clerk

SKILL.md

Intelligent router that directs authentication tasks to specialized Clerk skills based on your framework and use case.

Routes to eight specialized skills covering setup, custom UI, Next.js patterns, organizations, webhooks, testing, native iOS/Android, and backend API

Detects Clerk SDK version (Core 2 LTS vs. current) from package.json to apply correct patterns and APIs

Covers web frameworks (Next.js, React, Expo, React Router, TanStack Start) and native platforms (Swift/iOS, Kotlin/Android)

Includes inline callouts for Core 2-specific differences, with separate directories for custom UI hooks that differ between SDK versions

Clerk Skills Router

Version Detection

Check package.json to determine the Clerk SDK version. This determines which patterns to use:

Package
Core 2 (LTS until Jan 2027)
Current

@clerk/nextjs
v5–v6
v7+

@clerk/react or @clerk/clerk-react
v5–v6
v7+

@clerk/expo or @clerk/clerk-expo
v1–v2
v3+

@clerk/react-router
v1–v2
v3+

@clerk/tanstack-react-start
< v0.26.0
v0.26.0+

Default to current if the version is unclear or the project is new. Core 2 packages use @clerk/clerk-react and @clerk/clerk-expo (with clerk- prefix); current packages use @clerk/react and @clerk/expo.

All skills are written for the current SDK. When something differs in Core 2, it's noted inline with > **Core 2 ONLY (skip if current SDK):** callouts. The exception is clerk-custom-ui, which has separate core-2/ and core-3/ directories for custom flow hooks since those APIs are entirely different between versions.