> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://nats-io.gitbook.io/legacy-nats-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://nats-io.gitbook.io/legacy-nats-docs/nats-account-server.md). # nats-account-server If you are creating a new NATS deployment we highly recommend using the internal [NATS Resolver](https://docs.nats.io/nats-server/configuration/securing_nats/jwt/resolver#nats-based-resolver) for a much simpler and easy to manage account resolution system. This account server, while being considered legacy, is still functional and still serves as a good reference to build upon for custom account resolution ## nats-account-server The standalone [NATS Account Server](https://github.com/nats-io/nats-account-server) is an HTTP server that hosts and vends JWTs for nats-server 2.0 account authentication. The server supports an number of stores which enable it to serve account JWTs from a directory > While the nats servers can be still configured to use a standalone NATS Account Server, this functionality is now deprecated and it is recommended that the servers should now be configured to use the built-in full NATS based resolver instead. > > The standalone NATS Account Server also speaks the full nats based resolver protocol and can be used as such. The server can operate in a *READ ONLY* mode where it serves content from a directory, or in notification mode, where it can notify a NATS server that a JWT in the store has been modified, updating the NATS server with the updated JWT. The server supports replica mode, which allows load balancing, fault tolerance and geographic distribution of servers. Replicas are read-only and copy JWTs from the primary based on cache invalidation or NATS notifications. The account server can host activation tokens as well as account JWTs. These tokens are used when one account needs to give permission to another account to access a private export. Tokens can be configured as full tokens, or URLs. By hosting them in the account server you can avoid the copy/paste process of embedding tokens. They can also be updated more easily on expiration. The account serer furthermore allows for jwt inspection. All account server configuration options can be found here. It futhermore allows inspection of JWT. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://nats-io.gitbook.io/legacy-nats-docs/nats-account-server.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.