Clerk Ecosystem
Clerk is the auth and identity route when the task involves hosted sign-in, users, organizations, sessions, Backend API work, or custom auth UI in a web app. Source: Ecosystem Capability Coverage, 2026-06-27; Skill Resolver, 2026-06-27
When To Use This
Use Clerk when the app needs managed authentication, user/org management, session claims, middleware, or custom auth surfaces. Use generic auth guidance for policy design, but route implementation through Clerk-specific skills when Clerk is named. Source: Skill Resolver, 2026-06-27
Decision Matrix
| Need | Route | Verification |
|---|---|---|
| Inspect users/orgs | Clerk MCP | Read-only lookup result |
| App setup | Cloud, Data, and Service Skills | Auth smoke in local app |
| Backend API | Cloud, Data, and Service Skills | API response and error handling |
| Custom UI | Frontend and Design Skills | Sign-in, sign-out, protected route smoke |
Core Model
Clerk owns identity primitives. The application still owns authorization policy, tenant/resource checks, route protection, and user-visible recovery paths. Do not treat "user is authenticated" as "user can do the thing." Source: Cloud, Data, and Service Skills, 2026-06-27
Routing Summary
Preferred order: Clerk MCP for product/account reads, Clerk skills for setup or API work, then project tests for integration behavior. The coverage audit tracks Clerk across skills.sh, MCP, CLI seed, installed skills, wiki pages, routing, and packs. Source: Ecosystem Capability Coverage, 2026-06-27
Failure Modes
- Collapsing authentication and authorization.
- Trusting client-visible claims without server-side checks.
- Forgetting org/tenant boundaries.
- Hiding auth failures behind generic app errors.
Verification Path
Confirm the target Clerk application before changes. Prove sign-in, sign-out, protected routes, denied access, and server-side authorization behavior. If using CLI/MCP, start with read-only lookup. Source: Skill Resolver, 2026-06-27; config/capability-harvest-seeds.json
Timeline
- 2026-06-27 | Canonical ecosystem page created so auth pack routing has a product-level Clerk page, not only individual skill mirrors. Source: User request, 2026-06-27; Ecosystem Capability Coverage