# Create Access Tokens for Programmable Chat

> \[!CAUTION]
>
> Programmable Chat has been deprecated and is no longer supported. Instead, we'll be focusing on the next generation of chat: Twilio Conversations. Find out more about the [EOL process here](https://www.twilio.com/en-us/changelog/programmable-chat-end-of-life-notice).
>
> If you're starting a new project, please visit the [Conversations Docs](/docs/conversations) to begin. If you've already built on Programmable Chat, please visit our [Migration Guide](/docs/conversations/migrating-chat-conversations) to learn about how to switch.

In the last guide, we covered SDK client initialization mechanics and the need for a generated Access Token. This Access Token is the credential your SDK client endpoints must use to identify and authenticate themselves with the Chat Service.

This Token is generated on your server or backend as you authenticate your user and is then utilized by the Chat SDK client to authorize with the Chat Service.

## Create an Access Token

On your server, we must decide, based on the token request that was sent to us, *who the user is* and *what they should be allowed to do*.

To figure out who the user is (their [identity](/docs/chat/identity)), you might use your existing login system, using session cookies, an API token, or whatever mechanism you use to secure API requests or pages today. Who the user is and how you authorize their use will vary from app to app.

If you determine that the user should indeed be allowed to access your Chat application, you will grant your user access to Chat by generating an Access Token as part of your authentication flow. You will then return the token to the user client for use in the Chat SDK.

When creating an Access Token for Programmable Chat, the following information is needed:

**Twilio Account Sid**

This is the Account Sid of your Twilio account and must be the account in which you have created your Programmable Chat Service. [Manage your Chat Services](/console/chat/services).

**Programmable Chat Service Sid**

This is the Chat Service Sid where your Users, Channels, Messages and other chat related data resides. This is the Chat Service you grant the SDK client access to.

**Twilio API Key Sid**

This is the Sid of an API created for your Twilio Account, which is used to sign the Access Token cryptographically. You can [create these API keys here](/console/chat/dev-tools/api-keys).

**Twilio API Secret**

This is the secret part of the API Key above, also managed [here](/console/chat/dev-tools/api-keys).

**Identity**

The `identity` of your User. For example, `user@some.domain.com`.
For more details around Programmable Chat use of identity, please refer to [User Identity & Access Tokens](/docs/chat/identity) section.

*We recommend following the standard URI specification and avoid the following reserved characters* `! * ' ( ) ; : @ & = + $ , / ? % # [ ]` *for values such as identity and friendly name.*

