A string of characters that proves your identity or grants permission to access something.
A token is a piece of data that represents something — usually authentication or authorization. The most common type is a JSON Web Token, which encodes user identity and permissions. When you log in, the Server creates a token. Your browser sends it with every request to prove you are authenticated.
Tokens are stored in cookies or local storage and included in API request headers. API keys are a type of token for service-to-service communication. Tokens are encrypted and signed using SSL/HTTPS to prevent tampering. CORS policies affect how tokens are sent across domains.
Supabase, OAuth, REST APIs, and Edge Functions all use tokens. Tokens are managed via environment variables and validated by Middleware. Understanding tokens is crucial for building secure web applications with Git-hosted codebases on GitHub.
The two most common token types in authentication are Access Tokens (short-lived, sent with every request) and Refresh Tokens (long-lived, used to get new access tokens without re-logging in).
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