apidevtools

JWT Decoder Guide

JWTs are commonly used for API authentication. Decoding them helps you inspect claims and metadata during integration and troubleshooting.

What it is

  • A JWT has three dot-separated parts: header, payload, and signature.
  • Header defines token metadata, payload contains claims, and signature is used for verification.

Why developers use it

  • You can quickly inspect expiration (`exp`) and issuer (`iss`) claims.
  • Local decoding helps debug auth flows without sending tokens to external services.
  • It speeds up API testing when token claim mismatches cause 401/403 responses.

Example

Sample JWT payload fields

{
  "sub": "1234567890",
  "name": "John Doe",
  "iat": 1516239022
}

How to use the tool

  1. Paste the token into the JWT input box.
  2. Click Decode to display header and payload as JSON.
  3. Copy header or payload for debugging and documentation.
Open JWT Decoder

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