JWT Authentication

Harper uses token based authentication with JSON Web Tokens, JWTs.

This consists of two primary operations create_authentication_tokens and refresh_operation_token. These generate two types of tokens, as follows:

• The operation_token which is used to authenticate all Harper operations in the Bearer Token Authorization Header. The default expiry is one day.

• The refresh_token which is used to generate a new operation_token upon expiry. This token is used in the Bearer Token Authorization Header for the refresh_operation_token operation only. The default expiry is thirty days.

The create_authentication_tokens operation can be used at any time to refresh both tokens in the event that both have expired or been lost.

Create Authentication Tokens

Users must initially create tokens using their Harper credentials. The following POST body is sent to Harper. No headers are required for this POST operation.

{
    "operation": "create_authentication_tokens",
    "username": "username",
    "password": "password"
}

A full cURL example can be seen here:

curl --location --request POST 'http://localhost:9925' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
    "operation": "create_authentication_tokens",
    "username": "username",
    "password": "password"
}'

An example expected return object is:

{
    "operation_token": "eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VybmFtZSI6InVzZXJuYW1lIiwiaWF0IjoxNjA0OTc4MjAwLCJleHAiOjE2MDUwNjQ2MDAsInN1YiI6Im9wZXJhdGlvbiJ9.MpQA-9CMjA-mn-7mHyUXSuSC_-kqMqJXp_NDiKLFtbtMRbodCuY3DzH401rvy_4vb0yCELf0B5EapLVY1545sv80nxSl6FoZFxQaDWYXycoia6zHpiveR8hKlmA6_XTWHJbY2FM1HAFrdtt3yUTiF-ylkdNbPG7u7fRjTmHfsZ78gd2MNWIDkHoqWuFxIyqk8XydQpsjULf2Uacirt9FmHfkMZ-Jr_rRpcIEW0FZyLInbm6uxLfseFt87wA0TbZ0ofImjAuaW_3mYs-3H48CxP152UJ0jByPb0kHsk1QKP7YHWx1-Wce9NgNADfG5rfgMHANL85zvkv8sJmIGZIoSpMuU3CIqD2rgYnMY-L5dQN1fgfROrPMuAtlYCRK7r-IpjvMDQtRmCiNG45nGsM4DTzsa5GyDrkGssd5OBhl9gr9z9Bb5HQVYhSKIOiy72dK5dQNBklD4eGLMmo-u322zBITmE0lKaBcwYGJw2mmkYcrjDOmsDseU6Bf_zVUd9WF3FqwNkhg4D7nrfNSC_flalkxPHckU5EC_79cqoUIX2ogufBW5XgYbU4WfLloKcIpb51YTZlZfwBHlHPSyaq_guaXFaeCUXKq39_i1n0HRF_mRaxNru0cNDFT9Fm3eD7V8axFijSVAMDyQs_JR7SY483YDKUfN4l-vw-EVynImr4",
    "refresh_token": "eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VybmFtZSI6InVzZXJuYW1lIiwiaWF0IjoxNjA0OTc4MjAwLCJleHAiOjE2MDc1NzAyMDAsInN1YiI6InJlZnJlc2gifQ.acaCsk-CJWIMLGDZdGnsthyZsJfQ8ihXLyE8mTji8PgGkpbwhs7e1O0uitMgP_pGjHq2tey1BHSwoeCL49b18WyMIB10hK-q2BXGKQkykltjTrQbg7VsdFi0h57mGfO0IqAwYd55_hzHZNnyJMh4b0iPQFDwU7iTD7x9doHhZAvzElpkWbc_NKVw5_Mw3znjntSzbuPN105zlp4Niurin-_5BnukwvoJWLEJ-ZlF6hE4wKhaMB1pWTJjMvJQJE8khTTvlUN8tGxmzoaDYoe1aCGNxmDEQnx8Y5gKzVd89sylhqi54d2nQrJ2-ElfEDsMoXpR01Ps6fNDFtLTuPTp7ixj8LvgL2nCjAg996Ga3PtdvXJAZPDYCqqvaBkZZcsiqOgqLV0vGo3VVlfrcgJXQImMYRr_Inu0FCe47A93IAWuQTs-KplM1KdGJsHSnNBV6oe6QEkROJT5qZME-8xhvBYvOXqp9Znwg39bmiBCMxk26Ce66_vw06MNgoa3D5AlXPWemfdVKPZDnj_aLVjZSs0gAfFElcVn7l9yjWJOaT2Muk26U8bJl-2BEq_DSclqKHODuYM5kkPKIdE4NFrsqsDYuGxcA25rlNETFyl0q-UXj1aoz_joy5Hdnr4mFELmjnoo4jYQuakufP9xeGPsj1skaodKl0mmoGcCD6v1F60"
}

