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HWT (Hash Web Tokens) – minimalist protocol for auth state

HWT (Hash Web Tokens) – minimalist protocol for auth state

by jimmont·Apr 15, 2026·2 points·0 comments

AI Analysis

●●SolidBig BrainNiche Gem

Delegation chains with full visibility beat JWT, but switching costs are massive.

Strengths
  • Delegation chain shows full trust path cryptographically covered, not just nested tokens
  • Pre-registered issuers enable local verification with zero network calls per request
  • Six-field format with canonical pass verification is cleaner than JWT's three-part structure
Weaknesses
  • JWT ecosystem lock-in is massive; no clear migration path for existing systems
  • Auth tokens are a solved problem for most use cases, limiting adoption incentive
Category
Target Audience

Backend developers building microservices with delegated auth

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Post Description

My frustration solving auth with JWTs led to reinventing the wheel for more predictable token integrity and transparency, while improving flexibility. The mix of features separates concerns more cleanly than what's been available, allowing higher throughput, custom codecs, delegation to both services and domains while easing key rotation and other practicalities.

The design is focused on the token as state guarantee, not creation, revocation and the range of other separate concerns and application responsibilities. The spec conventions attempts to ease development with jurisdiction/data sovereignty and authorization in the authz field. It also enables and eases delegation between services and domains without centralized service exposure. The implementation is standalone and has demos for Deno, Cloudflare, etc in https://github.com/hwt-protocol

Feedback and critique of the security logic and approach appreciated.

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