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Clerk Service

Authentication and user management for Fulcrum

Last Updated: January 15, 2026

Purpose

Clerk provides: - User authentication (email, OAuth, SSO) - Session management - User profile storage - Organization/team management (Enterprise)

Key Feature: Enterprise-ready auth with minimal integration effort.

Configuration

Variable Required Default Description
CLERK_SECRET_KEY Yes - Backend API key
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY Yes - Frontend API key
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_IN_URL No /sign-in Sign-in page URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_SIGN_UP_URL No /sign-up Sign-up page URL

Dashboard Access

Integration Points

Dashboard (Next.js)

// proxy.ts
import { clerkMiddleware } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
export default clerkMiddleware();

// Protected route
import { auth } from '@clerk/nextjs/server';
const { userId } = auth();

Backend (Go)

// Verify JWT from Clerk
func verifyClerkJWT(token string) (*Claims, error) {
    // Use Clerk's JWKS endpoint
    // https://clerk.com/.well-known/jwks.json
}

User Flow

1. User visits fulcrumlayer.io
2. Clicks "Sign In"
3. Redirected to Clerk-hosted sign-in
4. Authenticates (email, Google, GitHub)
5. Redirected back with session cookie
6. Dashboard reads session, extracts user ID
7. Backend receives user ID in API requests

Webhook Events

Event Purpose Endpoint
user.created Create tenant on signup /api/webhooks/clerk
user.deleted Archive tenant data /api/webhooks/clerk
session.created Audit login /api/webhooks/clerk

Failure Modes

Failure Impact Detection Recovery
Clerk API down Login fails Clerk status page Wait for Clerk
Invalid API key Auth broken 401 errors Rotate keys
Webhook failure Data sync issues Webhook logs Retry/replay

Security

  • Keys: Store in environment variables only
  • Webhooks: Verify signatures
  • Sessions: Clerk manages securely
  • 2FA: Enable in Clerk dashboard for admin users

Pricing Tier

  • Current: Free tier (10,000 MAU)
  • Upgrade trigger: >10,000 monthly active users

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