Implementing Authentication and Authorization with JWT in GraphQL

Let’s consider a simple GraphQL schema for managing user authentication and authorization:

type Query {
  currentUser: User
}

type Mutation {
  login(username: String!, password: String!): AuthPayload
}

type User {
  id: ID!
  username: String!
  email: String!
}

type AuthPayload {
  token: String!
  user: User!
}

Explanation:

• The Query type includes a single field currentUser that returns a User object representing the currently authenticated user, or null if not authenticated.
• The Mutation type includes a login mutation that takes a username and password, and returns an AuthPayload object containing a JWT (token) and the authenticated User object.
• The User type represents a user with an id, username, and email.
• The AuthPayload type contains a JWT (token) for authentication purposes and the authenticated User object.

Authentication and authorization are important aspects of building secure web applications by including those powered by GraphQL. JSON Web Tokens (JWT) provide a popular mechanism for implementing authentication and authorization in GraphQL applications.

In this article, we’ll explore the concepts of authentication and authorization with JWT in a GraphQL application by covering their implementation, and benefits.