# Obtaining JWT tokens for authentication

Instead of an API key, you can use the Textual API to obtain a JSON Web Token (JWT) to use for authentication.

## Configuring the JWT and refresh token lifetimes <a href="#jwt-env-variables" id="jwt-env-variables"></a>

### JWT lifetime

By default, a JWT is valid for 30 minutes.

On a self-hosted instance, to configure a different lifetime, set the [environment variable ](/textual/textual-install-administer/configuring-textual/textual-env-var-configure.md)`SOLAR_JWT_EXPIRATION_IN_MINUTES`.

### Refresh token lifetime

You use a refresh token to obtain a new JWT. By default, a refresh token is valid for 10,000 minutes, which is roughly equivalent to 7 days.

On a self-hosted instance, to configure a different lifetime, set the environment variable `SOLAR_REFRESH_TOKEN_EXPIRATION_IN_MINUTES.`

## Obtaining your first JWT and refresh token <a href="#obtain-first-jwt-and-token" id="obtain-first-jwt-and-token"></a>

To obtain your first JWT and refresh token, you make a login request to the Textual API. Before you can make this call, you must have a Textual account.

To make the call, perform a `POST` operation against:

```
<Textual_URL>/api/auth/login
```

The request payload is:

```
{"userName": "<Textual username>",
"password": "<Textual password>"}
```

For example:

```
{"userName": "jdoe@company.com",
"password": "MyPassword123!"}
```

In the response:

* The `jwt` property contains the JWT.
* The `refreshToken` property contains the refresh token.

## Obtaining a new JWT and refresh token <a href="#obtain-first-jwt-and-token" id="obtain-first-jwt-and-token"></a>

You use the refresh token to obtain both a new JWT and a new refresh token.

To obtain the new JWT and token, perform a POST operation against:

```
<TEXTUAL_URL>/api/auth/token_refresh
```

The request payload is:

```
{"refreshToken": "<refresh token>"}
```

In the response:

* The `jwt` property contains the new JWT.
* The `refreshToken` property contains the new refresh token.


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