go-jwt-middleware

Go JWT Middleware Integration

Protect Go HTTP API endpoints with JWT access token validation using github.com/auth0/go-jwt-middleware/v3.

Agent instruction: Before providing SDK setup instructions, fetch the latest release version by running:

gh api repos/auth0/go-jwt-middleware/releases/latest --jq '.tag_name'

Use the returned version in all dependency lines instead of any hardcoded version below.

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Prerequisites

• Go 1.21 or higher
• Auth0 API configured (not Application - must be API resource)
• If you don't have Auth0 set up yet, use the auth0-quickstart skill first

When NOT to Use

• Go server-rendered web applications - Use go-auth0 for session-based web apps
• Single Page Applications - Use auth0-react, auth0-vue, or auth0-angular for client-side auth
• Mobile applications - Use auth0-swift, auth0-android, or auth0-react-native
• Non-Go backends - Use auth0-aspnetcore-api for .NET, express-jwt for Node.js

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Quick Start Workflow

1. Install SDK

go get github.com/auth0/go-jwt-middleware/v3
go get github.com/joho/godotenv

2. Create Auth0 API

You need an API (not Application) in Auth0.

Agent instruction: If the user's prompt already provides Auth0 credentials (domain and audience), use them directly — skip the setup choice question below and proceed to Step 3 to write the .env file.

STOP — ask the user before proceeding.

Ask exactly this question and wait for their answer before doing anything else:

"How would you like to create the Auth0 API resource?

1. Automated — I'll use the Auth0 CLI to create the API resource and write the exact values to your .env file automatically.
2. Manual — You create the API yourself in the Auth0 Dashboard (or via auth0 apis create) and provide me the Domain and Audience.

Which do you prefer? (1 = Automated / 2 = Manual)"

Do NOT proceed to any setup steps until the user has answered. Do NOT default to manual.

If the user chose Automated, follow the Setup Guide for the "Initial Setup" section (steps 1–6). The automated path writes .env for you — skip Step 3 below and proceed directly to Step 4.

Agent instruction (Automated path checkpoints):

When following the automated path, you MUST complete these checkpoints in order. Do NOT skip any:

1. Check Auth0 CLI — verify auth0 is installed.
2. Check Auth0 login — run auth0 tenants list to verify authentication.
3. Confirm active tenant — show the user which tenant is active and ask: "Your active Auth0 tenant is <domain>. Is this the correct tenant?" Wait for confirmation. If they say no, ask them to run auth0 tenants use <tenant> in their terminal.
4. Ask about API name and identifier — use AskUserQuestion: "What would you like to name your Auth0 API, and what identifier (audience) should it use? For example: Name: 'My Go API', Identifier: 'https://my-api.example.com'. The identifier is a logical URI that doesn't need to resolve — it just uniquely identifies your API." Wait for answer. If the user is unsure, suggest deriving the identifier from the project's module name in go.mod (e.g., https://<module-name>).
5. Ask about scopes — use AskUserQuestion: "What scopes (permissions) does your API need? For example: read:users, write:users, read:products. If you're not sure yet, I can start with common defaults and you can add more later." Wait for answer.
6. Check for existing API — run auth0 apis list and check if an API with the intended identifier already exists. If it does, ask the user whether to reuse it or create a new one with a different identifier.
7. Create the API resource — using the name, identifier, and scopes from steps 4–5.
8. Handle .env — if a .env file already exists, ask before modifying it. Never read existing .env contents (may contain secrets). If no .env exists, write one with AUTH0_DOMAIN and AUTH0_AUDIENCE.
9. Add .env to .gitignore — if not already present.
10. Proceed to code integration — skip Step 3 (already done) and go directly to Step 4 to write the middleware code.

If the user chose Manual, follow the Setup Guide (Manual Setup section) for full instructions. Then continue with Step 3 below.

Quick reference for manual API creation:

# Using Auth0 CLI
auth0 apis create \
  --name "My Go API" \
  --identifier https://my-api.example.com

Or create manually in Auth0 Dashboard → Applications → APIs

3. Configure .env

AUTH0_DOMAIN=your-tenant.auth0.com
AUTH0_AUDIENCE=https://my-api.example.com

Important: Domain must NOT include https://. The middleware constructs the issuer URL automatically.

4. Configure main.go

Agent instruction (integrating with existing code):

Before writing code, determine whether you are:

• A) Adding auth to an existing project — the user already has a main.go with routes defined. In this case, do NOT replace their file with the template below. Instead:
  1. Add the necessary imports (jwtmiddleware, jwks, validator, godotenv, net/url, os, context, strings).
  2. Add the CustomClaims struct and methods.
  3. Add the middleware setup code (issuer URL, JWKS provider, validator, middleware) near the top of main().
  4. Ask which endpoints to protect (see below).
  5. Wrap the specified handlers with middleware.CheckJWT().
• B) Creating a new project from scratch — use the full template below as a starting point.

