decoder.tools

Token decoders: JWT, SAML, OAuth, OIDC and cookies

A token decoder unpacks the credentials and session payloads that web applications pass around — JSON Web Tokens, SAML assertions, OAuth and OpenID Connect tokens, and cookies — so you can read their claims, issuer and expiry without verifying or altering them.

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Web, API & Tokens tools

Which decoder do I need?

Three dot-separated Base64URL chunks starting with eyJ
JWT
An id_token returned by an OpenID Connect login
OpenID Connect (OIDC) Token
A long Base64 SAMLResponse form field
SAML Response
A Cookie or Set-Cookie header
Cookie & Session
A string starting with data:
Data URI

About web, api & tokens decoding

Modern authentication is built on bearer tokens, and most of them are readable by design. A JWT is three Base64URL segments — header, payload and signature — and its claims are plain JSON. A SAML response is Base64-encoded (and often deflated) XML. Decoding them is the first step in debugging a login that fails, a permission that is missing or a session that expires too early.

Decoding is not verification. Anyone can read a JWT's payload; only a party holding the signing key can confirm the token is genuine. These tools show you what a token claims, and flag expiry and timestamps in human-readable form, but they never treat a decoded token as trustworthy.

Because tokens are credentials, privacy matters here more than anywhere. Every decoder on this bench runs in your browser tab, so a production token you paste is never sent to a server.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to decode a JWT online?

It is safe when the decoding happens locally, as it does here — the token never leaves your browser. Avoid pasting live production tokens into tools that send input to a server, and rotate any token you suspect has been exposed.

Can a decoder tell me if a JWT is valid?

It can show whether the token is well-formed and whether its exp and nbf claims are in the past or future. Confirming the signature requires the issuer's secret or public key, which is a verification step, not a decoding one.

Why do OAuth access tokens sometimes fail to decode?

OAuth 2.0 does not require access tokens to be JWTs. Many providers issue opaque random strings that only the authorisation server can interpret; there is nothing inside them to decode.

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