docs: add neon authorize custom jwt guide

content/docs/guides/neon-authorize-custom-jwt.md

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+---
+title: Using Custom JWTs with Neon Authorize
+subtitle: A Step-by-step guide for implementing custom JWTs with Neon Authorize
+enableTableOfContents: true
+updatedOn: '2025-01-10T00:00:00.000Z'
+---
+
+<InfoBlock>
+<DocsList title="Sample project" theme="repo">
+  <a href="https://github.com/neondatabase-labs/authorize-demo-custom-jwt">Neon Authorize with custom generated JWTs</a>
+</DocsList>
+
+<DocsList title="Related docs" theme="docs">
+  <a href="/docs/guides/neon-authorize-tutorial">Neon Authorize Tutorial</a>
+  <a href="/docs/guides/neon-authorize-drizzle">Simplify RLS with Drizzle</a>
+</DocsList>
+</InfoBlock>
+
+[Neon Authorize](/docs/guides/neon-authorize) lets you implement authorization directly within your Postgres database using Row-Level Security (RLS). While it works seamlessly with authentication providers like [Auth0](https://auth0.com) and [Clerk](https://clerk.com), you can also use your own custom-generated JSON Web Tokens (JWTs). This gives you fine-grained control over how tokens are created and validated, ideal for specific application needs or when you want to manage authentication independently.
+
+This guide walks you through using custom JWTs with Neon Authorize, covering:
+
+- Generating keys for JWT signing
+- Creating custom JWTs with specific claims
+- Configuring Neon Authorize to validate your JWTs
+- Authenticating requests and enforcing RLS policies based on JWT claims
+
+## When to use custom JWTs
+
+- **Full Control:** You control your JWTs' structure, claims, and signing process, which is useful when standard providers don't meet your needs.
+- **Fewer External Dependencies:** Custom JWTs can reduce reliance on external services, especially for internal tools.
+- **Tailored Security:** Align JWT generation and validation with your application's specific security policies.
+- **Simpler Architecture:** In some cases, using custom JWTs simplifies your setup by removing the need for a separate authentication service.
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+Before starting, make sure you have:
+
+- A Neon account (sign up here [pg.new](https://pg.new))
+- Basic understanding of [JWTs](/blog/wtf-are-jwts)
+
+## Generate keys for signing JWTs
+
+JWTs are digitally signed to ensure they're authentic and haven't been tampered with. You'll need a public/private key pair for this:
+
+- **Private Key:** Used to sign your JWTs. Keep this secret!
+- **Public Key:** Used by Neon Authorize to verify the signatures.
+
+We'll use the `jose` library in TypeScript to generate an RSA key pair. Here's a simple way to do it:
+
+```typescript
+import { generateKeyPair, exportJWK } from 'jose';
+import fs from 'fs';
+
+// Function to generate a new RSA key pair, converts the keys to JWK (JSON Web Key) format,
+// adds necessary metadata, and saves them to separate files.
+async function generateAndExportKeys() {
+  // Generate a new RSA key pair using the RS256 algorithm.
+  const { publicKey, privateKey } = await generateKeyPair('RS256', { extractable: true });
+
+  // Convert the generated keys to JWK format
+  const privateJwk = await exportJWK(privateKey);
+  const publicJwk = await exportJWK(publicKey);
+
+  // Add metadata to the private key JWK.
+  // 'use': Indicates the key's intended use (e.g., 'sig' for signing).
+  // 'kid': A unique identifier for the key, useful for key management and rotation.
+  // 'alg': Specifies the algorithm to be used with the key (Neon Authorize supports only RS256 and ES256 currently).
+  privateJwk.use = 'sig';
+  privateJwk.kid = 'my-key-id';
+  privateJwk.alg = 'RS256';
+
+  // Add the same metadata to the public key JWK for consistency.
+  publicJwk.use = 'sig';
+  publicJwk.kid = 'my-key-id';
+  publicJwk.alg = 'RS256';
+
+  // Save the keys to separate JSON files.
+  fs.writeFileSync('privateKey.jwk.json', JSON.stringify(privateJwk, null, 2));
+  fs.writeFileSync('publicKey.jwk.json', JSON.stringify(publicJwk, null, 2));
+
+  console.log('Keys generated and saved to files.');
+}
+
+generateAndExportKeys();
+```
+
+**Here's what the code does:**
+
+1. We generate an RSA key pair using the RS256 algorithm.
