Yes, there are ways to verify a client's token from your API without calling the

/sessions/whoami

endpoint. Here are two main approaches you can consider: 1. Using OAuth 2.0 Token Introspection: You can use the OAuth 2.0 token introspection endpoint to check if a token is active and valid. This method works for both opaque and JWT access tokens. Here's an example using the Ory SDK:

typescript    import { Configuration, OAuth2Api } from "@ory/client"        const ory = new OAuth2Api(      new Configuration({        basePath: `https://${process.env.ORY_PROJECT_SLUG}.<http://projects.oryapis.com|projects.oryapis.com>`,        accessToken: process.env.ORY_API_KEY,      }),    )        export async function introspectToken(accessToken: string) {      const { data } = await ory.introspectOAuth2Token({ token: accessToken })      data.active // true or false    }

This approach is described in the [OAuth 2.0 token introspection guide](https://www.ory.sh/docs/hydra/guides/oauth2-token-introspection). 2. For JWT Access Tokens: If you're using JWT access tokens, you can validate them locally without making an API call. You'll need to use the JSON Web Key Set (JWKS) provided by Ory to verify the token's signature. You can find the JWKS at:

https://$<http://PROJECT_SLUG.projects.oryapis.com/.well-known/jwks.json|PROJECT_SLUG.projects.oryapis.com/.well-known/jwks.json>

You can use a JWT library that supports JWKS to validate the token. This method is explained in the [JWT access token documentation](https://www.ory.sh/docs/oauth2-oidc/jwt-access-token#json-web-token-validation). It's important to note that while JWT validation can be done locally, it doesn't account for token revocation. If immediate revocation is crucial for your use case, you should still use the introspection endpoint or implement additional checks. [Ory API Reference](https://www.ory.sh/docs/reference/api) provides more details on these endpoints and their usage.

Yes, you can verify a client's session cookie without directly calling the

/sessions/whoami

endpoint. However, it's important to note that the process is different from token verification and requires some additional steps. Here's how you can approach this: 1. Session to JWT Conversion: Ory provides a feature to convert sessions to JWTs. This allows you to validate the session locally without making repeated calls to the

/sessions/whoami

endpoint. You can use the Session to JWT feature as described in the [Session to JWT documentation](https://www.ory.sh/docs/identities/session-to-jwt-cors). This approach involves setting up a JWT template in your Ory project and then using it to convert the session to a JWT. Here's an example of how you might use this in your API:

typescript    import { Configuration, FrontendApi } from "@ory/client"     const ory = new FrontendApi(      new Configuration({        basePath: `https://${process.env.ORY_PROJECT_SLUG}.<http://projects.oryapis.com|projects.oryapis.com>`,      }),    )     export async function verifySessionCookie(cookie: string) {      try {        const { data: session } = await ory.toSession({          cookie: cookie,          tokenize_as: "your-jwt-template-name",        })                // The session.tokenized field will contain the JWT        // You can now validate this JWT locally        return session.tokenized      } catch (error) {        // Handle error (e.g., invalid or expired session)        return null      }    }

After obtaining the JWT, you can validate it locally using the JWKS as described in the previous answer for JWT access tokens. 2. Caching: To further optimize performance and reduce API calls, you can implement caching in your backend. This way, you only need to verify the session cookie periodically rather than on every request. [Ory API Reference](https://www.ory.sh/docs/reference/api) mentions that Ory Network employs a session caching mechanism to reduce latency for

/sessions/whoami

endpoint calls. You can implement a similar strategy in your own API. It's important to note that while these methods can reduce the number of direct calls to

/sessions/whoami

, they may not provide real-time session status updates. For the most up-to-date session information, especially in cases where immediate session revocation is crucial, you might still need to use the

/sessions/whoami

endpoint. Remember to handle the session cookie securely, as it contains sensitive information. Always use HTTPS and follow best practices for cookie handling in your application.

Yes, you're correct. Converting an Ory session to a JWT does require sending a request to Ory. This is not something that can be done entirely locally without interacting with Ory's APIs. According to the [Session to JWT documentation](https://www.ory.sh/docs/identities/session-to-jwt-cors), you need to make a request to the

/sessions/whoami

endpoint with a specific query parameter to get the JWT. Here's an example of how this works:

javascript const { data: session } = await frontend.toSession({   tokenize_as: "jwt_example_template1", }) const jwt = session.tokenized

This request is made to Ory's API, and it returns the session information along with the JWT in the

tokenized

field. The reason for this is that the JWT needs to be signed with the correct keys and include up-to-date session information. Ory manages these keys and the current session state, so the conversion needs to happen on their end. While this does mean you're still making a request to Ory, it can still be beneficial in certain scenarios: 1. You get a JWT that you can validate locally for subsequent requests, potentially reducing the number of calls to Ory. 2. You can include custom claims in the JWT based on your template, which might include information you need for your application. 3. The JWT can be used in scenarios where you need a token format, such as in certain microservices architectures or with third-party services that expect JWTs. However, if your goal is to completely eliminate calls to Ory for session verification, this method won't achieve that. You would still need to make at least one call to Ory to get the JWT for a given session.