Generate a JWT Secret in 5 Minutes
A fast walkthrough to generate a cryptographically secure HS256 secret, store it safely, and sign your first token.
Steps
- 1
Open the JWT Secret Generator and click Generate with the default 256-bit setting.
- 2
Copy the hex key and add it to your environment as JWT_SECRET — never commit it to git.
- 3
Sign a test token with your JWT library using algorithm HS256 and expiresIn of 1 hour.
- 4
Paste the token and secret into the JWT Validator to confirm the signature is valid.
- 5
Read the JWT Best Practices Checklist before deploying to production.
Related Articles
Frequently Asked Questions
What bit length should I use?
256 bits for HS256 in production. 128 bits only for local testing.
Is browser generation safe?
Yes — keys are created with crypto.getRandomValues() and never sent to a server.