Member-only story
🏆Refresh token and Access token in JWT, step-by-step guide
Published in
4 min readFeb 7, 2024
What is JWT ? ❓🤔
JSON Web Tokens (JWT) are a popular method for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object. JWTs consist of three parts: a header, a payload, and a signature. They are often used for authentication and information exchange in web applications. Within JWT-based authentication systems, access tokens and refresh tokens play crucial roles in managing user sessions securely.
If not member click here for free access
Access Token 👁️:
- An access token is a credential used to access protected resources on behalf of a user.
- It typically contains information about the user’s identity (such as user ID), permissions (scopes), and possibly additional metadata.
- Access tokens have a limited lifespan, typically ranging from a few minutes to a few hours, after which they expire.
- They are short-lived for security reasons, reducing the window of opportunity for attackers in case the token is compromised.
- Once an access token expires, the client must obtain a new one to continue accessing protected resources.
Refresh Token 🔃:
- A refresh token is a credential used to obtain a new access token when the current access token expires.
- Refresh tokens are long-lived compared to access tokens, often lasting days, weeks, or even months.
- They are securely stored on the client-side (typically in an HTTP-only cookie or local storage) and are used to request new access tokens without requiring the user to reauthenticate.
- Refresh tokens are valuable targets for attackers since compromising a refresh token can lead to prolonged unauthorized access.
- It’s important to handle refresh tokens securely, such as transmitting them over HTTPS and storing them securely on the client-side.
Let’s try to understand whole mechanism 🧐
- Both access tokens and refresh tokens can be implemented as JWTs, although they serve different purposes and have different lifespans.