STOP — ask which endpoints to protect:

If the user's request does NOT explicitly specify which endpoints to protect, ask:

"Which endpoints should require authentication? For example:

• All except health/public — protect everything, leave only specific public routes open
• Specific routes — tell me which routes need auth

Also, do any endpoints need specific scope/permission checks (e.g., write:users for POST/DELETE), or is a valid JWT sufficient for all?"

Wait for the answer. If the user says "all" or "everything except health", protect all routes except /health (or whatever they specify as public). If they specify scope requirements per endpoint, implement per-route scope checks using customClaims.HasScope().

package main

import (
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"log"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
	"os"
	"strings"

	jwtmiddleware "github.com/auth0/go-jwt-middleware/v3"
	"github.com/auth0/go-jwt-middleware/v3/jwks"
	"github.com/auth0/go-jwt-middleware/v3/validator"
	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
)

// CustomClaims contains custom data we want from the token.
type CustomClaims struct {
	Scope       string   `json:"scope"`
	Permissions []string `json:"permissions"`
}

func (c CustomClaims) Validate(ctx context.Context) error {
	return nil
}

func (c CustomClaims) HasScope(expectedScope string) bool {
	for _, scope := range strings.Split(c.Scope, " ") {
		if scope == expectedScope {
			return true
		}
	}
	return false
}

func main() {
	if err := godotenv.Load(); err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Error loading .env file: %v", err)
	}

	issuerURL, err := url.Parse("https://" + os.Getenv("AUTH0_DOMAIN") + "/")
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to parse issuer URL: %v", err)
	}

	provider, err := jwks.NewCachingProvider(
		jwks.WithIssuerURL(issuerURL),
	)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to set up JWKS provider: %v", err)
	}

	jwtValidator, err := validator.New(
		validator.WithKeyFunc(provider.KeyFunc),
		validator.WithAlgorithm(validator.RS256),
		validator.WithIssuer(issuerURL.String()),
		validator.WithAudience(os.Getenv("AUTH0_AUDIENCE")),
		validator.WithCustomClaims(func() validator.CustomClaims {
			return &CustomClaims{}
		}),
	)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to set up JWT validator: %v", err)
	}

	middleware, err := jwtmiddleware.New(
		jwtmiddleware.WithValidator(jwtValidator),
	)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to set up JWT middleware: %v", err)
	}

	mux := http.NewServeMux()

	// Public endpoint - no authentication
	mux.HandleFunc("/api/public", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
		json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"message": "Hello from a public endpoint!"})
	})

	// Protected endpoint - requires valid JWT
	mux.Handle("/api/private", middleware.CheckJWT(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
		claims, err := jwtmiddleware.GetClaims[*validator.ValidatedClaims](r.Context())
		if err != nil {
			http.Error(w, `{"message":"Failed to get token claims."}`, http.StatusInternalServerError)
			return
		}
		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
		json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{
			"message": "Hello from a private endpoint!",
			"userId":  claims.RegisteredClaims.Subject,
		})
	})))

	// Protected + scoped endpoint - requires JWT with specific scope
	mux.Handle("/api/private-scoped", middleware.CheckJWT(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
		claims, err := jwtmiddleware.GetClaims[*validator.ValidatedClaims](r.Context())
		if err != nil {
			http.Error(w, `{"message":"Failed to get token claims."}`, http.StatusInternalServerError)
			return
		}
		customClaims := claims.CustomClaims.(*CustomClaims)
		if !customClaims.HasScope("read:messages") {
			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusForbidden)
			json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"message": "Insufficient scope."})
			return
		}
		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
		json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]string{"message": "Hello from a scoped endpoint!"})
	})))

	log.Println("Server listening on :8080")
	log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(":8080", mux))
}

5. Protect Endpoints

Use middleware.CheckJWT() to wrap handlers that require authentication:

// Public endpoint - no authentication
mux.HandleFunc("/api/public", publicHandler)

// Protected endpoint - requires valid JWT
mux.Handle("/api/private", middleware.CheckJWT(http.HandlerFunc(privateHandler)))

// Protected + scoped - requires JWT with specific permission
mux.Handle("/api/private-scoped", middleware.CheckJWT(http.HandlerFunc(privateScopedHandler)))

6. Test API

Agent instruction: After writing the code, verify the build compiles:

go build ./...

If compilation fails, diagnose the error and fix it. Repeat up to 5-6 times.

Failcheck: If the build still fails after 5-6 fix attempts, stop and ask the user using AskUserQuestion: "The build is still failing after several fix attempts. How would you like to proceed?"

• Let me continue fixing iteratively
• Fix it manually — I'll show the remaining errors
• Skip build verification — proceed without a successful build

Repeat this check after every 5-6 iterations if errors persist.

Agent instruction: STOP — ask after build succeeds.

Once the build compiles successfully, ask the user:

"Your API is set up and compiles successfully. Would you like me to help you set up testing?

1. Yes — I'll help you configure an M2M application to get test tokens.
2. No — I'm done for now.

Which do you prefer?"

Do NOT proceed with testing setup unless the user says yes. If they say no, summarize what was done and stop.

Agent instruction (M2M app setup — only if user wants testing):

If the user chose to set up testing, ask:

"To test your protected endpoints, you need a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) application authorized to request tokens for this API.

1. Create new — I'll create a new M2M application and authorize it for this API.
2. Use existing — You already have an M2M application. Provide the Client ID and I'll authorize it for this API.

Which do you prefer? (1 = Create new / 2 = Use existing)"

Do NOT proceed until the user answers. Do NOT silently pick an existing application from the tenant.

If the user chose "Create new":

auth0 apps create \
  --name "<PROJECT_NAME> (Test App)" \
  --type m2m \
  --no-input --json

Parse the JSON to extract client_id. Do NOT use --reveal-secrets — never expose client secrets in agent context. Then create a client grant:

auth0 api post "client-grants" --data '{
  "client_id": "<CLIENT_ID>",
  "audience": "<API_IDENTIFIER>",
  "scope": ["<SCOPES>"]
}'

If the user chose "Use existing": Ask for the Client ID. Then create a client grant to authorize it for this API:

auth0 api post "client-grants" --data '{
  "client_id": "<USER_PROVIDED_CLIENT_ID>",
  "audience": "<API_IDENTIFIER>",
  "scope": ["<SCOPES>"]
}'

If the grant already exists (409 conflict), that's fine — the app is already authorized.

Agent instruction (TOKEN ISOLATION — CRITICAL):

The agent MUST NEVER directly see or display access token values. Token security rules:

• Do NOT run auth0 test token on its own — it outputs the token to stdout
• Do NOT run curl commands to the /oauth/token endpoint on their own
• Do NOT ask the user to paste their token into the conversation
• Do NOT echo, print, or log the token value
• Do NOT store the token in a file

Secure testing approach (single-command chain):

If the user explicitly asks to test the protected endpoints, the agent MAY use a single-command chain that captures the token into a shell variable and immediately uses it — the token value is never printed or visible to the agent:

TEST_TOKEN=$(auth0 test token <CLIENT_ID> --audience <AUDIENCE> --scopes <SCOPE1,SCOPE2> 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'ey[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]*') && \
[ -n "$TEST_TOKEN" ] && echo "Token acquired (${#TEST_TOKEN} chars)" && \
curl -s http://localhost:8080/<ENDPOINT> -H "Authorization: Bearer $TEST_TOKEN"

Security guarantees of this approach:

• $(...) captures stdout — the token is consumed into the variable, not displayed
• grep -o extracts only the JWT pattern (ey...) — no surrounding output leaks
• echo "Token acquired (${#TEST_TOKEN} chars)" confirms success by printing LENGTH only, never the value
• The shell variable $TEST_TOKEN exists only for the duration of that single command chain — it dies immediately after
• Agent sees only: "Token acquired (834 chars)" + the API response body (JSON)
• No file is written, no env is exported, nothing persists

Rules for using this pattern:

1. ONLY use when the user explicitly asks to test (e.g., "test it", "run the tests", "verify endpoints work")
2. Always chain token acquisition + curl in a SINGLE && command — never separate them into two Bash calls
3. To test multiple endpoints, chain multiple curls in the same command:

   TEST_TOKEN=$(auth0 test token <CLIENT_ID> --audience <AUDIENCE> --scopes <SCOPE1,SCOPE2> 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'ey[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]*') && \
   [ -n "$TEST_TOKEN" ] && echo "Token acquired (${#TEST_TOKEN} chars)" && \
   echo "=== GET /users ===" && \
   curl -s http://localhost:8080/users -H "Authorization: Bearer $TEST_TOKEN" && \
   echo "" && echo "=== POST /users ===" && \
   curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8080/users -H "Authorization: Bearer $TEST_TOKEN" -d '{"id":"99","name":"Test","email":"test@example.com"}' && \
   echo "" && echo "=== GET /products ===" && \
   curl -s http://localhost:8080/products -H "Authorization: Bearer $TEST_TOKEN"
   

4. NEVER add echo $TEST_TOKEN, printf $TEST_TOKEN, or any command that would print the raw token value
5. If the token acquisition fails (empty variable), the [ -n "$TEST_TOKEN" ] check will halt the chain — report to the user that the M2M app may not be authorized
6. Client ID is REQUIRED — the auth0 test token command requires a Client ID to be passed as the first argument. This MUST be the client_id obtained from the M2M app setup step (create new or use existing). If the M2M step has not been completed yet (no Client ID available), do NOT attempt to run the test token command. Instead, ask the user: "I need an M2M application Client ID to get a test token. Would you like me to create one or do you have an existing one?" — then complete the M2M setup first.

