Building an Authentication System With Express JWT: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you are currently building mini API projects with Express.js, you will have noticed this: anyone can send requests to your API endpoints. However, real-world APIs don't work that way. You have to log in, create an account, and get an API key, which you'll use to authenticate every request you send. And that’s exactly what this tutorial is all about. I will show you how to build a secure authentication system using Express, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), Bcrypt, and salt. So users can log in, get a token, and use it to authenticate requests before they can access your API routes. What is in This Guide: Prerequisites Basic Setup for Express Project Basic Database Setup in MongoDB. What is JWT? How to Implement JWT in Express How to Hash a Password with Bcrypt and Salt in Express Prerequisites You should have: VS Code installed on your device A basic understanding of Express.js Basic Setup for Express Project PS: You can skip this section if you already know how to set up a basic Express proje