Extends the WP REST API using JSON Web Tokens for robust authentication, providing a secure and reliable way to access and manage WordPress data.
Extends the WordPress REST API using JSON Web Tokens for robust authentication and authorization.
JSON Web Token (JWT) is an open standard (RFC 7519) that defines a compact and self-contained way for securely transmitting information between two parties.
It provides a secure and reliable way to access and manage WordPress data from external applications, making it ideal for building headless CMS solutions.
- Support & question: WordPress support forum
- Reporting plugin's bug: GitHub issues tracker
Plugins GitHub Repo https://github.com/sayandey18/simple-jwt-auth
HTTP Authorization is a mechanism that allows clients to provide credentials to servers, thereby gaining access to protected resources. This is typically achieved by sending a special header, the Authorization header, in the HTTP request.
Most shared hosts have disabled the HTTP Authorization Header by default.
To enable this option you'll need to edit your .htaccess file by adding the following:
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} ^(.*)
RewriteRule ^(.*) - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%1]
To enable this option you'll need to edit your .htaccess file adding the follow:
SetEnvIf Authorization "(.*)" HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=$1
Simple JWT Auth plugin needs a Signing Key to encrypt and decrypt the secret key, private key, and public key. This signing key must be exact 32 charecter long and never be revealed.
To add the signing key edit your wp-config.php file and add a new constant called SIMPLE_JWT_AUTH_ENCRYPT_KEY
define( 'SIMPLE_JWT_AUTH_ENCRYPT_KEY', 'your-32-char-signing-key' );
Generate a 32 charecter key from here: https://string-gen.netlify.app
Here is the sample response if the encryption key is not configured in wp-config.php file.
{
"code": "simplejwt_bad_encryption_key",
"message": "Encryption key is not configured properly.",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
When the plugin is activated, a new namespace is added.
/auth/v1
Also, two new endpoints are added to this namespace.
| Endpoints | HTTP Verb |
|---|---|
| /wp-json/auth/v1/token | POST |
| /wp-json/auth/v1/token/validate | POST |
To generate a new token, submit a POST request to this endpoint. With username and password as the parameters.
It will validates the user credentials, and returns success response including a token if the authentication is correct or returns an error response if the authentication is failed.
curl --location 'https://example.com/wp-json/auth/v1/token' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
"username": "wordpress_username",
"password": "wordpress_password"
}'
{
"code": "simplejwt_auth_credential",
"message": "Token created successfully",
"data": {
"status": 200,
"id": "2",
"email": "sayandey@outlook.com",
"nicename": "sayan_dey",
"display_name": "Sayan Dey",
"token": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciO........."
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_invalid_username",
"message": "Error: The username admin_user is not registered on this site. If you are unsure of your username, try your email address instead.",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
Once you get the token, you can store it somewhere in your application:
- using Cookie
- or using localstorage
- or using a wrapper like localForage or PouchDB
- or using local database like SQLite
- or your choice based on app you develop
Then you should pass this token as Bearer Authentication header to every API call.
Authorization: Bearer your-generated-token
Here is an example to create WordPress post using JWT token authentication.
curl --location 'https://example.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciO.........' \
--data '{
"title": "Dummy post through API",
"content": "Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry.",
"status": "publish",
"tags": [
4,
5,
6
]
}'
Plugin's middleware intercepts every request to the server, checking for the presence of the Authorization header. If the header is found, it attempts to decode the JWT token contained within.
Upon successful decoding, the middleware extracts the user information stored in the token and authenticates the user accordingly, ensuring that only authorized requests are processed.
This is a helper endpoint to validate a token. You only will need to make a POST request sending the Bearer Authorization header.
curl --location --request POST 'https://example.com/wp-json/auth/v1/token/validate' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciO.........'
{
"code": "simplejwt_valid_token",
"message": "Token is valid",
"data": {
"status": 200
}
}
If the token is invalid an error will be returned, here are some samples of errors.
