JSON Web Tokens in Go

JSON Web Tokens is a well known and popular open standard that defines a compact way for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object.

In this article we will dive into the standard itself to make sure we understand how JWT works. We will also implement a secure Go server that can issue JWTs and verify them. And finally we will review some best practices for securely using JWTs.

The suggested pronunciation of JWT is the same as the English word "jot".

Use Cases

The most common use case for JWT is authorization. Once the user is logged in, each subsequent request will include the JWT, allowing the user to access routes, services, and resources that are permitted with that token. Usually sent in a header, for example “Authorization”.