Build a User Management App with React

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 - users log in through magic links sent to their email (without having to set up passwords).
Supabase Storage - users can upload a profile photo.

Supabase User Management example

note

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.

note

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 React app from scratch.

Initialize a React app#

We can use Vite to initialize an app called supabase-react:


_10npm create vite@latest supabase-react -- --template react
_10cd supabase-react

Then let's install the only additional dependency: supabase-js.


_10npm install @supabase/supabase-js

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

.env


_10VITE_SUPABASE_URL=YOUR_SUPABASE_URL
_10VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=YOUR_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY

Now that we have the API credentials in place, let's create a helper file to initialize the Supabase client. These variables will be exposed on the browser, and that's completely fine since we have Row Level Security enabled on our Database.

Create and edit src/supabaseClient.js:

src/supabaseClient.js


_10import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
_10
_10const supabaseUrl = import.meta.env.VITE_SUPABASE_URL
_10const supabaseAnonKey = import.meta.env.VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
_10
_10export const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseAnonKey)

And one optional step is to update the CSS file src/index.css to make the app look nice. You can find the full contents of this file here.

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

Create and edit src/Auth.jsx:

src/Auth.jsx


_47import { useState } from 'react'
_47import { supabase } from './supabaseClient'
_47
_47export default function Auth() {
_47  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(false)
_47  const [email, setEmail] = useState('')
_47
_47  const handleLogin = async (event) => {
_47    event.preventDefault()
_47
_47    setLoading(true)
_47    const { error } = await supabase.auth.signInWithOtp({ email })
_47
_47    if (error) {
_47      alert(error.error_description || error.message)
_47    } else {
_47      alert('Check your email for the login link!')
_47    }
_47    setLoading(false)
_47  }
_47
_47  return (
_47    <div className="row flex flex-center">
_47      <div className="col-6 form-widget">
_47        <h1 className="header">Supabase + React</h1>
_47        <p className="description">Sign in via magic link with your email below</p>
_47        <form className="form-widget" onSubmit={handleLogin}>
_47          <div>
_47            <input
_47              className="inputField"
_47              type="email"
_47              placeholder="Your email"
_47              value={email}
_47              required={true}
_47              onChange={(e) => setEmail(e.target.value)}
_47            />
_47          </div>
_47          <div>
_47            <button className={'button block'} disabled={loading}>
_47              {loading ? <span>Loading</span> : <span>Send magic link</span>}
_47            </button>
_47          </div>
_47        </form>
_47      </div>
_47    </div>
_47  )
_47}

Account page#

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 src/Account.jsx.

src/Account.jsx


_98import { useState, useEffect } from 'react'
_98import { supabase } from './supabaseClient'
_98
_98export default function Account({ session }) {
_98  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true)
_98  const [username, setUsername] = useState(null)
_98  const [website, setWebsite] = useState(null)
_98  const [avatar_url, setAvatarUrl] = useState(null)
_98
_98  useEffect(() => {
_98    async function getProfile() {
_98      setLoading(true)
_98      const { user } = session
_98
_98      const { data, error } = await supabase
_98        .from('profiles')
_98        .select(`username, website, avatar_url`)
_98        .eq('id', user.id)
_98        .single()
_98
_98      if (error) {
_98        console.warn(error)
_98      } else if (data) {
_98        setUsername(data.username)
_98        setWebsite(data.website)
_98        setAvatarUrl(data.avatar_url)
_98      }
_98
_98      setLoading(false)
_98    }
_98
_98    getProfile()
_98  }, [session])
_98
_98  async function updateProfile(event, avatarUrl) {
_98    event.preventDefault()
_98
_98    setLoading(true)
_98    const { user } = session
_98
_98    const updates = {
_98      id: user.id,
_98      username,
_98      website,
_98      avatarUrl,
_98      updated_at: new Date(),
_98    }
_98
_98    const { error } = await supabase.from('profiles').upsert(updates)
_98
_98    if (error) {
_98      alert(error.message)
_98    } else {
_98      setAvatarUrl(avatarUrl)
_98    }
_98    setLoading(false)
_98  }
_98
_98  return (
_98    <form onSubmit={updateProfile} className="form-widget">
_98      <div>
_98        <label htmlFor="email">Email</label>
_98        <input id="email" type="text" value={session.user.email} disabled />
_98      </div>
_98      <div>
_98        <label htmlFor="username">Name</label>
_98        <input
_98          id="username"
_98          type="text"
_98          required
_98          value={username || ''}
_98          onChange={(e) => setUsername(e.target.value)}
_98        />
_98      </div>
_98      <div>
_98        <label htmlFor="website">Website</label>
_98        <input
_98          id="website"
_98          type="url"
_98          value={website || ''}
_98          onChange={(e) => setWebsite(e.target.value)}
_98        />
_98      </div>
_98
_98      <div>
_98        <button className="button block primary" type="submit" disabled={loading}>
_98          {loading ? 'Loading ...' : 'Update'}
_98        </button>
_98      </div>
_98
_98      <div>
_98        <button className="button block" type="button" onClick={() => supabase.auth.signOut()}>
_98          Sign Out
_98        </button>
_98      </div>
_98    </form>
_98  )
_98}

