Building Secure APIs with Node.js and JWT

Securing your API is a critical step in application development. One of the most popular methods for handling authentication and authorization is using JSON Web Tokens (JWT). A JWT is a compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties.

In a Node.js and Express.js application, implementing JWT is straightforward. When a user logs in, the server generates a token containing user information (like their ID and role) and sends it back to the client. The client then includes this token in the authorization header of subsequent requests to access protected routes.

• User logs in with credentials.
• Server verifies credentials and generates a signed JWT.
• Server sends the JWT back to the client.
• Client stores the JWT and sends it with every request to protected routes.