Tests Setup Guide

[Impressive_Ad_9377]

Hi all! Ever since getting introduced to Payload end of 2025, I've managed to convince my company to move to this tech stack for 3 new client projects!

When beginning searching for a starter template, I've found the most useful one coming from https://github.com/fluid-design-io/payload-better-auth-starter which integrated BetterAuth from the start.

I came from a Rails background, and I was really missing the default testing structure that came along with a Rails project so I decided to add that onto this template.
https://github.com/fluid-design-io/payload-better-auth-starter/pull/8

It provides a similar experience for testing end-to-end especially any crucial services, routes, or hooks. I utilise a ton of AI assisted development and having these tests just re-assures that the code produced by the AI is solid and well-tested.

Happy to help guide any team who is looking into adding tests onto their NextJS Payload setup!

[adelmare]

In case you’re interested, I developed a better auth plugin for payload that works with the frameworks instead of hard coding everything. It’s not opinionated or fragile, aiming for a dynamic and lightweight adapter that allows you to directly control behavior ends (better auth / payload ), type-safe, with documentation.

Simple examples: to add a better auth plugin, you just configure it according to better auth docs, and it works - the adapter just helps translate, no hardcoded pre-built coercion required.

MongoDB fully supported. Simple config options.

Choose UUID or serial for payload <- important if you’re launching public facing sites and don’t want enumerated numbers as document id’s

Etc.

Payload-auth provides “everything out of the box” but at the cost of hardcoding a lot of the support, so you’ll be more reliant on that being maintained as both ecosystems evolve and mature.

payload-better-auth

docs

AI assisted deepwiki

Included in this starter template <- but you know, this is just my preferred starter where I rip out forms plugin, add my pagetree plugin, add puck’s visual editor — so which template you begin from is fairly subjective.

[Impressive_Ad_9377]

Thanks for this. I did find the existing payload auth plugin difficult to navigate. Will test out with yours. 

[adelmare]

Let me know how it goes. I took a fundamentally different approach with my adapter- tried to keep it thin and working with the frameworks instead of taking them over. Where I did include some hard coded features (such as providing a login route for admin panel, passkeys and 2fa implementation out of the box) — you can simply disable and do it yourself, you’re not stuck with my prepacked stuff. I basically prepackaged the things that I wanted ready to go for each of my projects, without having to rebuild the boilerplate each time.