Generate JWTs with Swift on AWS Lambda

Authorization is a critical component of iOS applications, ensuring that users cannot access or interact with the app in unauthorized ways, which could lead to data breaches or scams. JSON Web Tokens (JWT) provide a standardized, secure method for authorization, as they are compact, self-contained, and digitally signed, thus ensuring the integrity and authenticity of the data transmitted between parties. Using Stream Chat as an example service, the article demonstrates how to set up an AWS Lambda using Swift to generate JWTs for user authorization, employing Kitura's Swift-JWT package to handle JWT creation and OpenSSL for cryptographic operations. The process involves configuring an HTTP endpoint to accept POST requests, parsing request data, and generating a JWT for a specific user ID, which can then be used to interact with the Stream Chat service via REST API or the iOS Chat SDK. The guide highlights the fast iteration capabilities of Swift Lambda and emphasizes the importance of verifying requests with authentication mechanisms before generating JWTs.