Validate JWT Online

Paste a JWT to run full validation: check the structure, verify the signature, confirm it is not expired, and inspect all claims — everything runs locally in your browser.

100% in-browser — nothing uploaded

Encoded JWT

HeaderPayloadSignature
Awaiting a token — everything is decoded locally in your browser.

Decoded Header

Paste a token to decode this segment.

Decoded Payload

Paste a token to decode this segment.

Verify Signature

Enter the secret to verify the signature

Features

100% private

Your token is decoded entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, logged, or sent to any server or API.

Instant decoding

Paste a JWT and the header, payload, and claims are decoded in real time — no button required.

Human-readable claims

Standard claims like exp, iat, and nbf are explained and shown as readable dates with expiry status.

Signature verification

Verify HS256/384/512 with a secret, or RS, PS, and ES algorithms with a public key — all client-side.

JWT validation explained

What does full JWT validation involve?

Full JWT validation goes beyond decoding — it verifies that the token is structurally valid, cryptographically authentic, and semantically correct. The steps are: (1) confirm the token has three Base64Url-encoded parts separated by dots; (2) decode and validate the header; (3) decode the payload; (4) verify the signature against the issuer's key; (5) validate exp (not expired), nbf (not before), iss (issuer), and aud (audience) claims.

Signature verification is the most critical step — without it, you are just reading data that anyone could have modified. After verifying the signature, iss and aud validation ensures the token was issued for your specific system. An attacker from another service cannot use their legitimate token against your API if you correctly validate aud. Expiry validation ensures tokens do not live forever.

Paste your JWT and enter the verification key above to perform all these checks locally. The tool will show you exactly which validation steps pass and which fail — making it ideal for debugging authentication issues without exposing sensitive tokens to external services.

JWT validation checklist

1. Structure
Token has exactly 3 dot-separated Base64Url-encoded parts.
2. Header
alg is in your allowlist; typ is JWT.
3. Signature
Signature verifies against the key matching the kid.
4. exp
Current time is before the expiration timestamp.
5. nbf
Current time is at or after the not-before timestamp.
6. iss
Issuer matches your expected authorization server.
7. aud
Audience includes your API's identifier.
Step by step

How to decode a JWT token online

1

Paste your token

Copy a JSON Web Token and paste it into the encoded box. You can also load the example token to try it out.

2

Read the decoded data

The header and payload are decoded instantly. Switch to the Claims tab for plain-English explanations and expiry status.

3

Verify the signature

Enter the secret (HMAC) or public key (RSA/ECDSA) to confirm the token is authentic and hasn't been tampered with.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions