spiffe 0.9.1

Rust client library implementation for SPIFFE
Documentation

spiffe

Crates.io Docs.rs MSRV

A Rust library for interacting with the SPIFFE Workload API.

This crate provides idiomatic, standards-compliant access to SPIFFE identities and trust material, including:

  • X.509 SVIDs and trust bundles
  • JWT SVIDs and JWT bundles
  • Streaming updates (watch semantics)
  • Strongly typed SPIFFE primitives aligned with the SPIFFE specifications

For an introduction to SPIFFE, see https://spiffe.io. For the protocol definition, see the SPIFFE Workload API specification.

Installation

Add spiffe to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
spiffe = "0.9"

Quick start

Create a Workload API client

Using an explicit socket path:

use spiffe::WorkloadApiClient;

let client = WorkloadApiClient::connect_to(
    "unix:/tmp/spire-agent/public/api.sock",
).await?;

Or via the SPIFFE_ENDPOINT_SOCKET environment variable:

use spiffe::WorkloadApiClient;

let client = WorkloadApiClient::connect_env().await?;

X.509 identities

The Workload API client exposes low-level access to X.509 materials.

use spiffe::{TrustDomain, X509Context};

let context: X509Context = client.fetch_x509_context().await?;

let trust_domain = TrustDomain::new("example.org")?;
let bundle = context
    .bundle_set()
    .get(&trust_domain)
    .ok_or("missing bundle")?;

Watch for updates

use futures_util::StreamExt;

let mut stream = client.stream_x509_contexts().await?;

while let Some(update) = stream.next().await {
    let context = update?;
    // react to updated SVIDs and bundles
}

X509Source (recommended)

X509Source is a higher-level abstraction built on top of the Workload API.

It maintains a locally cached, automatically refreshed view of X.509 SVIDs and bundles, handling reconnections and rotations transparently.

use spiffe::{TrustDomain, X509Source};

let source = X509Source::new().await?;

// Snapshot of current materials
let context = source.x509_context()?;

// Selected SVID (default or picker)
let svid = source.svid()?;

// Bundle for a trust domain
let trust_domain = TrustDomain::new("example.org")?;
let bundle = source
    .bundle_for_trust_domain(&trust_domain)?
    .ok_or("missing bundle")?;

For most X.509-based workloads, X509Source is the preferred API.

SVID hints

When multiple SVIDs are returned by the Workload API, SPIRE may attach an operator-defined hint (for example, internal or external) to guide selection.

Hints are not part of the cryptographic identity. They are metadata returned by the Workload API and are exposed by this crate for convenience.

  • X.509 hints are attached to X509Svid
  • JWT hints are attached to JwtSvid

Higher-level abstractions like X509Source preserve hints and allow custom selection logic via SvidPicker.

JWT identities

JWT-based identity is accessed directly via the Workload API client.

Fetch JWT SVIDs

use spiffe::SpiffeId;

let spiffe_id = SpiffeId::try_from("spiffe://example.org/my-service")?;

let jwt = client
    .fetch_jwt_svid(&["audience1", "audience2"], Some(&spiffe_id))
    .await?;

Fetch and watch JWT bundles

use futures_util::StreamExt;
use spiffe::TrustDomain;

let bundles = client.fetch_jwt_bundles().await?;
let trust_domain = TrustDomain::try_from("example.org")?;
let bundle = bundles.get(&trust_domain);

let mut stream = client.stream_jwt_bundles().await?;
while let Some(update) = stream.next().await {
    let bundles = update?;
    // react to updated JWT authorities
}

JWT verification modes

This crate supports three distinct JWT-SVID usage patterns, depending on where verification happens.

1. Trusted by construction (no verification)

JWT-SVIDs fetched directly from the SPIFFE Workload API are trusted by construction. The SPIRE agent already authenticated the workload and issued the token.

use spiffe::JwtSvid;

let svid = JwtSvid::from_workload_api_token(token_str)?;

No additional features are required.

