---
id: djangorestframework-jwt
version: "1.11.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# djangorestframework-jwt — JSON Web Token based authentication for Django REST framework

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 230.2K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package integrates JWT-based authentication into Django REST Framework, allowing you to issue and validate JSON Web Tokens for stateless API authentication. Instead of session-based auth, clients receive a token on login and include it in subsequent requests, making it suitable for mobile apps, single-page applications, and microservices.

The package was last released on 2017-06-23 and is now archived. It was designed for Django 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11 and Django REST Framework 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, supporting Python 2.7, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5. No runtime dependencies means easy installation, but the lack of maintenance since the latest release raises concerns about security vulnerabilities and compatibility with modern tooling.

Use it for:

- Adding JWT authentication to a legacy Django REST Framework API built before 2017.
- Issuing bearer tokens to mobile or web clients that need stateless authentication without sessions.
- Implementing token refresh and expiration logic for time-limited API access in older Django projects.
- Migrating from session-based to token-based authentication in a Django REST Framework application.
- Securing API endpoints with JWT validation in a microservices architecture using older Django versions.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Adds JSON Web Token (JWT) authentication support to Django REST Framework, enabling token-based API authentication for Django applications.

No. This package is abandoned (latest release 2017-06-23, repository archived) and unsupported for modern Django and Python versions. Security patches are unlikely, and compatibility with current tooling is not guaranteed. For new projects or modern stacks, use an actively maintained JWT authentication package. For legacy systems still on the supported versions, evaluate whether upgrading is feasible before committing to this unmaintained dependency.

## Install

pip install djangorestframework-jwt
uv add djangorestframework-jwt
poetry add djangorestframework-jwt

## Installing djangorestframework-jwt

Before you install: Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies, but the package is abandoned as of the latest release in 2017 with no updates since. The repository is archived and no longer maintained, which poses a significant risk for security patches or compatibility with modern versions.

License in practice: Licensed under MIT (permissive), so you can use, modify, and distribute it freely with minimal restrictions, though you must retain the license notice.

Quickstart:

pip install djangorestframework-jwt

from djangorestframework_jwt.views import obtain_jwt_token

# Add to Django URL configuration
urlpatterns = [
    path('api-token-auth/', obtain_jwt_token),
]

Requires Django (1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11) and Django REST Framework (3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5); compatibility with modern versions is not guaranteed.

Verify before relying:

- Whether this package works with Django versions beyond 1.11 and Python versions beyond 3.5.
- Security implications of using an abandoned package in production environments.
- Whether the package has been superseded by an actively maintained alternative.

## Package facts

- License: MIT (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 230.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

jwt authentication django rest framework, token based api auth django, json web token django, django rest framework jwt, stateless api authentication django, bearer token authentication django, jwt django rest api, authentication, jwt, archived

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