Using JWT Authentication Tokens

The operation_token value is used to authenticate all operations in place of our standard Basic auth. In order to pass the token you will need to create an Bearer Token Authorization Header like the following request:

curl --location --request POST 'http://localhost:9925' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VybmFtZSI6InVzZXJuYW1lIiwiaWF0IjoxNjA0OTc4MjAwLCJleHAiOjE2MDUwNjQ2MDAsInN1YiI6Im9wZXJhdGlvbiJ9.MpQA-9CMjA-mn-7mHyUXSuSC_-kqMqJXp_NDiKLFtbtMRbodCuY3DzH401rvy_4vb0yCELf0B5EapLVY1545sv80nxSl6FoZFxQaDWYXycoia6zHpiveR8hKlmA6_XTWHJbY2FM1HAFrdtt3yUTiF-ylkdNbPG7u7fRjTmHfsZ78gd2MNWIDkHoqWuFxIyqk8XydQpsjULf2Uacirt9FmHfkMZ-Jr_rRpcIEW0FZyLInbm6uxLfseFt87wA0TbZ0ofImjAuaW_3mYs-3H48CxP152UJ0jByPb0kHsk1QKP7YHWx1-Wce9NgNADfG5rfgMHANL85zvkv8sJmIGZIoSpMuU3CIqD2rgYnMY-L5dQN1fgfROrPMuAtlYCRK7r-IpjvMDQtRmCiNG45nGsM4DTzsa5GyDrkGssd5OBhl9gr9z9Bb5HQVYhSKIOiy72dK5dQNBklD4eGLMmo-u322zBITmE0lKaBcwYGJw2mmkYcrjDOmsDseU6Bf_zVUd9WF3FqwNkhg4D7nrfNSC_flalkxPHckU5EC_79cqoUIX2ogufBW5XgYbU4WfLloKcIpb51YTZlZfwBHlHPSyaq_guaXFaeCUXKq39_i1n0HRF_mRaxNru0cNDFT9Fm3eD7V8axFijSVAMDyQs_JR7SY483YDKUfN4l-vw-EVynImr4' \
--data-raw '{
    "operation":"search_by_hash",
    "schema":"dev",
    "table":"dog",
    "hash_values":[1],
    "get_attributes": ["*"]
}'

Token Expiration

operation_token expires at a set interval. Once it expires it will no longer be accepted by Harper. This duration defaults to one day, and is configurable in harperdb-config.yaml. To generate a new operation_token, the refresh_operation_token operation is used, passing the refresh_token in the Bearer Token Authorization Header. A full cURL example can be seen here:

curl --location --request POST 'http://localhost:9925' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ1c2VybmFtZSI6InVzZXJuYW1lIiwiaWF0IjoxNjA0OTc4MjAwLCJleHAiOjE2MDc1NzAyMDAsInN1YiI6InJlZnJlc2gifQ.acaCsk-CJWIMLGDZdGnsthyZsJfQ8ihXLyE8mTji8PgGkpbwhs7e1O0uitMgP_pGjHq2tey1BHSwoeCL49b18WyMIB10hK-q2BXGKQkykltjTrQbg7VsdFi0h57mGfO0IqAwYd55_hzHZNnyJMh4b0iPQFDwU7iTD7x9doHhZAvzElpkWbc_NKVw5_Mw3znjntSzbuPN105zlp4Niurin-_5BnukwvoJWLEJ-ZlF6hE4wKhaMB1pWTJjMvJQJE8khTTvlUN8tGxmzoaDYoe1aCGNxmDEQnx8Y5gKzVd89sylhqi54d2nQrJ2-ElfEDsMoXpR01Ps6fNDFtLTuPTp7ixj8LvgL2nCjAg996Ga3PtdvXJAZPDYCqqvaBkZZcsiqOgqLV0vGo3VVlfrcgJXQImMYRr_Inu0FCe47A93IAWuQTs-KplM1KdGJsHSnNBV6oe6QEkROJT5qZME-8xhvBYvOXqp9Znwg39bmiBCMxk26Ce66_vw06MNgoa3D5AlXPWemfdVKPZDnj_aLVjZSs0gAfFElcVn7l9yjWJOaT2Muk26U8bJl-2BEq_DSclqKHODuYM5kkPKIdE4NFrsqsDYuGxcA25rlNETFyl0q-UXj1aoz_joy5Hdnr4mFELmjnoo4jYQuakufP9xeGPsj1skaodKl0mmoGcCD6v1F60' \
--data-raw '{
  "operation":"refresh_operation_token"
}'

This will return a new operation_token. An example expected return object is:

{
  "operation_token": "eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.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.qB4FS7fzryCO5epQlFCQe4mQcUEhzXjfsXRFPgauXrGZwSeSr2o2a1tE1xjiI3qjK0r3f2bdi2xpFlDR1thdY-m0mOpHTICNOae4KdKzp7cyzRaOFurQnVYmkWjuV_Ww4PJgr6P3XDgXs5_B2d7ZVBR-BaAimYhVRIIShfpWk-4iN1XDk96TwloCkYx01BuN87o-VOvAnOG-K_EISA9RuEBpSkfUEuvHx8IU4VgfywdbhNMh6WXM0VP7ZzSpshgsS07MGjysGtZHNTVExEvFh14lyfjfqKjDoIJbo2msQwD2FvrTTb0iaQry1-Wwz9QJjVAUtid7tJuP8aBeNqvKyMIXRVnl5viFUr-Gs-Zl_WtyVvKlYWw0_rUn3ucmurK8tTy6iHyJ6XdUf4pYQebpEkIvi2rd__e_Z60V84MPvIYs6F_8CAy78aaYmUg5pihUEehIvGRj1RUZgdfaXElw90-m-M5hMOTI04LrzzVnBu7DcMYg4UC1W-WDrrj4zUq7y8_LczDA-yBC2-bkvWwLVtHLgV5yIEuIx2zAN74RQ4eCy1ffWDrVxYJBau4yiIyCc68dsatwHHH6bMK0uI9ib6Y9lsxCYjh-7MFcbP-4UBhgoDDXN9xoUToDLRqR9FTHqAHrGHp7BCdF5d6TQTVL5fmmg61MrLucOo-LZBXs1NY"
}

The refresh_token also expires at a set interval, but a longer interval. Once it expires it will no longer be accepted by Harper. This duration defaults to thirty days, and is configurable in harperdb-config.yaml. To generate a new operation_token and a new refresh_token the create_authentication_tokensoperation is called.

Configuration

Token timeouts are configurable in harperdb-config.yaml with the following parameters:

• operationsApi.authentication.operationTokenTimeout: Defines the length of time until the operation_token expires (default 1d).

• operationsApi.authentication.refreshTokenTimeout: Defines the length of time until the refresh_token expires (default 30d).

A full list of valid values for both parameters can be found here.