Lovable auth

JWT Token Expires Silently Causing Unexpected Logout

Users experience sudden logout after being idle or when making requests. API calls start failing with 401 Unauthorized. The JWT token has expired but the app didn't refresh it before it became invalid.

By default, Supabase tokens expire after 1 hour. Without proper refresh token handling, expired tokens cause failures silently rather than triggering re-authentication flow.

Error Messages You Might See

401 Unauthorized JWT expired Invalid or expired token auth/invalid-api-key
401 UnauthorizedJWT expiredInvalid or expired tokenauth/invalid-api-key

Common Causes

  1. autoRefreshToken not enabled in Supabase client config
  2. No error handling for expired token (401 response)
  3. Refresh token also expired or missing
  4. App doesn't check token expiration before making requests
  5. Network request fails during token refresh

How to Fix It

Enable automatic token refresh and add auth state listener:

const { data: { session } } = await supabase.auth.getSession();

supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange((event, session) => {
  if (event === 'TOKEN_REFRESHED') {
    console.log('Token refreshed');
  } else if (event === 'SIGNED_OUT') {
    // Redirect to login
  }
});

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long are JWT tokens valid?

By default 1 hour for access tokens. Refresh tokens last 30 days. Configure in Supabase > Authentication > Providers > General.

Should I manually refresh tokens?

No, enable autoRefreshToken in client config and Supabase handles it automatically before expiry.

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