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Product13 July 2026·3 min read

Bootstrapping a new app with Paycux AuthKit: Zero to authenticated in 5 minutes

Shipping is the easy half.

Paycux engineering

Shipping is the easy half. The hard half is deciding what the thing is supposed to do for someone who has never read your roadmap and does not care about your architecture.

This piece walks through how we think about it at Paycux, what we have changed our minds about, and where the sharp edges are.

The 5 minute path

The 5 minute path is where this gets concrete. Defaults are the product. Most people will never open the settings screen, which means the behaviour you chose for them is the behaviour they will experience forever.

Ship the smallest version that is honest about its limits. A feature that does one thing completely beats one that does five things with an asterisk on each.

The manual path (Next.js)

Consider the manual path (next.js). Ship the smallest version that is honest about its limits. A feature that does one thing completely beats one that does five things with an asterisk on each.

Ship the smallest version that is honest about its limits. A feature that does one thing completely beats one that does five things with an asterisk on each.

  • Choose defaults as carefully as features
  • Settle the name before you ship the thing
  • Ship the smallest honest version
  • Say plainly what the feature does not do

Install the SDK

That brings us to install the sdk. Naming is design work. If the team argues about what to call something, the disagreement is usually about what it is, and shipping before that is settled means shipping the confusion to customers.

Ship the smallest version that is honest about its limits. A feature that does one thing completely beats one that does five things with an asterisk on each.

Grab credentials

Grab credentials is where this gets concrete. Naming is design work. If the team argues about what to call something, the disagreement is usually about what it is, and shipping before that is settled means shipping the confusion to customers.

Ship the smallest version that is honest about its limits. A feature that does one thing completely beats one that does five things with an asterisk on each.

Ship the smallest version that is honest about its limits.

Wrap your layout

That brings us to wrap your layout. Defaults are the product. Most people will never open the settings screen, which means the behaviour you chose for them is the behaviour they will experience forever.

Defaults are the product. Most people will never open the settings screen, which means the behaviour you chose for them is the behaviour they will experience forever.

Add the proxy (or middleware)

Consider add the proxy (or middleware). Naming is design work. If the team argues about what to call something, the disagreement is usually about what it is, and shipping before that is settled means shipping the confusion to customers.

Naming is design work. If the team argues about what to call something, the disagreement is usually about what it is, and shipping before that is settled means shipping the confusion to customers.

Add sign in and callback routes

Add sign in and callback routes is where this gets concrete. Ship the smallest version that is honest about its limits. A feature that does one thing completely beats one that does five things with an asterisk on each.

Defaults are the product. Most people will never open the settings screen, which means the behaviour you chose for them is the behaviour they will experience forever.

Where this leaves us

The pattern repeats across every system we have looked at: the hard part is not the mechanism, it is keeping the mechanism honest as the surrounding assumptions change.

If you are working through the same problem and want to compare notes, the docs cover the mechanics and the console shows the behaviour on your own data.

Everything here, already built

Sign-in, enterprise SSO, directory provisioning, roles and an audit trail behind one API. Start with the quickstart and have a working sign-in this afternoon.

Start selling to enterprise customers

Create an account, point sign-in at Paycux, and get back to the part of the product that is actually yours.