JWT Authentication

Configure JWT-based authentication for your organization in Portkey

This feature is available only on the Enterprise Plan of Portkey.

Portkey supports JWT-based authentication in addition to API Key authentication. Clients can authenticate API requests using a JWT token, which is validated against a configured JWKS (JSON Web Key Set). This guide explains the requirements and setup process for JWT authentication in Portkey.

Validate JWT Token (Guardarail)

Validate your JWT Token before making a LLM request using Portkey.

Configuring JWT Authentication

JWT authentication can be configured under Admin Settings → Organisation → Authentication.

JWKS Configuration

To validate JWTs, you must configure one of the following:

• JWKS URL: A URL from which the public keys will be dynamically fetched.
• JWKS JSON: A static JSON containing public keys.

JWT Requirements

Supported Algorithm

• JWTs must be signed using RS256 (RSA Signature with SHA-256).

Required Claims

Your JWT payload must contain the following claims:

Claim Key	Description
portkey_oid / organisation_id	Unique identifier for the organization.
portkey_workspace / workspace_slug	Identifier for the workspace.
scope / scopes	Permissions granted by the token.

User Identification

Portkey identifies users in the following order of precedence for logging and metrics:

1. email_id
2. sub
3. uid

Authentication Process

1. The client sends an HTTP request with the JWT in the x-portkey-api-key header:

   x-portkey-api-key: <JWT_TOKEN>
   

2. The server validates the JWT:

   • Verifies the signature using the JWKS.
   • Checks if the token is expired.
   • Ensures the required claims are present.

3. If valid, the request is authenticated, and user details are extracted for authorization and logging.

4. If invalid, the request is rejected with an HTTP 401 Unauthorized response.

Authorization & Scopes

Once the JWT is validated, the server checks for the required scope. Scopes can be provided in the JWT as either a single string or an array of strings using the scope or scopes claim.

Show Available Permission Scopes

Show Workspace Management

workspaces.read · string

View workspace details

workspaces.update · string

Modify workspace settings

workspaces.list · string

List available workspaces

Show Logs & Analytics

logs.export · string

Export logs to external systems

logs.list · string

List available logs

logs.view · string

View log details

logs.write · string

Create and modify logs

analytics.view · string

Access analytics data

Show Configurations

configs.create · string

Create new configurations

configs.update · string

Update existing configurations

configs.delete · string

Delete configurations

configs.read · string

View configuration details

configs.list · string

List available configurations

Show Virtual Keys

virtual_keys.create · string

Create new virtual keys

virtual_keys.update · string

Update existing virtual keys

virtual_keys.delete · string

Delete virtual keys

virtual_keys.duplicate · string

Duplicate existing virtual keys

virtual_keys.read · string

View virtual key details

virtual_keys.list · string

List available virtual keys

virtual_keys.copy · string

Copy virtual keys between workspaces

Show Workspace Users

workspace_users.create · string

Create new workspace users

workspace_users.read · string

View workspace user details

workspace_users.update · string

Update workspace user settings

workspace_users.delete · string

Remove users from workspace

workspace_users.list · string

List workspace users

Show Other

prompts.render · string

Render prompt templates

completions.write · string

Create and manage completions

Scopes can also be prefixed with portkey. (e.g., portkey.completions.write).

JWT tokens with appropriate scopes function identically to workspace API keys, providing access to workspace-specific operations. They cannot be used as organization API keys, which have broader administrative permissions across all workspaces.

Example JWT Payload

{
  "portkey_oid" : "org_123456",
  "portkey_workspace": "workspace_abc",
  "scope": ["completions.write", "logs.view"],
  "email_id": "[e-mail]",
  "sub": "user-123",
  "exp": 1735689600
}

Making API Calls with JWT Authentication

Once you have a valid JWT token, you can use it to authenticate your API calls to Portkey. Below are examples showing how to use JWT authentication with different SDKs.

NodeJS

Install the Portkey SDK with npm

npm install portkey-ai

Chat Completions

import Portkey from 'portkey-ai';

const client = new Portkey({
  apiKey: '<JWT_TOKEN>', // Use JWT token instead of API key
});

async function main() {
  const response = await client.chat.completions.create({
    messages: [{ role: "user", content: "Hello, how are you today?" }],
    model: "gpt-4o",
  });

  console.log(response.choices[0].message.content);
}

main();

Python

Install the Portkey SDK with pip

pip install portkey-ai

Chat Completions

from portkey_ai import Portkey

client = Portkey(
  api_key = "<JWT_TOKEN>" # Use JWT token instead of API key
)

response = client.chat.completions.create(
  model="gpt-4o",
  messages=[
    {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
    {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}
  ]
)

print(response.choices[0].message)

cURL

Chat Completions

curl https://api.portkey.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "x-portkey-api-key: <JWT_TOKEN>" \
  -d '{
    "model": "gpt-4o",
    "messages": [
      { "role": "user", "content": "Hello!" }
    ]
  }'

OpenAI Python SDK

Install the OpenAI & Portkey SDKs with pip

pip install openai portkey-ai

Chat Completions

from openai import OpenAI
from portkey_ai import createHeaders, PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL

client = OpenAI(
    api_key="xx",
    base_url=PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
    default_headers=createHeaders(
        api_key="<JWT_TOKEN>" # Use JWT token instead of API key
    )
)

completion = client.chat.completions.create(
  model="gpt-4o",
  messages=[
    {"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
    {"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}
  ]
)

print(completion.choices[0].message)

OpenAI NodeJS SDK

Install the OpenAI & Portkey SDKs with npm

npm install openai portkey-ai

Chat Completions

import OpenAI from 'openai';
import { PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL, createHeaders } from 'portkey-ai'

const openai = new OpenAI({
  apiKey: 'xx',
  baseURL: PORTKEY_GATEWAY_URL,
  defaultHeaders: createHeaders({
    apiKey: "<JWT_TOKEN>" // Use JWT token instead of API key
  })
});

async function main() {
  const completion = await openai.chat.completions.create({
    messages: [{ role: 'user', content: 'Say this is a test' }],
    model: 'gpt-4o',
  });

  console.log(completion.choices[0].message);
}

main();

Caching & Token Revocation

• JWTs are cached until they expire to reduce validation overhead.