JWT Logout Patterns — Complete User Logout with JWT-Based Sessions

In this tutorial, you will learn about JWT Logout Patterns. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

JWT logout patterns handle session termination in stateless JWT systems through local token clearing, blacklist-based revocation, and logout token propagation across services.

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant App as Web Application
    participant Auth as Auth Server
    participant RS as Resource Server

    User->>App: Logout
    App->>App: Clear local tokens
    App->>Auth: POST /revoke (refresh token)
    Auth->>Auth: Blacklist refresh token
    Auth->>RS: Broadcast revocation event
    RS->>RS: Add token to blacklist
    Auth-->>App: 200 OK
    App-->>User: Logged out
    User->>RS: Request with old access token
    RS->>RS: Token in blacklist
    RS-->>User: 401 Unauthorized

What's Next

Implement logout in {{< ilink "JWT" "JWT Session Management" }} and combine with {{< ilink "JWT" "JWT Revocation" }} for complete session lifecycle.