Launch!#

Now that we have all the components in place, let's update src/App.jsx:

src/App.jsx


_27import './App.css'
_27import { useState, useEffect } from 'react'
_27import { supabase } from './supabaseClient'
_27import Auth from './Auth'
_27import Account from './Account'
_27
_27function App() {
_27  const [session, setSession] = useState(null)
_27
_27  useEffect(() => {
_27    supabase.auth.getSession().then(({ data: { session } }) => {
_27      setSession(session)
_27    })
_27
_27    supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange((_event, session) => {
_27      setSession(session)
_27    })
_27  }, [])
_27
_27  return (
_27    <div className="container" style={{ padding: '50px 0 100px 0' }}>
_27      {!session ? <Auth /> : <Account key={session.user.id} session={session} />}
_27    </div>
_27  )
_27}
_27
_27export default App

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


_10npm run dev

And then open the browser to localhost:5173 and you should see the completed app.

Supabase React

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:

Create and edit src/Avatar.jsx:

src/Avatar.jsx


_82import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
_82import { supabase } from './supabaseClient'
_82
_82export default function Avatar({ url, size, onUpload }) {
_82  const [avatarUrl, setAvatarUrl] = useState(null)
_82  const [uploading, setUploading] = useState(false)
_82
_82  useEffect(() => {
_82    if (url) downloadImage(url)
_82  }, [url])
_82
_82  async function downloadImage(path) {
_82    try {
_82      const { data, error } = await supabase.storage.from('avatars').download(path)
_82      if (error) {
_82        throw error
_82      }
_82      const url = URL.createObjectURL(data)
_82      setAvatarUrl(url)
_82    } catch (error) {
_82      console.log('Error downloading image: ', error.message)
_82    }
_82  }
_82
_82  async function uploadAvatar(event) {
_82    try {
_82      setUploading(true)
_82
_82      if (!event.target.files || event.target.files.length === 0) {
_82        throw new Error('You must select an image to upload.')
_82      }
_82
_82      const file = event.target.files[0]
_82      const fileExt = file.name.split('.').pop()
_82      const fileName = `${Math.random()}.${fileExt}`
_82      const filePath = `${fileName}`
_82
_82      const { error: uploadError } = await supabase.storage.from('avatars').upload(filePath, file)
_82
_82      if (uploadError) {
_82        throw uploadError
_82      }
_82
_82      onUpload(event, filePath)
_82    } catch (error) {
_82      alert(error.message)
_82    } finally {
_82      setUploading(false)
_82    }
_82  }
_82
_82  return (
_82    <div>
_82      {avatarUrl ? (
_82        <img
_82          src={avatarUrl}
_82          alt="Avatar"
_82          className="avatar image"
_82          style={{ height: size, width: size }}
_82        />
_82      ) : (
_82        <div className="avatar no-image" style={{ height: size, width: size }} />
_82      )}
_82      <div style={{ width: size }}>
_82        <label className="button primary block" htmlFor="single">
_82          {uploading ? 'Uploading ...' : 'Upload'}
_82        </label>
_82        <input
_82          style={{
_82            visibility: 'hidden',
_82            position: 'absolute',
_82          }}
_82          type="file"
_82          id="single"
_82          accept="image/*"
_82          onChange={uploadAvatar}
_82          disabled={uploading}
_82        />
_82      </div>
_82    </div>
_82  )
_82}