+2. We convert the keys to JSON Web Key (JWK) format, a standard way to represent keys.
+3. We add `kid` (Key ID) and `alg` (Algorithm) to the keys for better management.
+4. We save the keys to JSON files.
+
+<Admonition type="note" title="Security Tips">
+
+- **Never share your private key.** Anyone with it can create valid JWTs.
+- **Rotate your keys regularly** to improve security.
+
+</Admonition>
+
+## Create your custom JWTs
+
+Now, let's create JWTs in your application. These JWTs will contain "claims" – pieces of information that Neon Authorize will use to enforce your security rules.
+
+Here's an example using `jose`, adapted from the demo app:
+
+```typescript
+import { SignJWT } from 'jose';
+
+async function createJWT(userId: string, tenantId: string) {
+  // Load the private key securely (don't hardcode it!)
+  const privateKey = JSON.parse(c.env.PRIVATE_KEY);
+
+  const jwt = await new SignJWT({
+    tenant_id: tenantId, // Example custom claim
+    // Add any other claims your app needs
+  })
+    .setProtectedHeader({ alg: 'RS256', kid: 'my-key-id' })
+    .setSubject(userId) // The user ID
+    .setExpirationTime('1h') // Set an expiration time
+    .setIssuedAt()
+    .sign(privateKey);
+
+  return jwt;
+}
+
+// Example usage:
+const token = await createJWT('user-123', 'tenant-456');
+console.log('JWT:', token);
+```
+
+**Let's break it down:**
+
+1. We load the private key from environment variables (never hardcode it).
+2. We create a new JWT and add custom claims. Here, we add a `tenant_id`.
+3. We set the algorithm (`alg`), key ID (`kid`), subject (`sub` - usually the user ID), expiration time (`exp`), and issue time (`iat`).
+4. We sign the JWT with the private key.
+
+**Custom Claims:** Add information relevant to your access control. Common claims include:
+
+- `tenant_id`: For multi-tenant apps.
+- `role`: User's role (e.g., "admin", "viewer").
+- `permissions`: Specific actions the user can perform.
+
+## Set up Neon Authorize
+
+Now, let's configure Neon Authorize to trust your custom JWTs:
+
+### Expose Your Public Key
+
+Neon Authorize needs your public key to verify JWT signatures. You'll usually expose it via a JWKS (JSON Web Key Set) endpoint. The demo app uses a [Cloudflare Worker](https://workers.cloudflare.com/) for this, serving the key at `/.well-known/jwks.json`.
+
+```typescript
+// Example from the demo app (src/index.ts)
+app.get('/.well-known/jwks.json', async (c) => {
+  const publicKeyJwk = JSON.parse(c.env.PUBLIC_KEY); // Load from environment variable
+  const jwks = { keys: [publicKeyJwk] };
+  return c.json(jwks);
+});
+```
+
+This makes the public key available at `https://your-app.com/.well-known/jwks.json`.
+
+### Add JWKS URL to Neon Authorize
+
+1. Go to the **Authorize** page in your Neon console.
+2. Click **Add Provider**.
+3. Set the **JWKS URL** to your endpoint (e.g., `https://your-app.com/.well-known/jwks.json`).
+   ![Custom JWT JWKS url in Neon](/docs/guides/custom_jwt_jwks_url_in_neon.png)
+4. Click **Set Up**
+5. Follow the steps in the UI to set up roles for Neon Authorize. You can ignore the schema-related steps for this guide.
+6. Note down the connection strings for the `neondb_owner` and `authenticated, passwordless` roles. You'll need both:
+   - **`neondb_owner`:** Full privileges, used for migrations.
+   - **`authenticated`:** Used by your application, access restricted by RLS.
+     ![Connection strings in Neon](/docs/guides/neon_authorize_env_values_example.png)
+
+## Authenticate requests and enforce RLS
+
+Finally, let's use the custom JWTs to authenticate requests and enforce RLS policies with `drizzle-orm`.
+
+### Create RLS Policies
+
+Create RLS policies that use the JWT claims to control access. Use `auth.session()` to access custom claims and `auth.user_id()` for the `sub` claim.
