adapter-nextjs: redirect to the originally requested url after sign-in

[tmokmss]

Is this related to a new or existing framework?

Next.js

Is this related to a new or existing API?

Authentication

Is this related to another service?

No response

Describe the feature you'd like to request

Support dynamic redirect after sign-in to return users to their originally requested page.

Currently, createAuthRouteHandlers only supports a static redirectOnSignInComplete value:

createAuthRouteHandlers({
  redirectOnSignInComplete: '/dashboard', // Always redirects here
})

This means users always land on the same page after sign-in, regardless of where they were trying to go. For example:

• User tries to access /settings/profile
• Gets redirected to sign-in
• After successful sign-in, lands on /dashboard instead of /settings/profile

This is a common UX pattern that most authentication libraries support out of the box (NextAuth.js callbackUrl, Auth0 returnTo, Clerk, etc.).

Describe the solution you'd like

Support a redirectTo query parameter on the sign-in endpoint:

/api/auth/sign-in?redirectTo=/settings/profile

After successful authentication, the user should be redirected to /settings/profile instead of the static redirectOnSignInComplete value.

Usage in middleware would be:

// middleware.ts
if (!authenticated) {
  return NextResponse.redirect(
    `/api/auth/sign-in?redirectTo=${encodeURIComponent(request.nextUrl.pathname)}`
  );
}

Security considerations:

• Only allow relative paths (reject absolute URLs to prevent open redirect attacks)
• Fall back to redirectOnSignInComplete if redirectTo is not provided or invalid

Describe alternatives you've considered

1. User-managed cookies: Store the return URL in a cookie before redirecting to sign-in, then read it after sign-in and redirect manually. This works but requires users to handle cookie management (security attributes, expiration, cleanup) and implement open redirect protection themselves.

2. Client-side redirect: After sign-in, land on a page that reads a query parameter and does router.replace(). This adds an extra redirect hop and requires coordination between middleware and the landing page.

Both alternatives push complexity onto users for what is a very common use case.

Additional context

No response

Is this something that you'd be interested in working on?

• 👋 I may be able to implement this feature request
• ⚠️ This feature might incur a breaking change

[adrianjoshua-strutt]

Hi @tmokmss ,

Thank you for this feature request! We will review it with the team and get back to you once we have an update.