JWT Token
Definition.
JWT Token: JSON Web Token, an open, industry standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties.
In More Detail
A JWT carries its own claims and a signature, so the server can verify it without a database lookup. That statelessness is the appeal — any instance can validate any token.
It is also the drawback: a token stays valid until it expires, so you cannot simply revoke one. The usual arrangement is a short-lived access token plus a longer refresh token that can be revoked server-side. Keep tokens out of `localStorage` where any script can read them; an httpOnly cookie is the safer default.
In Practice
This is the default authentication mechanism I use between a Flutter mobile app and a Django REST Framework backend — a signed token the app stores securely and sends with each request, rather than re-authenticating on every call.
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