JWT (JSON Web Token) automatic prolongation of expiration

Question

I would like to implement JWT-based authentication to our new REST API. But since the expiration is set in the token, is it possible to automatically prolong it? I don\'t wa

Answer 1

jwt-autorefresh

If you are using node (React / Redux / Universal JS) you can install npm i -S jwt-autorefresh.

This library schedules refresh of JWT tokens at a user calculated number of seconds prior to the access token expiring (based on the exp claim encoded in the token). It has an extensive test suite and checks for quite a few conditions to ensure any strange activity is accompanied by a descriptive message regarding misconfigurations from your environment.

Full example implementation

import autorefresh from 'jwt-autorefresh'

/** Events in your app that are triggered when your user becomes authorized or deauthorized. */
import { onAuthorize, onDeauthorize } from './events'

/** Your refresh token mechanism, returning a promise that resolves to the new access tokenFunction (library does not care about your method of persisting tokens) */
const refresh = () => {
  const init =  { method: 'POST'
                , headers: { 'Content-Type': `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` }
                , body: `refresh_token=${localStorage.refresh_token}&grant_type=refresh_token`
                }
  return fetch('/oauth/token', init)
    .then(res => res.json())
    .then(({ token_type, access_token, expires_in, refresh_token }) => {
      localStorage.access_token = access_token
      localStorage.refresh_token = refresh_token
      return access_token
    })
}

/** You supply a leadSeconds number or function that generates a number of seconds that the refresh should occur prior to the access token expiring */
const leadSeconds = () => {
  /** Generate random additional seconds (up to 30 in this case) to append to the lead time to ensure multiple clients dont schedule simultaneous refresh */
  const jitter = Math.floor(Math.random() * 30)

  /** Schedule autorefresh to occur 60 to 90 seconds prior to token expiration */
  return 60 + jitter
}

let start = autorefresh({ refresh, leadSeconds })
let cancel = () => {}
onAuthorize(access_token => {
  cancel()
  cancel = start(access_token)
})

onDeauthorize(() => cancel())

disclaimer: I am the maintainer