diff --git a/lib/constants.ts b/lib/constants.ts
index ea7e93bbc..9e6f39cf2 100644
--- a/lib/constants.ts
+++ b/lib/constants.ts
@@ -8,3 +8,5 @@ export const authorizedTenantsClaimName = 'tenants';
 export const permissionsClaimName = 'permissions';
 /** The key of the roles claims in the claims map either under tenant or top level */
 export const rolesClaimName = 'roles';
+/** The key of the scope claim in the claims map (OAuth 2.0 standard) */
+export const scopeClaimName = 'scope';
diff --git a/lib/errors.ts b/lib/errors.ts
index 1b018540d..d80e11912 100644
--- a/lib/errors.ts
+++ b/lib/errors.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ export default {
   missingArguments: 'E011002',
   invalidRequest: 'E011003',
   invalidArguments: 'E011004',
+  insufficientScopes: 'E011005',
   wrongOTPCode: 'E061102',
   tooManyOTPAttempts: 'E061103',
   enchantedLinkPending: 'E062503',
diff --git a/lib/index.test.ts b/lib/index.test.ts
index 17cf3d3c5..285341575 100644
--- a/lib/index.test.ts
+++ b/lib/index.test.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,11 @@ let publicKeys: JWK;
 let tokenAudA: string;
 let tokenAudB: string;
 let expiredTokenAudA: string;
+// Scope-specific tokens
+let tokenScopeArray: string;
+let tokenScopeReadWrite: string;
+let tokenScopeReadOnly: string;
+let tokenNoScopes: string;
 let permAuthInfo: AuthenticationInfo;
 let permTenantAuthInfo: AuthenticationInfo;
 
@@ -89,6 +94,31 @@ describe('sdk', () => {
       .setIssuer('project-id')
       .setExpirationTime(1181398111)
       .sign(privateKey);
+    // Scope-specific tokens
+    tokenScopeArray = await new SignJWT({ scopes: ['read', 'write'] })
+      .setProtectedHeader({ alg: 'ES384', kid: '0ad99869f2d4e57f3f71c68300ba84fa' })
+      .setIssuedAt()
+      .setIssuer('project-id')
+      .setExpirationTime(1981398111)
+      .sign(privateKey);
+    tokenScopeReadWrite = await new SignJWT({ scope: 'read write' })
+      .setProtectedHeader({ alg: 'ES384', kid: '0ad99869f2d4e57f3f71c68300ba84fa' })
+      .setIssuedAt()
+      .setIssuer('project-id')
+      .setExpirationTime(1981398111)
+      .sign(privateKey);
+    tokenScopeReadOnly = await new SignJWT({ scope: 'read' })
+      .setProtectedHeader({ alg: 'ES384', kid: '0ad99869f2d4e57f3f71c68300ba84fa' })
+      .setIssuedAt()
+      .setIssuer('project-id')
+      .setExpirationTime(1981398111)
+      .sign(privateKey);
+    tokenNoScopes = await new SignJWT({})
+      .setProtectedHeader({ alg: 'ES384', kid: '0ad99869f2d4e57f3f71c68300ba84fa' })
+      .setIssuedAt()
+      .setIssuer('project-id')
+      .setExpirationTime(1981398111)
+      .sign(privateKey);
     permAuthInfo = {
       jwt: 'jwt',
       token: { [permissionsClaimName]: ['foo', 'bar'], [rolesClaimName]: ['abc', 'xyz'] },
@@ -203,6 +233,92 @@ describe('sdk', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('scope validation', () => {
+    it('should reject when scopes are required but missing in token', async () => {
+      await expect((sdk as any).validateSession(tokenNoScopes, { scopes: 'read' })).rejects.toThrow(
+        'session validation failed',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('should reject when scopes mismatch in token for validateSession', async () => {
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateSession(tokenScopeReadOnly, { scopes: 'write' }),
+      ).rejects.toThrow('session validation failed');
+    });
+
+    it('should accept when all required scopes are present (single scope)', async () => {
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateSession(tokenScopeReadWrite, { scopes: 'read' }),
+      ).resolves.toHaveProperty('jwt', tokenScopeReadWrite);
+    });
+
+    it('should accept when all required scopes are present (multiple scopes)', async () => {
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateSession(tokenScopeReadWrite, { scopes: ['read', 'write'] }),
+      ).resolves.toHaveProperty('jwt', tokenScopeReadWrite);
+    });
+
+    it('should accept when token has scopes as array instead of space-separated string', async () => {
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateSession(tokenScopeArray, { scopes: 'read' }),
+      ).resolves.toHaveProperty('jwt', tokenScopeArray);
+    });
+
+    it('should reject when token is missing some required scopes', async () => {
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateSession(tokenScopeReadOnly, { scopes: ['read', 'write'] }),
+      ).rejects.toThrow('session validation failed');
+    });
+
+    it('should reject when scopes mismatch in validateJwt', async () => {
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateJwt(tokenScopeReadOnly, { scopes: 'write' }),
+      ).rejects.toThrow('insufficient scopes');
+    });
+
+    it('should accept when validateJwt has matching scopes', async () => {
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateJwt(tokenScopeReadWrite, { scopes: ['read', 'write'] }),
+      ).resolves.toHaveProperty('jwt', tokenScopeReadWrite);
+    });
+
+    it('should reject when refreshSession returns session with insufficient scopes', async () => {
+      const spyRefresh = jest.spyOn(sdk, 'refresh').mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        ok: true,
+        data: { sessionJwt: tokenScopeReadOnly },
+      } as SdkResponse<JWTResponse>);
+
+      await expect((sdk as any).refreshSession(validToken, { scopes: 'write' })).rejects.toThrow(
+        'refresh token validation failed',
+      );
+      expect(spyRefresh).toHaveBeenCalledWith(validToken);
+    });
