Database

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)

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