nicolargo/glances · error · HTTPException

JWT authentication is not available. Install python-jose or

Error message

JWT authentication is not available. Install python-jose or check configuration.

What it means

The /api/4/token endpoint raises HTTP 501 when self._jwt_handler is None or its is_available is False — meaning the JWT layer (python-jose dependency and/or a usable secret) isn't present, so token issuance is impossible. This mirrors the RuntimeError from GlancesJWT.create_access_token but is surfaced as an HTTP error.

Source

Thrown at glances/outputs/glances_restful_api.py:811

        Generate a JWT access token for authenticated users.

        Expected JSON body:
        {
            "username": "string",
            "password": "string"
        }

        Returns:
        {
            "access_token": "string",
            "token_type": "bearer",
            "expires_in": int (seconds)
        }
        """
        # Check if JWT is available
        if self._jwt_handler is None or not self._jwt_handler.is_available:
            raise HTTPException(
                status.HTTP_501_NOT_IMPLEMENTED,
                "JWT authentication is not available. Install python-jose or check configuration.",
            )

        # Check if password authentication is enabled
        if self._password is None:
            raise HTTPException(
                status.HTTP_501_NOT_IMPLEMENTED,
                "Password authentication is not enabled. Start Glances with --password option.",
            )

        # Parse request body
        try:
            body = await request.json()
        except Exception:
            raise HTTPException(status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST, "Invalid JSON body")

        username = body.get('username')

View on GitHub (pinned to a240d8dfb3)

Solutions

pip install 'glances[api]' (or pip install python-jose) on the server and restart Glances.
Run once with --password so the JWT secret is created/persisted.
Retry POST /api/4/token; if still 501, check glances.log for JWT init messages.

Example fix

# before
pip install glances
glaces -w --password
curl -X POST http://localhost:61208/api/4/token
# 501 JWT authentication is not available

# after
pip install 'glances[api]'
glaces -w --password
curl -X POST http://localhost:61208/api/4/token -d '{"username":"u","password":"p"}'

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import importlib.util
if importlib.util.find_spec('jose') is None:
    raise SystemExit("pip install 'glances[api]' to enable /api/4/token")

Try / catch

r = requests.post(f'{base}/api/4/token', json=creds)
if r.status_code == 501:
    raise SystemExit('server lacks JWT support — use Basic auth or install glances[api]')

Prevention

Include glances[api] in deployment requirements.
Smoke-test /api/4/token after deployment; a 501 means missing dependency/config.
Fall back to Basic auth when token issuance is unavailable.

When it happens

Trigger: POST /api/4/token on a Glances started with --password but without python-jose installed or without a JWT secret configured. The endpoint checks availability before parsing the body, so the 501 comes back regardless of payload.

Common situations: pip installs of bare glances without the [api] extra; Docker images missing the dependency; upgrades that dropped python-jose; fresh installs where the secret generation step never ran.

Understand the failure class

Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of nicolargo/glances@a240d8dfb3 (2026-08-27). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f8beed0934b926da. Report an issue: GitHub.