What is Token-Based Authentication?

https://www.permit.io/blog/what-is-token-based-authentication/

Why Not Password and Sessions?

1. Scalability: Managing session states across multiple servers or microservices can be time-consuming and inefficient.
2. Performance: Constantly verifying session information with each request adds overhead, impacting application performance.
3. Security Risks: Sessions can be vulnerable to various attacks, such as session hijacking and cross-site scripting (XSS).

Token-based authentication addresses these issues by offering a stateless approach. Each token encapsulates the user's identity and permissions, eliminating the need for the server to maintain the session state. This approach doesn’t just simplify the architecture but also enhances security.

Challenges in Using Tokens

While token-based authentication offers numerous advantages, it also comes with its own challenges that developers must navigate.

1. Token Management: Securely storing and managing tokens, especially refresh tokens, is crucial. Poorly managed tokens can become a security liability.
2. Token Expiration: Implementing and handling token expiration requires careful thought to balance security and user experience.
3. Scalability and Performance: In high-traffic systems, validating tokens for each request can become a performance bottleneck.
4. Cross-Domain/Cross-Origin Issues: When tokens are used across different domains, developers need to handle potential CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) issues.