I found this authentication example which applies redux-router approach. https://github.com/joshgeller/react-redux-jwt-auth-example And this blog really helped me understand what's going on. http://blog.slatepeak.com/build-a-react-redux-app-with-json-web-token-jwt-authentication/ Basically, it wrapped protected components into a higher order component (let's call it HOC). HOC decides whether the protected components are going to be rendered depending on the authentication status in the states. However, I still run into some issue. HOC detects authentication status using componentWillReceiveProps. My componentWillReceiveProps just can't detect any prop changes. Did anyone run into the same issue?