Supabase Troubleshooting: Magic Link vs OTP

Debug the common mismatch where Supabase sends magic links instead of numeric OTP codes. The gateway's verify integration expects a numeric code, but Supabase

Debug the common mismatch where Supabase sends magic links instead of numeric OTP codes. The gateway's verify integration expects a numeric code, but Supabase defaults to magic links for email auth in some configurations. This page explains how to change the Supabase setting and verify the fix.

Last reviewed: 2026-03-06

When to use this

Use the Supabase integration guides when your application uses Supabase Auth for identity and you want passwordless (OTP) authentication flows managed at the gateway edge. The gateway handles sending OTP codes and verifying them, so your backend only sees authenticated requests.

Key concepts

• The Supabase authorizer validates JWTs issued by Supabase Auth using the project's JWT secret. Configure jwt_secret, issuer, and audience in the authorizer block.

• The supabase_passwordless_auth integration sends OTP codes via email or phone through Supabase's GoTrue API. The gateway constructs the request from the client payload and Supabase environment variables.

• The supabase_passwordless_verify integration verifies OTP codes and returns Supabase session tokens. The client sends the OTP code and the gateway validates it against Supabase.

• Supabase requires specific environment variables: SUPABASE_URL, SUPABASE_ANON_KEY, and SUPABASE_JWT_SECRET. All three must be set before any Supabase integration works.

• If Supabase is configured to send magic links instead of numeric OTP codes, the verify flow will not work. This is controlled in the Supabase dashboard under Auth settings.

Repo-grounded example

{
  "authorizer": {
    "type": "supabase",
    "jwt_secret": "$env.SUPABASE_JWT_SECRET",
    "issuer": "https://project.supabase.co/auth/v1",
    "audience": "authenticated"
  },
  "paths": [
    {
      "method": "POST",
      "path": "/api/v1/supabase/auth",
      "integration": { "type": "supabase_passwordless_auth" }
    },
    {
      "method": "POST",
      "path": "/api/v1/supabase/verify",
      "integration": { "type": "supabase_passwordless_verify" }
    }
  ]
}

This snippet sets up the standard Supabase OTP flow. If Supabase sends magic links instead of numeric codes, the verify endpoint will fail with an "invalid token" error. To fix this, go to your Supabase dashboard > Auth > Email and disable the magic link option, then re-test the OTP flow.

Troubleshooting

• If OTP sending fails with a 400 error, verify that SUPABASE_URL and SUPABASE_ANON_KEY are set correctly and that the Supabase project has email or phone auth enabled.

• If OTP verification returns "invalid token", confirm that Supabase is configured to send numeric OTP codes, not magic links -- check the Auth settings in your Supabase dashboard.

• If JWT validation fails on protected routes, confirm that SUPABASE_JWT_SECRET matches the JWT secret shown in your Supabase project settings (Settings > API > JWT Secret).

• If you receive a "missing email or phone" error, ensure the client request body includes either an email or phone field in the JSON payload sent to the auth endpoint.

Related docs

• supabase otp

• authorizer