that's completely fine since we have Row Level Security enabled on our Database. Amazing thing about NuxtSupabase is that setting environment variables is all we need to do in order to start using Supabase. No need to initialize Supabase. The library will take care of it automatically.

App styling (optional)

An optional step is to update the CSS file assets/main.css to make the app look nice. You can find the full contents of this file here.

nuxt.config.ts


_10import { defineNuxtConfig } from 'nuxt'
_10
_10// https://v3.nuxtjs.org/api/configuration/nuxt.config
_10export default defineNuxtConfig({
_10  modules: ['@nuxtjs/supabase'],
_10  css: ['@/assets/main.css'],
_10})

Set up Auth component

Let's set up a Vue component to manage logins and sign ups. We'll use Magic Links, so users can sign in with their email without using passwords.

/components/Auth.vue


_39<script setup>
_39const supabase = useSupabaseClient()
_39
_39const loading = ref(false)
_39const email = ref('')
_39
_39const handleLogin = async () => {
_39  try {
_39    loading.value = true
_39    const { error } = await supabase.auth.signInWithOtp({ email: email.value })
_39    if (error) throw error
_39    alert('Check your email for the login link!')
_39  } catch (error) {
_39    alert(error.error_description || error.message)
_39  } finally {
_39    loading.value = false
_39  }
_39}
_39</script>
_39
_39<template>
_39  <form class="row flex-center flex" @submit.prevent="handleLogin">
_39    <div class="col-6 form-widget">
_39      <h1 class="header">Supabase + Nuxt 3</h1>
_39      <p class="description">Sign in via magic link with your email below</p>
_39      <div>
_39        <input class="inputField" type="email" placeholder="Your email" v-model="email" />
_39      </div>
_39      <div>
_39        <input
_39          type="submit"
_39          class="button block"
_39          :value="loading ? 'Loading' : 'Send magic link'"
_39          :disabled="loading"
_39        />
_39      </div>
_39    </div>
_39  </form>
_39</template>

User state

To access the user information, use the composable useSupabaseUser provided by the Supabase Nuxt module.

Account component

After a user is signed in we can allow them to edit their profile details and manage their account. Let's create a new component for that called Account.vue.

components/Account.vue


_92<script setup>
_92const supabase = useSupabaseClient()
_92
_92const loading = ref(true)
_92const username = ref('')
_92const website = ref('')
_92const avatar_path = ref('')
_92
_92loading.value = true
_92const user = useSupabaseUser()
_92
_92const { data } = await supabase
_92  .from('profiles')
_92  .select(`username, website, avatar_url`)
_92  .eq('id', user.value.id)
_92  .single()
_92
_92if (data) {
_92  username.value = data.username
_92  website.value = data.website
_92  avatar_path.value = data.avatar_url
_92}
_92
_92loading.value = false
_92
_92async function updateProfile() {
_92  try {
_92    loading.value = true
_92    const user = useSupabaseUser()
_92
_92    const updates = {
_92      id: user.value.id,
_92      username: username.value,
_92      website: website.value,
_92      avatar_url: avatar_path.value,
_92      updated_at: new Date(),
_92    }
_92
_92    const { error } = await supabase.from('profiles').upsert(updates, {
_92      returning: 'minimal', // Don't return the value after inserting
_92    })
_92    if (error) throw error
_92  } catch (error) {
_92    alert(error.message)
_92  } finally {
_92    loading.value = false
_92  }
_92}
_92
_92async function signOut() {
_92  try {
_92    loading.value = true
_92    const { error } = await supabase.auth.signOut()
_92    if (error) throw error
_92    user.value = null
_92  } catch (error) {
_92    alert(error.message)
_92  } finally {
_92    loading.value = false
_92  }
_92}
_92</script>
_92
_92<template>
_92  <form class="form-widget" @submit.prevent="updateProfile">
_92    <div>
_92      <label for="email">Email</label>
_92      <input id="email" type="text" :value="user.email" disabled />
_92    </div>
_92    <div>
_92      <label for="username">Username</label>
_92      <input id="username" type="text" v-model="username" />
_92    </div>
_92    <div>
_92      <label for="website">Website</label>
_92      <input id="website" type="url" v-model="website" />
_92    </div>
_92
_92    <div>
_92      <input
_92        type="submit"
_92        class="button primary block"
_92        :value="loading ? 'Loading ...' : 'Update'"
_92        :disabled="loading"
_92      />
_92    </div>
_92
_92    <div>
_92      <button class="button block" @click="signOut" :disabled="loading">Sign Out</button>
_92    </div>
_92  </form>
_92</template>

Launch!

Now that we have all the components in place, let's update app.vue:

app.vue


_10<script setup>
_10const user = useSupabaseUser()
_10</script>
_10
_10<template>
_10  <div class="container" style="padding: 50px 0 100px 0">
_10    <Account v-if="user" />
_10    <Auth v-else />
_10  </div>
_10</template>

Once that's done, run this in a terminal window:


_10npm run dev

And then open the browser to localhost:3000 and you should see the completed app.

Supabase Nuxt 3

Bonus: Profile photos

Every Supabase project is configured with Storage for managing large files like photos and videos.

