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pgjwt: JSON Web Tokens

The pgjwt (PostgreSQL JSON Web Token) extension allows you to create and parse JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) within a PostgreSQL database. JWTs are commonly used for authentication and authorization in web applications and services.

Enable the extension#

  1. Go to the Database page in the Dashboard.
  2. Click on Extensions in the sidebar.
  3. Search for "pgjwt" and enable the extension.

API#

Where:

  • payload is an encrypted JWT represented as a string.
  • secret is the private/secret passcode which is used to sign the JWT and verify its integrity.
  • algorithm is the method used to sign the JWT using the secret.
  • token is an encrypted JWT represented as a string.

Usage#

Once the extension is installed, you can use its functions to create and parse JWTs. Here's an example of how you can use the sign function to create a JWT:


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select
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extensions.sign(
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payload := '{"sub":"1234567890","name":"John Doe","iat":1516239022}',
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secret := 'secret',
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algorithm := 'HS256'
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);

The pgjwt_encode function returns a string that represents the JWT, which can then be safely transmitted between parties.


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sign
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---------------------------------
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eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpX
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VCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiw
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ibmFtZSI6IkpvaG4gRG9lIiwiaWF0Ijo
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xNTE2MjM5MDIyfQ.XbPfbIHMI6arZ3Y9
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22BhjWgQzWXcXNrz0ogtVhfEd2o
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(1 row)

To parse a JWT and extract its claims, you can use the verify function. Here's an example:


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select
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extensions.verify(
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token := 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJuYW1lIjoiRm9vIn0.Q8hKjuadCEhnCPuqIj9bfLhTh_9QSxshTRsA5Aq4IuM',
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secret := 'secret',
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algorithm := 'HS256'
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);

Which returns the decoded contents and some associated metadata.


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header | payload | valid
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-----------------------------+----------------+-------
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{"alg":"HS256","typ":"JWT"} | {"name":"Foo"} | t
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(1 row)

Resources#