Lovable auth

JWT Token Expires Silently Causing Unexpected Logout

Users experience sudden logout after being idle or when making requests. API calls start failing with 401 Unauthorized. The JWT token has expired but the app didn't refresh it before it became invalid.

By default, Supabase tokens expire after 1 hour. Without proper refresh token handling, expired tokens cause failures silently rather than triggering re-authentication flow.

Error Messages You Might See

401 Unauthorized JWT expired Invalid or expired token auth/invalid-api-key
401 UnauthorizedJWT expiredInvalid or expired tokenauth/invalid-api-key

Common Causes

  1. autoRefreshToken not enabled in Supabase client config
  2. No error handling for expired token (401 response)
  3. Refresh token also expired or missing
  4. App doesn't check token expiration before making requests
  5. Network request fails during token refresh

How to Fix It

Enable automatic token refresh and add auth state listener:

const { data: { session } } = await supabase.auth.getSession();

supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange((event, session) => {
  if (event === 'TOKEN_REFRESHED') {
    console.log('Token refreshed');
  } else if (event === 'SIGNED_OUT') {
    // Redirect to login
  }
});

Real developers can help you.

Matthew Jordan Matthew Jordan I've been working at a large software company named Kainos for 2 years, and mainly specialise in Platform Engineering. I regularly enjoy working on software products outside of work, and I'm a huge fan of game development using Unity. I personally enjoy Python & C# in my spare time, but I also specialise in multiple different platform-related technologies from my day job. Tejas Chokhawala Tejas Chokhawala Full-stack engineer with 5 years experience building production web apps using React, Next.js and TypeScript. Focused on performance, clean architecture and shipping fast. Experienced with Supabase/Postgres backends, Stripe billing, and building AI-assisted developer tools. MFox MFox Full-stack professional senior engineer (15+years). Extensive experience in software development, qa, and IP networking. Taufan Taufan I’m a product-focused engineer and tech leader who builds scalable systems and turns ideas into production-ready platforms. Over the past years, I’ve worked across startups and fast-moving teams, leading backend architecture, improving system reliability, and shipping products used by thousands of users. My strength is not just writing code — but connecting product vision, technical execution, and business impact. ISHANTDEEP SINGH ISHANTDEEP SINGH Senior Software Engineer with 7+ years of experience in React, JavaScript, TypeScript, Next.js, and Node.js. I’ve also worked as a tech lead for startups, owning end-to-end technical execution including architecture, development, scaling, and delivery. I bring a strong mix of hands-on coding, product thinking, and technical leadership, and I’m comfortable building products from scratch as well as improving and scaling existing systems. Franck Plazanet Franck Plazanet I am a Strategic Engineering Leader with over 8 years of experience building high-availability enterprise systems and scaling high-performing technical teams. My focus is on bridging the gap between complex technology and business growth. Core Expertise: 🚀 Leadership: Managing and coaching teams of 15+ engineers, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. 🏗️ Architecture: Enterprise Core Systems, Multi-system Integration (ERP/API/ETL), and Core Database Structure. ☁️ Cloud & Scale: AWS Expert; architected systems handling 10B+ monthly requests and managing 100k+ SKUs. 📈 Business Impact: Aligning tech strategy with P&L goals to drive $70k+ in monthly recurring revenue. I thrive on "out-of-the-box" thinking to solve complex technical bottlenecks and am always looking for ways to use automation to improve business productivity. Vlad Temian Vlad Temian 15+ years shipping production infrastructure for startups. Former CTO at qed.builders (acquired by The Sandbox). Cursor ambassador and agentic tooling builder. I've scaled systems, automated deployments, and built observability tools for AI coding workflows. I specialize in taking vibe-coded apps from broken prototype to production-ready: fixing Supabase auth/RLS, Stripe integrations, deployment pipelines, and cleaning up AI-generated spaghetti. I build tools in this space (agentprobe, claudebin, micode) and understand both sides: how AI generates code and why it breaks. https://blog.vtemian.com/ rayush33 rayush33 JavaScript (React.js, React Native, Node.js) Developer with demonstrated industry experience of 4+ years, actively looking for opportunities to hone my skills as well as help small-scale business owners with solutions to technical problems Jared Hasson Jared Hasson Full time lead founding dev at a cyber security saas startup, with 10 yoe and a bachelor's in CS. Building & debugging software products is what I've spent my time on for forever Simon A. Simon A. I'm a backend developer building APIs, emulators, and interactive game systems. Professionally, I've developed Java/Spring reporting solutions, managed relational and NoSQL databases, and implemented CI/CD workflows.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long are JWT tokens valid?

By default 1 hour for access tokens. Refresh tokens last 30 days. Configure in Supabase > Authentication > Providers > General.

Should I manually refresh tokens?

No, enable autoRefreshToken in client config and Supabase handles it automatically before expiry.

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