2. Validation via the Workload API (recommended when available)

The Workload API exposes a validation RPC. WorkloadApiClient::validate_jwt_token delegates verification to the SPIRE agent and returns a parsed JwtSvid.

use spiffe::WorkloadApiClient;

let client = WorkloadApiClient::connect_env().await?;

let svid = client
    .validate_jwt_token("my-audience", jwt_token)
    .await?;

Characteristics:

  • Signature verification is performed by the SPIRE agent
  • No local cryptography required
  • Does not require any JWT verification feature
  • Recommended whenever the Workload API is reachable

3. Offline verification (explicit backend selection required)

If you need to validate untrusted JWTs locally (for example, tokens received over the network), enable offline JWT verification with an explicit cryptographic backend.

Using the pure-Rust backend (portable, recommended)

[dependencies]
spiffe = { version = "0.9", features = ["jwt-verify-rust-crypto"] }

Using the AWS-LC backend

[dependencies]
spiffe = { version = "0.9", features = ["jwt-verify-aws-lc-rs"] }

This enables local signature verification using JWT authorities from bundles:

use spiffe::JwtSvid;

let svid = JwtSvid::parse_and_validate(
    token_str,
    &bundle_source,
    &["expected-audience"],
)?;

Use this mode when:

  • The Workload API is not available
  • Tokens are received from external peers
  • Fully offline validation is required

Features

All features are additive and opt-in unless explicitly stated otherwise.

workload-api (default)

Enables the gRPC-based SPIFFE Workload API client.

Provides:

  • WorkloadApiClient and streaming APIs
  • X.509 and JWT SVID and bundle retrieval
  • Streaming watch semantics
  • Agent-side JWT validation (validate_jwt_token)

jwt-verify-rust-crypto

Enables offline JWT-SVID verification using a pure Rust cryptography backend.

  • Portable and dependency-light
  • Recommended default for offline verification
  • Required only when validating untrusted JWTs locally

jwt-verify-aws-lc-rs

Enables offline JWT-SVID verification using AWS-LC via aws-lc-rs.

  • Alternative cryptography backend
  • Mutually exclusive with jwt-verify-rust-crypto

Observability features

The crate supports optional observability through two mutually compatible features: logging and tracing. Both features are optional and can be enabled independently or together.

Feature precedence

When multiple observability features are enabled, the following precedence applies:

  1. tracing (highest priority) — If enabled, all events are emitted via tracing
  2. logging — If tracing is not enabled, events are emitted via the log crate
  3. No observability — If neither feature is enabled, observability calls are no-ops

logging

Enables observability using the log crate.

This is a lightweight option suitable for applications that use the standard log facade. Events are emitted via log::debug!, log::info!, log::warn!, and log::error!.

[dependencies]
spiffe = { version = "0.9", features = ["logging"] }

Note: The logging feature is not included in the default workload-api feature. You must explicitly enable it if you want log output.

tracing

Enables structured observability using the tracing crate.

This is recommended for production environments that use structured logs, spans, or distributed tracing systems. When both tracing and logging features are enabled, tracing takes precedence and all events are emitted via tracing macros.

[dependencies]
spiffe = { version = "0.9", features = ["tracing"] }

Note: The tracing and logging features are not mutually exclusive. When both features are enabled, events are emitted via tracing.

Notes on JWT verification features

  • Exactly one offline verification backend must be selected
  • Offline verification features are not required when using WorkloadApiClient::validate_jwt_token
  • X.509-based functionality is unaffected by JWT verification features

Quick Reference

Common Operations

Task Code
Create X.509 source X509Source::new().await?
Get current SVID source.svid()?
Get bundle source.bundle_for_trust_domain(&td)?.ok_or("missing")?
Fetch JWT SVID client.fetch_jwt_svid(&["aud"], None).await?
Parse SPIFFE ID SpiffeId::new("spiffe://td/path")?
Check health source.is_healthy()
Watch for updates source.updated()

Error Handling

Error Type When It Occurs
X509SourceError::NoSuitableSvid Picker rejects all SVIDs
X509SourceError::Closed Source was shut down
WorkloadApiError::EmptyResponse No data from Workload API
SpiffeIdError::WrongScheme Invalid SPIFFE ID format

Documentation

Full API documentation and additional examples are available on docs.rs.

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for details.