Auth token is not a valid JWT with ConvexProviderWithClerk (EXPO)
Issue
I'm using Clerk with Convex in an Expo Router app, and everything loads fine, logs me in, and works as expected. However, I get the following error when using ConvexProviderWithClerk:
If I remove Convex and just use Clerk, the error disappears, and functionality remains the same.
Code Setup
❌ Code that Causes the Error (Clerk + Convex)
53 Replies
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Thank you!
✅ Code That Works (Without Convex)
What I've Tried:
Confirmed that Clerk auth works ✅
Checked that useAuth() provides a valid JWT ✅
Removed Convex, and the error disappears ✅
Double-checked Convex URL and Clerk keys ✅
Question
Why is Convex failing to validate the Clerk token? Is there an additional step needed to correctly pass the JWT to Convex? Any ideas on resolving this error?
Thanks in advance! 🙏
Can you enable verbose logging and share the logs you get? add
{ verbose: true } as second arg to new ConvexReactClient()
What you're seeing isn't supposed to be possible 😅 : https://github.com/get-convex/convex-js/blob/60ce9add55f12cc5f68c813beafccb3867378685/src/browser/sync/authentication_manager.ts#L308-L313
But I'm hoping the inner decode function is throwing and we'll get some more info here: https://github.com/get-convex/convex-js/blob/60ce9add55f12cc5f68c813beafccb3867378685/src/browser/sync/authentication_manager.ts#L412-L414@erquhart // Initialize ConvexReactClient
const convex = new ConvexReactClient(process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL!, {
verbose: true,
});
Still returns same logs
the weird thing is i am logged in and everything works when i see error
]
}
DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:39:40.666Z received ws message with type Transition
DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:39:40.666Z server confirmed new auth token is valid [v2]
DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:39:40.666Z Error decoding token: 0, import_jwt_decode.default is not a function (it is Object) [v2]
ERROR Auth token is not a valid JWT, cannot refetch the token
You are correct appears to be an issue with decoder
So you're seeing the error message, but not seeing any impacts?
yeah no impacts just error message
will screen record to show you quickly
If verbose isn't adding any logs, the decoder isn't throwing, just returning something falsy
i am geetting verbose erro " DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:39:40.666Z received ws message with type Transition
DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:39:40.666Z server confirmed new auth token is valid [v2]
DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:39:40.666Z Error decoding token: 0, import_jwt_decode.default is not a function (it is Object) [v2]
ERROR Auth token is not a valid JWT, cannot refetch the token
Error decoding token: 0, import_jwt_decode.default is not a function (it is Object) [v2] which is same log line shown in https://github.com/get-convex/convex-js/blob/60ce9add55f12cc5f68c813beafccb3867378685/src/browser/sync/authentication_manager.ts#L412-L414
GitHub
convex-js/src/browser/sync/authentication_manager.ts at 60ce9add55f...
TypeScript/JavaScript client library for Convex. Contribute to get-convex/convex-js development by creating an account on GitHub.
Look like convex get token fine but then fails on decode
ah the second one is the one we're looking for
Error decoding token: 0, import_jwt_decode.default is not a function (it is Object) [v2]
What version of convex are you running"convex": "^1.18.0",
"convex-helpers": "^0.1.56",
Looks like an esm issue
What's in your root tsconfig under compilerOptions for
lib and moduleResolution{
"extends": "expo/tsconfig.base",
"compilerOptions": {
"strict": true,
"paths": {
"@repo/ui": ["../../packages/ui/src"],
"@repo/ui/": ["../../packages/ui/src/"]
}
}
}
Try these under compilerOptions (I use them with my expo/convex project):
very puzzling that this is the only place you're getting errors, though, if this is a general module resolution issue. And that you have no actual bugs occurring as a result.
hmm yeah also weird that it is an error buyt i can authenticate on convex fine
had a bug here where convex cant authenticate but if i refresh its fine ...
after making those changes i still get error " DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:57:05.709Z received ws message with type Transition
DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:57:05.709Z server confirmed new auth token is valid [v2]
DEBUG 2025-03-04T20:57:05.710Z Error decoding token: 0, import_jwt_decode.default is not a function (it is Object) [v2]
ERROR Auth token is not a valid JWT, cannot refetch the token"
do i need to install a jwt decode package ?
No it's a direct dependency of convex-js
thought so
is my convex version fine
Actually latest is 1.19, try installing latest
i am also using monorepo using turborepo
hmm actually this looks like a legit bug, jwt-decode exports jwtDecode as a named export, not default
is there a command to greacefully update convex version ? or just do pnpm install and read notes for breaking changes
have others reported ?
