Email

Better Auth uses email for verification, password resets, and OTP-based two-factor authentication. You configure an email provider to handle the actual sending.

Email Provider Trait

Better Auth defines an EmailProvider trait that you implement to integrate with your email service:

#[async_trait]
pub trait EmailProvider: Send + Sync {
    async fn send_email(
        &self,
        to: &str,
        subject: &str,
        body: &str,
    ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>>;
}

Setup

Using a Custom Provider

use better_auth::email::EmailProvider;

struct SmtpEmailProvider {
    // your SMTP client configuration
}

#[async_trait::async_trait]
impl EmailProvider for SmtpEmailProvider {
    async fn send_email(
        &self,
        to: &str,
        subject: &str,
        body: &str,
    ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
        // Send email using your SMTP library
        Ok(())
    }
}

let auth = BetterAuth::new(config)
    .database(database)
    .email_provider(SmtpEmailProvider { /* ... */ })
    .build()
    .await?;

Console Provider (Development)

For development, you can use a simple provider that logs emails to the console:

struct ConsoleEmailProvider;

#[async_trait::async_trait]
impl EmailProvider for ConsoleEmailProvider {
    async fn send_email(
        &self,
        to: &str,
        subject: &str,
        body: &str,
    ) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
        println!("=== Email to: {} ===", to);
        println!("Subject: {}", subject);
        println!("{}", body);
        println!("==================");
        Ok(())
    }
}

When Emails Are Sent

Better Auth sends emails in the following scenarios:

Email Verification

When require_email_verification is enabled on the EmailPasswordPlugin, a verification email is sent after sign-up:

Subject: Email verification
Content: Contains a verification URL with a token
Token expiry: Configurable, typically 24 hours

See Email Verification for details.

Password Reset

When a user requests a password reset via the PasswordManagementPlugin:

Subject: Password reset request
Content: Contains a reset URL with a token
Token expiry: Configurable, typically 1 hour

See Password Management for details.

Two-Factor OTP

When using the OTP method of the TwoFactorPlugin:

Subject: Your one-time password
Content: Contains a 6-digit OTP code
Code expiry: 5 minutes

See Two-Factor Authentication for details.

Email Content

Email content is generated internally by Better Auth. The default templates produce simple text-based emails. The content varies by email type:

Email Type	Key Content
Verification	Verification URL with token
Password Reset	Reset URL with token
OTP	6-digit numeric code

Configuration

Email-related settings are spread across the plugins that use email:

Email Verification Config

EmailVerificationPlugin::new()
    .send_on_signup(true)         // Auto-send verification email on sign-up
    .auto_signin_after_verify(true) // Create session after email verification

Password Reset Config

PasswordManagementPlugin::new()
    // Password reset is enabled when the plugin is registered

2FA OTP Config

TwoFactorPlugin::new()
    // OTP emails are sent via the configured email provider

Error Handling

If no email provider is configured, any operation that requires sending an email will return an error:

{
  "code": "EMAIL_PROVIDER_NOT_CONFIGURED",
  "message": "Email provider is not configured"
}

Make sure to configure an email provider if you use any email-dependent features.