Authenticating with a Token

Tokens are basically random strings, much like a password, and can provide a simple authentication mechanism in some situations. However, tokens are only as safe as they are secret so other authentication schemes can provide more security in large installations. It is highly recommended to use one of the other NATS authentication mechanisms.
For this example, start the server using:
> nats-server --auth mytoken
The code uses localhost:4222 so that you can start the server on your machine to try them out.
Connecting with a Token
Go
Java
JavaScript
Python
Ruby
TypeScript
C
Go
// Set a token
nc, err := nats.Connect("127.0.0.1", nats.Name("API Token Example"), nats.Token("mytoken"))
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
defer nc.Close()
​
// Do something with the connection
Java
Options options = new Options.Builder().
                            server("nats://localhost:4222").
                            token("mytoken"). // Set a token
                            build();
Connection nc = Nats.connect(options);
​
// Do something with the connection
​
nc.close();
JavaScript
let nc = NATS.connect({url: `nats://127.0.0.1:${port}`, token: "mytoken!"});
Python
nc = NATS()
​
await nc.connect(servers=["nats://demo.nats.io:4222"], token="mytoken")
​
# Do something with the connection.
Ruby
NATS.start(token: "mytoken") do |nc|
  puts "Connected using token"
end
TypeScript
let nc = await connect({url: server.nats, token: "mytoken"});
C
natsConnection      *conn      = NULL;
natsOptions         *opts      = NULL;
natsStatus          s          = NATS_OK;
​
s = natsOptions_Create(&opts);
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsOptions_SetToken(opts, "mytoken");
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsConnection_Connect(&conn, opts);
​
(...)
​
// Destroy objects that were created
natsConnection_Destroy(conn);
natsOptions_Destroy(opts);
Connecting with a Token in the URL
Some client libraries will allow you to pass the token as part of the server URL using the form:
nats://token@server:port
Again, once you construct this URL you can connect as if this was a normal URL.
Go
Java
JavaScript
Python
Ruby
TypeScript
C
Go
// Token in URL
nc, err := nats.Connect("mytoken@localhost")
if err != nil {
    log.Fatal(err)
}
defer nc.Close()
​
// Do something with the connection
Java
Connection nc = Nats.connect("nats://mytoken@localhost:4222");//Token in URL
​
// Do something with the connection
​
nc.close();
JavaScript
let url = `nats://mytoken@127.0.0.1:${port}`;
let nc = NATS.connect({url: url});
Python
nc = NATS()
​
await nc.connect(servers=["nats://mytoken@demo.nats.io:4222"])
​
# Do something with the connection.
Ruby
NATS.start("mytoken@127.0.0.1:4222") do |nc|
  puts "Connected using token!"
end
TypeScript
let url = `nats://:mytoken@127.0.0.1:${port}`;
let nc = await connect({url: url});
C
natsConnection      *conn      = NULL;
natsOptions         *opts      = NULL;
natsStatus          s          = NATS_OK;
​
s = natsOptions_Create(&opts);
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsOptions_SetURL(opts, "nats://mytoken@127.0.0.1:4222");
if (s == NATS_OK)
    s = natsConnection_Connect(&conn, opts);
​
(...)
​
// Destroy objects that were created
natsConnection_Destroy(conn);
natsOptions_Destroy(opts);
Authenticating with a User and Password
Authenticating with an NKey
Last updated 2 months ago