Nope, and I don't see it in my own logs either. And while the jwt-decode docs say named export, I do see a default export also present. Maybe changed in a new version though
using pnpm I'm guessin
need to determine what version of jwt-decode you're using, I'm suspecting you're running 4.x
If you're using npm ,
npm ls jwt-decode
Oh I missed this, just update to latest, shouldn't hurt anything
pnpm update convex@latest I think
pnpm list jwt-decode to get that versionthis prints nothing
@erquhart
Try
pnpm list jwt-decode --depth 10dependencies:
@convex-dev/aggregate 0.1.20
└─┬ convex 1.19.5 peer
└── jwt-decode 3.1.2
@convex-dev/auth 0.0.80
├─┬ convex 1.19.5 peer
│ └── jwt-decode 3.1.2
└── jwt-decode 4.0.0
convex 1.19.5
└── jwt-decode 3.1.2
looks like convex auth is pulling in 4.0
So should remove convex auth the issue might be use to use convex auth now i switched to clerk
Oh if you're not using convex auth, yeah that's the easy fix.
otherwise this is down to either pnpm or turborepo messing up the deps. No reason convex should be using convex auth's copy of that dependency
but yeah that should resolve it
would you have any indication why to if i leave my app for a while in background and then return to the app and open a page to say fetch mail which requiresthe user to be authenticated i get a white screen appear and and error in convex user not authenticated but if i clear app from background and reopeni am logged in fine 🙂
updating convex and removing convex auth fixed jwt error thanks for the help man !
You're seeing this with Clerk?
Yes with clerk
Using nextjs by chance?
using expo native app
oh right, native
yeah, there are fixes coming very soon for that
if i send app to background wait say 2 hours and reopen and fetch data from convex app just shows a white screen and does nothing until i clear app from background and reopen then i am logged in fine and its all good
android or ios?
ios
i will get a screen recording for your reference aswell as the logs if it is a know bug
when you say "reopen and fetch data", you just mean you go to the app and it's blank, or you go to the app, and then you interact with it somehow, and then it goes blank
or you go to it, it fetches automatically, and goes blank after a second or so
I open the app and it is authough it has the cached view so i load homeroute fine then if i switch to another route the screen goes white
Do you capture error logs anywhere, like sentry
same white screen if i leave app in background reopen it will show me the splash and then splash disapears i load home route which fetches data from convex re current user and i get error in convex and white screen in app but if i clear from background and reopen everything loads fine
Im adding sentry currently , short answer no
what's the error you get in convex when this happens
and yeah add sentry and capture client errors for sure, really helpful
just a user is unauthenticated error
especially for native
very true cant just open console haha
these functions call when i hit dashboard and fail i think because they fire before clerk has resynced user session with convex after inactivity
Yeah hmm
because if i clear app from background/app draw and reopen everything loads fine user does not have to login again
import {
ClerkProvider,
ClerkLoaded,
useAuth,
useUser,
} from "@clerk/clerk-expo";
import { Slot, SplashScreen } from "expo-router";
import { tokenCache } from "./cache";
import "../global.css";
import { BottomSheetModalProvider } from "@gorhom/bottom-sheet";
import { GestureHandlerRootView } from "react-native-gesture-handler";
import { ConvexProvider, ConvexReactClient } from "convex/react";
import { ConvexQueryCacheProvider } from "convex-helpers/react/cache";
import { ConvexProviderWithClerk } from "convex/react-clerk";
import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
// Initialize ConvexReactClient
const convex = new ConvexReactClient(process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_CONVEX_URL!, {
verbose: true,
});
function AuthenticatedLayout() {
const { isLoaded: isUserLoaded, isSignedIn } = useUser();
useEffect(() => {
if (isUserLoaded) {
SplashScreen.hideAsync();
}
}, [isUserLoaded]);
return (
<ConvexProviderWithClerk useAuth={useAuth} client={convex}>
<ConvexQueryCacheProvider>
<BottomSheetModalProvider>
<Slot screenOptions={{ headerShown: false }} />
</BottomSheetModalProvider>
</ConvexQueryCacheProvider>
</ConvexProviderWithClerk>
);
}
export default function RootLayout() {
const publishableKey = process.env.EXPO_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY!;
useEffect(() => {
SplashScreen.preventAutoHideAsync();
}, []);
return (
<GestureHandlerRootView style={{ flex: 1 }}>
<ClerkProvider tokenCache={tokenCache} publishableKey={publishableKey}>
<ClerkLoaded>
<AuthenticatedLayout />
</ClerkLoaded>
</ClerkProvider>
</GestureHandlerRootView>
);
}
have even tried to split out to ensure clerk is loaded first that file is extract from root _layout.tsx
There are a few race conditions that can occur when ios apps come from background, I've been troubleshooting it with Convex Auth specifically so not sure if Clerk brings it's own issues or not.
Incoming fixes should help with this.
yes I was having those issue with clerk auth hence setup with clerk to see if they fix haha
Great apreciate the work you are doing i love the convex platform so all good !
I will share sentery logs with you aswell once theyare in
and a screen recording incase is helpful
just need to leave app in background for several hours before i get the issue so annoying
let me know if you're up for trying the aforementioned fixes before they're released
Still seeing this with the latest auth related fixes in the Convex client. I believe the issue is the browser delaying execution of tasks, so a token will be fetched, but then not authenticated for potentially hours, at which point the token is expired. It does this until runs out of retries and then it clears auth state.
Currently trying a change that avoids attempting to authenticate a known expired token