+
+Example from the demo app's schema (`src/db/schema.ts`):
+
+```typescript
+import { sql } from 'drizzle-orm';
+import { pgTable, text, uuid } from 'drizzle-orm/pg-core';
+import { authenticatedRole } from 'drizzle-orm/neon';
+
+export const tenants = pgTable(
+  'tenants',
+  {
+    id: uuid().primaryKey(),
+    name: text(),
+  },
+  (table) => [
+    crudPolicy({
+      role: authenticatedRole,
+      read: sql`(select auth.session()->>'tenant_id' = ${table.id}::text)`,
+      modify: sql`(select auth.session()->>'tenant_id' = ${table.id}::text)`,
+    }),
+  ]
+);
+
+export const users = pgTable(
+  'users',
+  {
+    tenantId: uuid()
+      .notNull()
+      .references(() => tenants.id),
+    id: uuid().primaryKey(),
+    name: text(),
+    email: text(),
+  },
+  (table) => [
+    crudPolicy({
+      role: authenticatedRole,
+      read: sql`(select auth.user_id() = ${table.id}::text)`,
+      modify: sql`(select auth.user_id() = ${table.id}::text)`,
+    }),
+  ]
+);
+```
+
+**Explanation:**
+
+- **`tenants` table:** `read` and `modify` policies use `auth.session()->>'tenant_id'` to check the `tenant_id` claim, ensuring users only access their tenant's data.
+- **`users` table:** `read` and `modify` policies use `auth.user_id()` to get the user ID from the `sub` claim, restricting users to their own records.
+
+### Use custom JWTs
+
+```typescript
+import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
+import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/neon-http';
+
+// ... (JWT generation logic) ...
+
+const db = drizzle(
+  neon(process.env.DATABASE_AUTHENTICATED_URL!, {
+    authToken: yourCustomJWT, // Pass the generated JWT here
+  })
+);
+
+// Now use 'db' to make queries. RLS policies will enforce access control depending on the JWT claims.
+const users = await db.select().from(usersTable);
+```
+
+**How it works:**
+
+1. When you send a request with a JWT, Neon Authorize verifies the signature using the public key.
+2. If the signature is valid and the JWT hasn't expired, the claims are extracted.
+3. The `pg_session_jwt` extension makes the claims available to RLS policies via `auth.session()` and `auth.user_id()`.
+4. RLS policies evaluate the claims to allow or deny access.
+
+## Putting it all together
+
+Here's a simplified example combining the key parts:
+
+```typescript
+// index.ts (simplified)
+import { Hono } from 'hono';
+import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
+import { drizzle } from 'drizzle-orm/neon-http';
+import { users } from './db/schema';
+import { SignJWT, JWK } from 'jose';
+import fs from 'fs/promises';
+
+// Function to create a JWT
+async function createJWT(privateKey: JWK, userId: string, tenantId: string) {
+  // ...
+}
+
+// Endpoint to serve the public key
+app.get('/.well-known/jwks.json', async (c) => {
+  // ...
+});
+
+// Example API endpoint
+app.get('/api/users', async (c) => {
+  const privateKey = JSON.parse(c.env.PRIVATE_KEY);
+
+  // Replace the hard coded value with dynamic params using the request context depending on your app's logic
+  const authToken = await createJWT(privateKey, 'user-123', 'tenant-456');
+
+  const db = drizzle(
+    neon(c.env.DATABASE_AUTHENTICATED_URL, {
+      authToken,
+    })
+  );
+
+  const fetchedUsers = await db.select().from(users);
+  return c.json({ users: fetchedUsers });
+});
+
+export default app;
+```
+
+## Conclusion
+
+Using custom JWTs with Neon Authorize offers a powerful way to implement fine-grained authorization in Postgres. By controlling JWT generation and combining it with the security of RLS, you can build robust applications that enforce data access rules at the database level. Remember to secure your private key, design your JWT claims thoughtfully, and test your RLS policies thoroughly.
+
+We hope this guide has helped you understand how to use custom JWTs with Neon Authorize.
+
+## Additional Resources
+
+- [Neon Authorize Tutorial](/docs/guides/neon-authorize-tutorial)
+- [WTF are JWTs?](/blog/wtf-are-jwts)
+- [jose library](https://github.com/panva/jose)
+
+<NeedHelp />

content/docs/sidebar.yaml

@@ -521,6 +521,8 @@
               slug: guides/neon-authorize-google-identity
             - title: PropelAuth
               slug: guides/neon-authorize-propelauth
+            - title: Custom JWT
+              slug: guides/neon-authorize-custom-jwt
     - title: Integrations
       icon: integrations
       slug: guides/integrations