{
"code": "simplejwt_invalid_username",
"message": "Error: The username admin is not registered on this site. If you are unsure of your username, try your email address instead.",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_incorrect_password",
"message": "Error: The password you entered for the username tiyasha_das is incorrect. Lost your password?",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_invalid_token",
"message": "Signature verification failed",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_invalid_token",
"message": "Syntax error, malformed JSON",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_invalid_token",
"message": "Expired token",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_no_auth_header",
"message": "Authorization header not found",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_bad_auth_header",
"message": "Authorization header malformed",
"data": {
"status": 400
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_invalid_token",
"message": "Incorrect key for this algorithm",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_unsupported_algorithm",
"message": "Unsupported algorithm see https://tinyurl.com/uf4ns6fm",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_bad_config",
"message": "JWT is not configured properly, please contact the admin",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_bad_encryption_key",
"message": "Encryption key is not configured properly.",
"data": {
"status": 403
}
}
{
"code": "simplejwt_invalid_enckey_length",
"message": "Encryption key must be exactly 32 characters long",
"data": {
"status": 400
}
}
Simple JWT Auth is a developer-friendly plugin. It has various filter hooks available to override the default settings.
The simplejwt_cors_allow_headers allows you to modify the available headers when the Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) support is enabled.
Default value:
'Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Content-Type, Authorization'
Usage example:
/**
* Change the allowed CORS headers.
*
* @param string $headers The allowed headers.
* @return string The allowed headers.
*/
add_filter("simplejwt_cors_allow_headers", function ($headers) {
// Modify the headers here.
return $headers;
});
The simplejwt_auth_iss allows you to change the iss value before the payload is encoded to be a token.
Default value:
get_bloginfo( 'url' );
Usage example:
/**
* Change the token issuer.
*
* @param string $iss The token issuer.
* @return string The token issuer.
*/
add_filter("simplejwt_auth_iss", function ($iss) {
// Modify the "iss" here.
return $iss;
});
The simplejwt_not_before allows you to change the nbf value before the payload is encoded to be a token.
Default value:
time();
Usage example:
/**
* Change the token's nbf value.
*
* @param int $not_before The default "nbf" value in timestamp.
* @param int $issued_at The "iat" value in timestamp.
* @return int The "nbf" value.
*/
add_filter(
"simplejwt_not_before",
function ($not_before, $issued_at) {
// Modify the "not_before" here.
return $not_before;
},
10,
2,
);
The simplejwt_auth_expire allows you to change the value exp before the payload is encoded to be a token.
Default value:
time() + ( DAY_IN_SECONDS * 7 )
Usage example:
/**
* Change the token's expire value.
*
* @param int $expire The default "exp" value in timestamp.
* @param int $issued_at The "iat" value in timestamp.
* @return int The "nbf" value.
*/
add_filter(
"simplejwt_auth_expire",
function ($expire, $issued_at) {
// Modify the "expire" here.
return $expire;
},
10,
2,
);
The simplejwt_payload_before_sign allows you to modify all the payload data before being encoded and signed.
Default value:
$payload = [
"iss" => $this->simplejwt_get_iss(),
"iat" => $issued_at,
"nbf" => $not_before,
"exp" => $expire,
"data" => [
"user" => [
"id" => $user->data->ID,
],
],
];
Usage example:
/**
* Modify the payload data before being encoded & signed.
*
* @param array $payload The default payload
* @param WP_User $user The authenticated user.
* @return array The payloads data.
*/
add_filter(
"simplejwt_payload_before_sign",
function ($payload, $user) {
// Modify the payload here.
return $payload;
},
10,
2,
);
The simplejwt_token_before_dispatch allows you to modify the token response before to dispatch it to the client.
Default value:
$data = new WP_REST_Response(
[
"code" => "simplejwt_auth_credential",
"message" => JWTNotice::get_notice("auth_credential"),
"data" => [
"status" => 200,
"id" => $user->data->ID,
"email" => $user->data->user_email,
"nicename" => $user->data->user_nicename,
"display_name" => $user->data->display_name,
"token" => $token,
],
],
200,
);
Usage example:
/**
* Modify the JWT response before dispatch.
*
* @param WP_REST_Response $data The token response data.
* @param WP_User $user The user object for whom the token is being generated.
* @return WP_REST_Response Modified token response data.
*/
add_filter(
"simplejwt_token_before_dispatch",
function ($data, $user) {
// Modify the response data.
if ($user instanceof WP_User) {
}
return $data;
},
10,
2,
);
This section describes how to install the plugin and get it working.
- Download the latest plugin from here
- Unzip the
simple-jwt-auth.zipfile in your computer. - Upload
simple-jwt-authfolder into the/wp-content/plugins/directory. - Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' dashboard.
- Download the latest plugin from here
- Navigate to the Plugins section and click 'Add New Plugin' from the dashboard.
- Navigate to the Upload area by clicking on the 'Upload Plugin' button.
- Select the
simple-jwt-auth.zipfrom your computer. - Click on the 'Install Now' button.
- Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' dashboard.