# Moving Auth users between projects

> Copy Auth users from one project to another and keep their ids and passwords. Choose between import, branching, an SSH tunnel dump, or a SQL copy that works on every plan.

Source: https://supahost.app/kb/migrate-auth-users-between-projects · Updated 2026-11-11

Auth users are rows in two tables: `auth.users` (one row per user, including the bcrypt password hash) and `auth.identities` (one row per sign-in method). Copy both, keep the ids, and users keep their passwords and their links to your own tables. They'll need to sign in once afterwards, because each project has its own JWT secret and sessions aren't copied.

## Pick a route

| Situation | Route |
|---|---|
| Coming from Supabase Cloud | The **Import** tab copies users with passwords and identities. The target project must be empty. See [Importing from Supabase Cloud](/docs/platform/import-from-supabase). |
| You want a copy of a whole project (Pro and up) | Create a branch with **Copy data, users and files**. See [Branching](/docs/platform/branching). |
| Two existing projects, Business or Enterprise | Dump and load over the SSH tunnel (below). |
| Two existing projects, any plan | Copy the rows with SQL in Studio (below). Best for up to a few thousand users. |

Copy users before any of your own tables that reference `auth.users`, such as `profiles`.

## Over the SSH tunnel (Business, Enterprise)

Get each project's connection string from Dashboard → your project → **Connect** → **Database** → **Show connection string**, then:

```bash
# Terminal 1: open the tunnel
ssh -N -L 5432:127.0.0.1:5432 supahost@acme.supahost.space

# Terminal 2: copy the rows from app-one to app-two
pg_dump "postgresql://postgres:<pw-one>@127.0.0.1:5432/p_app_one" \
  --data-only --table=auth.users --table=auth.identities > auth-users.sql

psql "postgresql://postgres:<pw-two>@127.0.0.1:5432/p_app_two" -f auth-users.sql
```

If the projects are on different instances, open a second tunnel on another local port (for example `-L 5433:127.0.0.1:5432`).

## With SQL on any plan

1. In the **source** project's Studio SQL editor, run each query and copy its result:

   ```sql
   select jsonb_agg(u) from auth.users u;
   select jsonb_agg(i) from auth.identities i;
   ```

2. In the **target** project's SQL editor, stage the two results. Dollar quotes keep names like O'Brien from breaking the SQL:

   ```sql
   create table public.qa_user_import (kind text primary key, payload jsonb);
   insert into public.qa_user_import values
     ('users', $json$ PASTE_USERS_RESULT $json$),
     ('identities', $json$ PASTE_IDENTITIES_RESULT $json$);
   ```

3. Insert them, skipping generated columns such as `confirmed_at`, which Postgres won't accept values for:

   ```sql
   do $$
   declare
     t text;
     cols text;
   begin
     foreach t in array array['users', 'identities'] loop
       select string_agg(quote_ident(column_name), ', ' order by ordinal_position) into cols
       from information_schema.columns
       where table_schema = 'auth' and table_name = t and is_generated = 'NEVER';

       execute format(
         'insert into auth.%1$I (%2$s) select %2$s from jsonb_populate_recordset(null::auth.%1$I,
            (select payload from public.qa_user_import where kind = %1$L))',
         t, cols);
     end loop;
   end $$;

   drop table public.qa_user_import;
   ```

   If an email already exists in the target, the insert fails as a whole. Remove or rename the duplicate first.

## After moving

- **Recreate Auth settings in the target:** Site URL, Redirect URLs, OAuth providers, email templates and toggles. They aren't stored with the users.
- **OAuth users** sign in with the same provider. Register the target's callback URL (`https://app-two.acme.supahost.space/auth/v1/callback`) with each provider.
- **Check for NULLs** if the rows came from another system rather than another project. See [Database error querying schema](/kb/auth-500-database-error-querying-schema).
- **Move dependent data** (profiles, uploads) after the users, keeping the same user ids.

## Related

- [Users and the auth schema](/docs/auth/users)
- [Importing from Supabase Cloud](/docs/platform/import-from-supabase)
- [SSH access and direct Postgres](/docs/platform/ssh)
- [Auth error 500: Database error querying schema](/kb/auth-500-database-error-querying-schema)