Clerk Upgrade & Migration

Current State

!npm list @clerk/nextjs @clerk/clerk-react @clerk/express 2>/dev/null | grep clerk || echo 'No Clerk packages found'

Overview

Safely upgrade Clerk SDK versions and handle breaking changes. Covers version checking, upgrade procedures, common migration patterns, and rollback planning.

Prerequisites

• Current Clerk integration working
• Git repository with clean working state
• Test environment available for validation

Instructions

Step 1: Check Current Version and Available Updates

# Check installed version
npm list @clerk/nextjs

# Check latest available
npm view @clerk/nextjs version

# Check all Clerk packages and their versions
npm outdated | grep clerk

Step 2: Review Breaking Changes

# View changelog for the target version
npx open-cli https://clerk.com/changelog

# Check GitHub releases for migration notes
npx open-cli https://github.com/clerk/javascript/releases

Key version milestones to watch for:

• v5 to v6: auth() became async (must await auth())
• v5 to v6: authMiddleware renamed to clerkMiddleware
• v5 to v6: Import paths changed to @clerk/nextjs/server

Step 3: Upgrade Process

# Create upgrade branch
git checkout -b chore/upgrade-clerk

# Upgrade all Clerk packages together (they must version-match)
npm install @clerk/nextjs@latest @clerk/themes@latest

# If using other Clerk packages:
# npm install @clerk/clerk-react@latest @clerk/express@latest @clerk/backend@latest

# Verify no version mismatches
npm list | grep clerk

Step 4: Handle Common Migration Patterns

v5 to v6: auth() is now async