Let's create an avatar for the user so that they can upload a profile photo. We can start by creating a new component:

components/Avatar.vue


_84<script setup>
_84const props = defineProps(['path'])
_84const { path } = toRefs(props)
_84
_84const emit = defineEmits(['update:path', 'upload'])
_84
_84const supabase = useSupabaseClient()
_84
_84const uploading = ref(false)
_84const src = ref('')
_84const files = ref()
_84
_84const downloadImage = async () => {
_84  try {
_84    const { data, error } = await supabase.storage.from('avatars').download(path.value)
_84    if (error) throw error
_84    src.value = URL.createObjectURL(data)
_84  } catch (error) {
_84    console.error('Error downloading image: ', error.message)
_84  }
_84}
_84
_84const uploadAvatar = async (evt) => {
_84  files.value = evt.target.files
_84  try {
_84    uploading.value = true
_84
_84    if (!files.value || files.value.length === 0) {
_84      throw new Error('You must select an image to upload.')
_84    }
_84
_84    const file = files.value[0]
_84    const fileExt = file.name.split('.').pop()
_84    const fileName = `${Math.random()}.${fileExt}`
_84    const filePath = `${fileName}`
_84
_84    const { error: uploadError } = await supabase.storage.from('avatars').upload(filePath, file)
_84
_84    if (uploadError) throw uploadError
_84
_84    emit('update:path', filePath)
_84    emit('upload')
_84  } catch (error) {
_84    alert(error.message)
_84  } finally {
_84    uploading.value = false
_84  }
_84}
_84
_84downloadImage()
_84
_84watch(path, () => {
_84  if (path.value) {
_84    downloadImage()
_84  }
_84})
_84</script>
_84
_84<template>
_84  <div>
_84    <img
_84      v-if="src"
_84      :src="src"
_84      alt="Avatar"
_84      class="avatar image"
_84      style="width: 10em; height: 10em;"
_84    />
_84    <div v-else class="avatar no-image" :style="{ height: size, width: size }" />
_84
_84    <div style="width: 10em; position: relative;">
_84      <label class="button primary block" for="single">
_84        {{ uploading ? 'Uploading ...' : 'Upload' }}
_84      </label>
_84      <input
_84        style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden;"
_84        type="file"
_84        id="single"
_84        accept="image/*"
_84        @change="uploadAvatar"
_84        :disabled="uploading"
_84      />
_84    </div>
_84  </div>
_84</template>

And then we can add the widget to the Account page:

components/Account.vue


_93<script setup>
_93const supabase = useSupabaseClient()
_93
_93const loading = ref(true)
_93const username = ref('')
_93const website = ref('')
_93const avatar_path = ref('')
_93
_93loading.value = true
_93const user = useSupabaseUser()
_93
_93const { data } = await supabase
_93  .from('profiles')
_93  .select(`username, website, avatar_url`)
_93  .eq('id', user.value.id)
_93  .single()
_93
_93if (data) {
_93  username.value = data.username
_93  website.value = data.website
_93  avatar_path.value = data.avatar_url
_93}
_93
_93loading.value = false
_93
_93async function updateProfile() {
_93  try {
_93    loading.value = true
_93    const user = useSupabaseUser()
_93
_93    const updates = {
_93      id: user.value.id,
_93      username: username.value,
_93      website: website.value,
_93      avatar_url: avatar_path.value,
_93      updated_at: new Date(),
_93    }
_93
_93    const { error } = await supabase.from('profiles').upsert(updates, {
_93      returning: 'minimal', // Don't return the value after inserting
_93    })
_93
_93    if (error) throw error
_93  } catch (error) {
_93    alert(error.message)
_93  } finally {
_93    loading.value = false
_93  }
_93}
_93
_93async function signOut() {
_93  try {
_93    loading.value = true
_93    const { error } = await supabase.auth.signOut()
_93    if (error) throw error
_93  } catch (error) {
_93    alert(error.message)
_93  } finally {
_93    loading.value = false
_93  }
_93}
_93</script>
_93
_93<template>
_93  <form class="form-widget" @submit.prevent="updateProfile">
_93    <Avatar v-model:path="avatar_path" @upload="updateProfile" />
_93    <div>
_93      <label for="email">Email</label>
_93      <input id="email" type="text" :value="user.email" disabled />
_93    </div>
_93    <div>
_93      <label for="username">Name</label>
_93      <input id="username" type="text" v-model="username" />
_93    </div>
_93    <div>
_93      <label for="website">Website</label>
_93      <input id="website" type="url" v-model="website" />
_93    </div>
_93
_93    <div>
_93      <input
_93        type="submit"
_93        class="button primary block"
_93        :value="loading ? 'Loading ...' : 'Update'"
_93        :disabled="loading"
_93      />
_93    </div>
_93
_93    <div>
_93      <button class="button block" @click="signOut" :disabled="loading">Sign Out</button>
_93    </div>
_93  </form>
_93</template>

That is it! You should now be able to upload a profile photo to Supabase Storage and you have a fully functional application.

Build a User Management App with Nuxt 3

Project setup

Create a project

Set up the database schema

Get the API Keys

Building the app

Initialize a Nuxt 3 app

App styling (optional)

Set up Auth component

User state

Account component

Launch!

Bonus: Profile photos

Create an upload widget

Add the new widget

Build a User Management App with Nuxt 3

Project setup#

Create a project#

Set up the database schema#

Get the API Keys#

Building the app#

Initialize a Nuxt 3 app#

App styling (optional)#

Set up Auth component#

User state#

Account component#

Launch!#

Bonus: Profile photos#

Create an upload widget#

Add the new widget#

Project setup

Create a project

Set up the database schema

Get the API Keys

Building the app

Initialize a Nuxt 3 app

App styling (optional)

Set up Auth component

User state

Account component

Launch!

Bonus: Profile photos

Create an upload widget

Add the new widget