jose

jose

jose is JavaScript module for JSON Object Signing and Encryption, providing support for JSON Web Tokens (JWT), JSON Web Signature (JWS), JSON Web Encryption (JWE), JSON Web Key (JWK), JSON Web Key Set (JWKS), and more. The module is designed to work across various Web-interoperable runtimes including Node.js, browsers, Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun, and others.

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Dependencies: 0

jose has no dependencies and it exports tree-shakeable ESM¹.

Documentation

jose is distributed via npmjs.com, jsr.io, jsdelivr.com, and github.com.

example ESM import¹

import * as jose from 'jose'

JSON Web Tokens (JWT)

The jose module supports JSON Web Tokens (JWT) and provides functionality for signing and verifying tokens, as well as their JWT Claims Set validation.

• JWT Claims Set Validation & Signature Verification using the jwtVerify function
  • Using a remote JSON Web Key Set (JWKS)
  • Using a local JSON Web Key Set (JWKS)
• Signing using the SignJWT class
• Utility functions
  • Decoding Token's Protected Header
  • Decoding JWT Claims Set prior to its validation

Encrypted JSON Web Tokens

The jose module supports encrypted JSON Web Tokens and provides functionality for encrypting and decrypting tokens, as well as their JWT Claims Set validation.

• Decryption & JWT Claims Set Validation using the jwtDecrypt function
• Encryption using the EncryptJWT class
• Utility functions
  • Decoding Token's Protected Header

Key Utilities

The jose module supports importing, exporting, and generating keys and secrets in various formats, including PEM formats like SPKI, X.509 certificate, and PKCS #8, as well as JSON Web Key (JWK).

• Key Import Functions
  • JWK Import
  • Public Key Import (SPKI)
  • Public Key Import (X.509 Certificate)
  • Private Key Import (PKCS #8)
• Key and Secret Generation Functions
  • Asymmetric Key Pair Generation
  • Symmetric Secret Generation
• Key Export Functions
  • JWK Export
  • Private Key Export
  • Public Key Export

JSON Web Signature (JWS)

The jose module supports signing and verification of JWS messages with arbitrary payloads in Compact, Flattened JSON, and General JSON serialization syntaxes.

• Signing - Compact, Flattened JSON, General JSON
• Verification - Compact, Flattened JSON, General JSON
  • Using a remote JSON Web Key Set (JWKS)
  • Using a local JSON Web Key Set (JWKS)
• Utility functions
  • Decoding Token's Protected Header

JSON Web Encryption (JWE)

The jose module supports encryption and decryption of JWE messages with arbitrary plaintext in Compact, Flattened JSON, and General JSON serialization syntaxes.

• Encryption - Compact, Flattened JSON, General JSON
• Decryption - Compact, Flattened JSON, General JSON
• Utility functions
  • Decoding Token's Protected Header

Other

The following are additional features and utilities provided by the jose module:

• Calculating JWK Thumbprint
• Calculating JWK Thumbprint URI
• Verification using a JWK Embedded in a JWS Header
• Unsecured JWT
• JOSE Errors

Supported Runtimes

The jose module is compatible with JavaScript runtimes that support the utilized Web API globals and standard built-in objects or are Node.js.

The following runtimes are supported (this is not an exhaustive list):

• Bun
• Browsers
• Cloudflare Workers
• Deno
• Electron
• Node.js
• Vercel's Edge Runtime

Please note that certain algorithms may not be available depending on the runtime used. You can find a list of available algorithms for each runtime in the specific issue links provided above.

Supported Versions

Version	Security Fixes 🔑	Other Bug Fixes 🐞	New Features ⭐	Runtime and Module type
v6.x	✅	✅	✅	Universal2 ESM1
v5.x	✅	❌	❌	Universal2 CJS + ESM
v4.x	✅	❌	❌	Universal2 CJS + ESM
v2.x	✅	❌	❌	Node.js CJS

Specifications

Details

• JSON Web Signature (JWS) - RFC7515
• JSON Web Encryption (JWE) - RFC7516
• JSON Web Key (JWK) - RFC7517
• JSON Web Algorithms (JWA) - RFC7518
• JSON Web Token (JWT) - RFC7519
• JSON Web Key Thumbprint - RFC7638
• JSON Web Key Thumbprint URI - RFC9278
• JWS Unencoded Payload Option - RFC7797
• CFRG Elliptic Curve ECDH and Signatures - RFC8037

The algorithm implementations in jose have been tested using test vectors from their respective specifications as well as RFC7520.

Footnotes

• CJS style let jose = require('jose') is possible in Node.js versions where process.features.require_module is true by default (^20.19.0 || ^22.12.0 || >= 23.0.0) or with the --experimental-require-module Node.js CLI flag. ↩ ↩² ↩³

• Assumes runtime support of WebCryptoAPI and Fetch API ↩ ↩² ↩³

Changelog

6.0.9 (2025-03-11)

Documentation

• add more symbol document, ignore ts-private fields (8b73687)
• bump typedoc (6163a8b)
• drop cdnjs links in README (a910038)
• drop denoland/x links in README and add jsr (3662b9e)
• fix key export links from docs/README.md (c8edfc2)

Refactor

• always assume structuredClone is present (f7898a9)
• hide internal private fields and drop ProduceJWT inheritance (ab18881)
• less objects when JWE JWT Replicated Header Parameters are used (c763a0e)

Similar packages

Other packages similar to jose

jsonwebtoken

The 'jsonwebtoken' package is similar to 'jose' in that it provides functionality for creating and verifying JWTs. It is widely used and has a simpler API for basic JWT operations, but it does not support JWE or more advanced JOSE features.

node-jose

The 'node-jose' package is another alternative that implements the JOSE suite of standards. It offers similar functionalities to 'jose' but has a different API design and may have different performance characteristics.

jws

The 'jws' package is focused on JSON Web Signatures (JWS). It is a simpler library that allows signing and verifying messages but does not handle JWTs, JWEs, or JWKs directly.