Creating an Access Token (Chat)

```js
const AccessToken = require('twilio').jwt.AccessToken;
const ChatGrant = AccessToken.ChatGrant;

// Used when generating any kind of tokens
// To set up environmental variables, see http://twil.io/secure
const twilioAccountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
const twilioApiKey = process.env.TWILIO_API_KEY;
const twilioApiSecret = process.env.TWILIO_API_SECRET;

// Used specifically for creating Chat tokens
const serviceSid = process.env.TWILIO_CHAT_SERVICE_SID;
const identity = 'user@example.com';

// Create a "grant" which enables a client to use Chat as a given user,
// on a given device
const chatGrant = new ChatGrant({
  serviceSid: serviceSid,
});

// Create an access token which we will sign and return to the client,
// containing the grant we just created
const token = new AccessToken(
  twilioAccountSid,
  twilioApiKey,
  twilioApiSecret,
  {identity: identity}
);

token.addGrant(chatGrant);

// Serialize the token to a JWT string
console.log(token.toJwt());
```

```py
import os
from twilio.jwt.access_token import AccessToken
from twilio.jwt.access_token.grants import ChatGrant

# required for all twilio access tokens
# To set up environmental variables, see http://twil.io/secure
account_sid = os.environ['TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID']
api_key = os.environ['TWILIO_API_KEY']
api_secret = os.environ['TWILIO_API_KEY_SECRET']

# required for Chat grants
service_sid = 'ISxxxxxxxxxxxx'
identity = 'user@example.com'

# Create access token with credentials
token = AccessToken(account_sid, api_key, api_secret, identity=identity)

# Create an Chat grant and add to token
chat_grant = ChatGrant(service_sid=service_sid)
token.add_grant(chat_grant)

# Return token info as JSON
print(token.to_jwt())
```

```cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Twilio.Jwt.AccessToken;

class Example
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        // These values are necessary for any access token
        // To set up environmental variables, see http://twil.io/secure
        const string twilioAccountSid = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
        const string twilioApiKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_API_KEY");
        const string twilioApiSecret = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_API_SECRET");

        // These are specific to Chat
        const string serviceSid = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("TWILIO_SERVICE_SID");
        const string identity = "user@example.com";

        // Create an Chat grant for this token

        var grant = new ChatGrant
        {
          ServiceSid = serviceSid
        };

        var grants = new HashSet<IGrant>
        {
            { grant }
        };

        // Create an Access Token generator
        var token = new Token(
            twilioAccountSid,
            twilioApiKey,
            twilioApiSecret,
            identity,
            grants: grants);

        Console.WriteLine(token.ToJwt());
    }
}
```

```java
import com.twilio.jwt.accesstoken.AccessToken;
import com.twilio.jwt.accesstoken.ChatGrant;

public class Example {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    // Get your Account SID from https://twilio.com/console
    // To set up environment variables, see http://twil.io/secure
    // Required for all types of tokens
    String twilioAccountSid = System.getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID");
    String twilioApiKey = System.getenv("TWILIO_API_KEY");
    String twilioApiSecret = System.getenv("TWILIO_API_SECRET");

    String serviceSid = System.getenv("TWILIO_SERVICE_SID");
    String identity = "user@example.com";

    ChatGrant grant = new ChatGrant();
    grant.setServiceSid(serviceSid);

    AccessToken token = new AccessToken.Builder(twilioAccountSid, twilioApiKey, twilioApiSecret)
        .identity(identity).grant(grant).build();

    System.out.println(token.toJwt());
  }
}
```

```go
package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"os"

	"github.com/twilio/twilio-go/client/jwt"
)

func main() {
	// Get your Account SID from https://twilio.com/console
	// To set up environment variables, see http://twil.io/secure
	// Required for all types of tokens
	var twilioAccountSid string = os.Getenv("TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID")
	var twilioApiKey string = os.Getenv("TWILIO_API_KEY")
	var twilioApiSecret string = os.Getenv("TWILIO_API_SECRET")

	params := jwt.AccessTokenParams{
		AccountSid:    twilioAccountSid,
		SigningKeySid: twilioApiKey,
		Secret:        twilioApiSecret,
		Identity:      "user@example.com",
	}

	jwtToken := jwt.CreateAccessToken(params)
	chatGrant := &jwt.ChatGrant{
		ServiceSid: "ISxxxxxxxxxxxx",
	}

	jwtToken.AddGrant(chatGrant)
	token, err := jwtToken.ToJwt()

	if err != nil {
		error := fmt.Errorf("error: %q", err)
		fmt.Println(error.Error())
	}

	fmt.Println(token)
}
```

```php
<?php
// Get the PHP helper library from https://twilio.com/docs/libraries/php
require_once '/path/to/vendor/autoload.php'; // Loads the library
use Twilio\Jwt\AccessToken;
use Twilio\Jwt\Grants\ChatGrant;

// Required for all Twilio access tokens
// To set up environmental variables, see http://twil.io/secure
$twilioAccountSid = getenv('TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID');
$twilioApiKey = getenv('TWILIO_API_KEY');
$twilioApiSecret = getenv('TWILIO_API_KEY_SECRET');

// Required for Chat grant
$serviceSid = 'ISxxxxxxxxxxxx';
// choose a random username for the connecting user
$identity = "john_doe";

// Create access token, which we will serialize and send to the client
$token = new AccessToken(
    $twilioAccountSid,
    $twilioApiKey,
    $twilioApiSecret,
    3600,
    $identity
);

// Create Chat grant
$chatGrant = new ChatGrant();
$chatGrant->setServiceSid($serviceSid);

// Add grant to token
$token->addGrant($chatGrant);

// render token to string
echo $token->toJWT();
```

```rb
require 'twilio-ruby'

# Required for any Twilio Access Token
# To set up environmental variables, see http://twil.io/secure
account_sid = ENV['TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID']
api_key = ENV['TWILIO_API_KEY']
api_secret = ENV['TWILIO_API_KEY_SECRET']

# Required for Chat
service_sid = 'ISxxxxxxxxxxxx'
identity = 'user@example.com'

# Create Chat grant for our token
grant = Twilio::JWT::AccessToken::ChatGrant.new
grant.service_sid = service_sid

# Create an Access Token
token = Twilio::JWT::AccessToken.new(
  account_sid,
  api_key,
  api_secret,
  [grant],
  identity: identity
)

# Generate the token
puts token.to_jwt
```

**Optional: TTL (Time To Live)**
Access Tokens are only valid for a period of time, in seconds. The default is `3600` seconds (1 hour), but you can adjust this to your needs up to a maximum of 24 hours.

Once your client receives an Access Token from your server, you can initialize the Twilio Chat SDK and start sending and receiving messages, as covered in the [previous guide](/docs/chat/initializing-sdk-clients).

**Next:** [Access Token Lifecycle](/docs/chat/access-token-lifecycle)