If the user does NOT ask to test, just provide the commands for them to run manually:

auth0 test token <CLIENT_ID> --audience <AUDIENCE> --scopes <SCOPE1,SCOPE2>
curl http://localhost:8080/<endpoint> -H "Authorization: Bearer <PASTE_TOKEN_HERE>"

After M2M setup is complete:

1. Start the server with go run . in the background
2. Verify public endpoints return 200 and protected endpoints return 401 (no token needed)
3. If the user asked to test: use the secure single-command chain above for authenticated requests
4. If the user did NOT ask to test: provide the manual commands and tell them to run in their terminal

Test public endpoint:

curl http://localhost:8080/api/public

Test protected endpoint without token (should return 401):

curl http://localhost:8080/api/private

Test protected endpoint with token (secure single-command chain):

TEST_TOKEN=$(auth0 test token <M2M_CLIENT_ID> --audience https://my-api.example.com --scopes <SCOPE1,SCOPE2> 2>/dev/null | grep -o 'ey[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]*\.[A-Za-z0-9_-]*') && \
[ -n "$TEST_TOKEN" ] && echo "Token acquired (${#TEST_TOKEN} chars)" && \
curl -s http://localhost:8080/api/private -H "Authorization: Bearer $TEST_TOKEN"

---

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Created Application instead of API in Auth0	Must create API resource in Auth0 Dashboard → Applications → APIs
Audience doesn't match API Identifier	Must exactly match the API Identifier set in Auth0 Dashboard
Domain includes https://	Use your-tenant.auth0.com format only - the issuer URL is constructed automatically
Using v2 positional parameters instead of v3 options	v3 uses validator.WithKeyFunc(), validator.WithAlgorithm() etc.
Missing trailing slash on issuer URL	Issuer must be https://domain/ with trailing slash
Checking scope claim instead of permissions for RBAC	Use custom claims struct with Permissions []string field
Missing godotenv.Load() call	Add github.com/joho/godotenv and call godotenv.Load() before reading env vars
Using ContextKey{} to access claims (v2 pattern)	Use jwtmiddleware.GetClaims[T]() type-safe generics instead

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Scope-Based Authorization

See Integration Guide for defining and enforcing scope and permission policies.

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CORS Configuration

For APIs called from browser-based SPAs, configure CORS before any auth middleware:

func corsMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
		w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "http://localhost:3000")
		w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, OPTIONS")
		w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Authorization, Content-Type")
		if r.Method == "OPTIONS" {
			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNoContent)
			return
		}
		next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
	})
}

Apply it as the outermost handler wrapping your mux:

handler := corsMiddleware(mux)
log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(":8080", handler))

See Integration Guide for detailed CORS patterns.

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DPoP Support

Built-in proof-of-possession token binding per RFC 9449. See Integration Guide for configuration.

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Related Skills

• auth0-quickstart - Basic Auth0 setup
• auth0-mfa - Add Multi-Factor Authentication

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Quick Reference

Configuration Options:

• validator.WithKeyFunc(provider.KeyFunc) - JWKS key function for signature verification (required)
• validator.WithAlgorithm(validator.RS256) - Expected signing algorithm (required)
• validator.WithIssuer(url) - Token issuer URL with trailing slash (required)
• validator.WithAudience(aud) - API Identifier from Auth0 API settings (required)
• validator.WithCustomClaims(fn) - Factory for custom claims struct
• validator.WithAllowedClockSkew(d) - Clock skew tolerance

Claims Access:

• jwtmiddleware.GetClaims[*validator.ValidatedClaims](r.Context()) - Type-safe claims retrieval
• claims.RegisteredClaims.Subject - User ID (sub)
• claims.CustomClaims.(*CustomClaims).Scope - Space-separated scopes
• claims.CustomClaims.(*CustomClaims).Permissions - Permission strings

Common Use Cases:

• Protect routes → middleware.CheckJWT(handler) (see Step 5)
• Permission enforcement → Integration Guide
• DPoP token binding → Integration Guide
• Framework adapters (Gin, Echo) → Integration Guide
• Advanced JWT config → API Reference

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Detailed Documentation

• Setup Guide - Auth0 CLI setup, environment configuration
• Integration Guide - Scope policies, DPoP, framework adapters, error handling
• API Reference - Complete configuration options and validator/middleware reference

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References

• Auth0 Go API Quickstart
• SDK GitHub Repository
• Go Package Documentation
• Access Tokens Guide
• Migration Guide (v2 to v3)