And then we can add the widget to the Account page at src/Account.jsx:

src/Account.jsx


_18// Import the new component
_18import Avatar from './Avatar'
_18
_18// ...
_18
_18return (
_18  <form onSubmit={updateProfile} className="form-widget">
_18    {/* Add to the body */}
_18    <Avatar
_18      url={avatar_url}
_18      size={150}
_18      onUpload={(event, url) => {
_18        updateProfile(event, url)
_18      }}
_18    />
_18    {/* ... */}
_18  </div>
_18)

Storage management#

If you upload additional profile photos, they'll accumulate in the avatars bucket because of their random names with only the latest being referenced from public.profiles and the older versions getting orphaned.

To automatically remove obsolete storage objects, extend the database triggers. Note that it is not sufficient to delete the objects from the storage.objects table because that would orphan and leak the actual storage objects in the S3 backend. Instead, invoke the storage API within Postgres via the http extension.

Enable the http extension for the extensions schema in the Dashboard. Then, define the following SQL functions in the SQL Editor to delete storage objects via the API:


_34create or replace function delete_storage_object(bucket text, object text, out status int, out content text)
_34returns record
_34language 'plpgsql'
_34security definer
_34as $$
_34declare
_34  project_url text := '<YOURPROJECTURL>';
_34  service_role_key text := '<YOURSERVICEROLEKEY>'; --  full access needed
_34  url text := project_url||'/storage/v1/object/'||bucket||'/'||object;
_34begin
_34  select
_34      into status, content
_34           result.status::int, result.content::text
_34      FROM extensions.http((
_34    'DELETE',
_34    url,
_34    ARRAY[extensions.http_header('authorization','Bearer '||service_role_key)],
_34    NULL,
_34    NULL)::extensions.http_request) as result;
_34end;
_34$$;
_34
_34create or replace function delete_avatar(avatar_url text, out status int, out content text)
_34returns record
_34language 'plpgsql'
_34security definer
_34as $$
_34begin
_34  select
_34      into status, content
_34           result.status, result.content
_34      from public.delete_storage_object('avatars', avatar_url) as result;
_34end;
_34$$;

Next, add a trigger that removes any obsolete avatar whenever the profile is updated or deleted:


_32create or replace function delete_old_avatar()
_32returns trigger
_32language 'plpgsql'
_32security definer
_32as $$
_32declare
_32  status int;
_32  content text;
_32  avatar_name text;
_32begin
_32  if coalesce(old.avatar_url, '') <> ''
_32      and (tg_op = 'DELETE' or (old.avatar_url <> new.avatar_url)) then
_32    -- extract avatar name
_32    avatar_name := old.avatar_url;
_32    select
_32      into status, content
_32      result.status, result.content
_32      from public.delete_avatar(avatar_name) as result;
_32    if status <> 200 then
_32      raise warning 'Could not delete avatar: % %', status, content;
_32    end if;
_32  end if;
_32  if tg_op = 'DELETE' then
_32    return old;
_32  end if;
_32  return new;
_32end;
_32$$;
_32
_32create trigger before_profile_changes
_32  before update of avatar_url or delete on public.profiles
_32  for each row execute function public.delete_old_avatar();

Finally, delete the public.profile row before a user is deleted. If this step is omitted, you won't be able to delete users without first manually deleting their avatar image.


_14create or replace function delete_old_profile()
_14returns trigger
_14language 'plpgsql'
_14security definer
_14as $$
_14begin
_14  delete from public.profiles where id = old.id;
_14  return old;
_14end;
_14$$;
_14
_14create trigger before_delete_user
_14  before delete on auth.users
_14  for each row execute function public.delete_old_profile();

At this stage you have a fully functional application!

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Build a User Management App with React

Project setup#

Create a project#

Set up the database schema#

Get the API Keys#

Building the App#

Initialize a React app#

Account page#

Launch!#

Bonus: Profile photos#

Create an upload widget#

Add the new widget#

Storage management#

Build a User Management App with React

Project setup#

Create a project#

Set up the database schema#

Get the API Keys#

Building the App#

Initialize a React app#

Set up a Login component#

Account page#

Launch!#

Bonus: Profile photos#

Create an upload widget#

Add the new widget#

Storage management#