axioms-core-py

Core JWT authentication and authorization library for Python web frameworks.

Overview

axioms-core-py provides framework-agnostic JWT token validation, JWKS management with background refresh, and claim-based authorization. This is the foundation for framework-specific integrations:

• axioms-flask-py - Flask integration
• axioms-fastapi - FastAPI integration
• axioms-drf-py - Django REST Framework integration

Note: For most use cases, use one of the framework integrations above instead of using this package directly.

Supports

• JWT token validation with automatic JWKS retrieval
• Background JWKS refresh with thread-safe caching
• Algorithm validation (only secure asymmetric algorithms allowed)
• Token type validation (typ header)
• Issuer validation (iss claim)
• Claim-based authorization (scopes, roles, permissions)
• Custom claim name support for different authorization servers
• Comprehensive logging with JWT ID (jti) tracking

Prerequisite

• Python 3.10+

Installation

pip install axioms-core-py

Quick Start

Configuration

from axioms_core import AxiomsConfig

config = AxiomsConfig(
    AXIOMS_AUDIENCE="your-api-audience",
    AXIOMS_ISS_URL="https://auth.example.com",  # Recommended
    # Or use AXIOMS_DOMAIN for simpler setup:
    # AXIOMS_DOMAIN="auth.example.com",
)

Initialize JWKS Manager (Optional)

For production, initialize at startup to enable background refresh:

from axioms_core import initialize_jwks_manager, shutdown_jwks_manager

# At startup
initialize_jwks_manager(
    config=config,
    refresh_interval=3600,  # Refresh every hour
    cache_ttl=7200,         # Cache for 2 hours
    prefetch=True           # Fetch JWKS immediately
)

# At shutdown (optional - auto-cleanup on exit)
shutdown_jwks_manager()

Token Validation

from axioms_core import get_key_from_jwks_json, check_token_validity
import jwt

# Extract token header
header = jwt.get_unverified_header(token)
kid = header.get("kid")
alg = header.get("alg")

# Get public key from JWKS
key = get_key_from_jwks_json(kid, config)

# Validate token
payload = check_token_validity(
    token=token,
    key=key,
    alg=alg,
    audience=config.AXIOMS_AUDIENCE,
    issuer=config.AXIOMS_ISS_URL,
)

if payload:
    print(f"Valid token for user: {payload.sub}")

Authorization Checks

from axioms_core import check_scopes, check_roles, check_permissions

# Check scopes (space-separated or list)
has_scope = check_scopes(payload.scope, ["read:data"])

# Check roles (list)
has_role = check_roles(payload.roles, ["admin"])

# Check permissions (list)
has_perm = check_permissions(payload.permissions, ["users:read"])

Configuration Options

See AxiomsConfig class for all options:

config = AxiomsConfig(
    # Required
    AXIOMS_AUDIENCE="your-api-audience",

    # Recommended (choose one)
    AXIOMS_ISS_URL="https://auth.example.com",
    # AXIOMS_DOMAIN="auth.example.com",
    # AXIOMS_JWKS_URL="https://auth.example.com/.well-known/jwks.json",

    # Optional
    AXIOMS_TOKEN_TYPS=["JWT", "at+jwt"],  # Allowed token types
    AXIOMS_SAFE_METHODS=["OPTIONS"],       # HTTP methods to bypass auth

    # JWKS settings
    AXIOMS_JWKS_REFRESH_INTERVAL=3600,     # 1 hour
    AXIOMS_JWKS_CACHE_TTL=7200,            # 2 hours
    AXIOMS_JWKS_PREFETCH=True,

    # Custom claim names (for different auth servers)
    AXIOMS_SCOPE_CLAIMS=["scope", "scp"],
    AXIOMS_ROLES_CLAIMS=["roles", "cognito:groups"],
    AXIOMS_PERMISSIONS_CLAIMS=["permissions"],
)

Configuration Hierarchy

1. AXIOMS_ISS_URL → constructs → AXIOMS_JWKS_URL (if not set)
2. AXIOMS_DOMAIN → constructs → AXIOMS_ISS_URL → AXIOMS_JWKS_URL (if not set)

Security

• Allowed algorithms: RS256, RS384, RS512, ES256, ES384, ES512, PS256, PS384, PS512
• Token type validation: Validates typ header against allowed types
• Issuer validation: Validates iss claim to prevent token substitution
• Expiration validation: Validates exp claim exists and is valid
• Comprehensive logging: All validation failures logged with jti (if available)

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.