Understanding Okta AuthJS Token Auto-Renewal

The auto-renewal feature in AuthJS silently renews expired tokens to ensure continued access to the service as long as a valid Okta session exists. Enabling the auto-renew property in the AuthJS configuration instructs the TokenManager to fetch a valid token automatically when the application makes a request.

• AuthJS
• Okta Classic Engine
• Okta Identity Engine (OIE)

When a token expires, AuthJS requires token renewal. AuthJS auto-renews the expired token to maintain a smooth authentication flow when configured correctly.

How does token auto-renewal function in AuthJS?

Setting the autoRenew property to true in the AuthJS configuration enables token auto-renewal. This action instructs the TokenManager to renew the expired token silently and fetch a valid token each time the application makes a request.

Enable token auto-renewal by setting the auto-renew property to true within the AuthJS configuration block.

var config = {
  url: 'https://{OktaDomainName}',
  tokenManager: {
    storage: 'sessionStorage',
    autoRenew: true
  }
};
var authClient = new OktaAuth(config);

When the token expires and the application requests the tokens via TokenManager.get, AuthJS renews the expired token without prompting the user and retrieves a valid token.

How is the passive token renewal strategy used?

Okta recommends using the new passive token renewal strategy described in the AuthJS Auto-Renew Notice.

NOTE: AuthJS previously featured an auto-refresh capability for tokens, but Okta removed it due to a potential race condition issue. In these instances, the application could fetch an expired token if a refresh and token request occurred simultaneously.