+
+    it('should accept when refreshSession returns session with sufficient scopes', async () => {
+      const spyRefresh = jest.spyOn(sdk, 'refresh').mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        ok: true,
+        data: { sessionJwt: tokenScopeReadWrite },
+      } as SdkResponse<JWTResponse>);
+
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).refreshSession(validToken, { scopes: ['read', 'write'] }),
+      ).resolves.toHaveProperty('jwt', tokenScopeReadWrite);
+      expect(spyRefresh).toHaveBeenCalledWith(validToken);
+    });
+
+    it('should reject when validateAndRefreshSession refreshes to insufficient scopes', async () => {
+      const spyRefresh = jest.spyOn(sdk, 'refresh').mockResolvedValueOnce({
+        ok: true,
+        data: { sessionJwt: tokenScopeReadOnly },
+      } as SdkResponse<JWTResponse>);
+
+      await expect(
+        (sdk as any).validateAndRefreshSession(expiredToken, validToken, { scopes: 'write' }),
+      ).rejects.toThrow('refresh token validation failed');
+      expect(spyRefresh).toHaveBeenCalledWith(validToken);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('getKey', () => {
     it('should throw an error when key does not exist', async () => {
       await expect(sdk.getKey({ kid: 'unknown-key' } as JWTHeaderParameters)).rejects.toThrow(
diff --git a/lib/index.ts b/lib/index.ts
index cd8cace10..8819dd8b5 100644
--- a/lib/index.ts
+++ b/lib/index.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   permissionsClaimName,
   refreshTokenCookieName,
   rolesClaimName,
+  scopeClaimName,
   sessionTokenCookieName,
 } from './constants';
 import fetch from './fetch-polyfill';
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@ const nodeSdk = ({
     /**
      * Validate the given JWT with the right key and make sure the issuer is correct
      * @param jwt the JWT string to parse and validate
-     * @param options optional verification options (e.g., { audience })
+     * @param options optional verification options (e.g., { audience, scopes })
      * @returns AuthenticationInfo with the parsed token and JWT. Will throw an error if validation fails.
      */
     async validateJwt(jwt: string, options?: VerifyOptions): Promise<AuthenticationInfo> {
@@ -193,6 +194,39 @@ const nodeSdk = ({
             'check_failed',
           );
         }
+
+        // Validate scopes if provided
+        if (options?.scopes) {
+          // Normalize required scopes to array
+          const requiredScopes = Array.isArray(options.scopes) ? options.scopes : [options.scopes];
+
+          // Extract scopes from token - support both "scope" (space-separated string) and "scopes" (array)
+          let tokenScopes: string[] = [];
+          const scopeClaim = token[scopeClaimName];
+          const scopesClaim = token.scopes;
+
+          if (typeof scopeClaim === 'string') {
+            // OAuth 2.0 standard: space-separated string
+            tokenScopes = scopeClaim.split(' ').filter((s) => s.length > 0);
+          } else if (Array.isArray(scopesClaim)) {
+            // Alternative: array of scopes
+            tokenScopes = scopesClaim.filter((s) => typeof s === 'string');
+          } else if (Array.isArray(scopeClaim)) {
+            // Handle if "scope" claim is an array (non-standard but possible)
+            tokenScopes = scopeClaim.filter((s) => typeof s === 'string');
+          }
+
+          // Check if all required scopes are present in token scopes
+          const hasAllScopes = requiredScopes.every((scope) => tokenScopes.includes(scope));
+
+          if (!hasAllScopes) {
+            throw new errors.JWTClaimValidationFailed(
+              'insufficient scopes',
+              scopeClaimName,
+              'check_failed',
+            );
+          }
+        }
       }
 
       return { jwt, token };
@@ -201,7 +235,7 @@ const nodeSdk = ({
     /**
      * Validate an active session
      * @param sessionToken session JWT to validate
-     * @param options optional verification options (e.g., { audience })
+     * @param options optional verification options (e.g., { audience, scopes })
      * @returns AuthenticationInfo promise or throws Error if there is an issue with JWTs
      */
     async validateSession(
@@ -225,7 +259,7 @@ const nodeSdk = ({
      * For session migration, use {@link sdk.refresh}.
      *
      * @param refreshToken refresh JWT to refresh the session with
-     * @param options optional verification options for the new session (e.g., { audience })
+     * @param options optional verification options for the new session (e.g., { audience, scopes })
      * @returns RefreshAuthenticationInfo promise or throws Error if there is an issue with JWTs
      */
     async refreshSession(
@@ -266,7 +300,7 @@ const nodeSdk = ({
      * Validate session and refresh it if it expired
      * @param sessionToken session JWT
      * @param refreshToken refresh JWT
-     * @param options optional verification options (e.g., { audience }) used on validation and post-refresh
+     * @param options optional verification options (e.g., { audience, scopes }) used on validation and post-refresh
      * @returns RefreshAuthenticationInfo promise or throws Error if there is an issue with JWTs
      */
     async validateAndRefreshSession(
@@ -291,7 +325,7 @@ const nodeSdk = ({
      * Exchange API key (access key) for a session key
      * @param accessKey access key to exchange for a session JWT
      * @param loginOptions Optional advanced controls over login parameters
-     * @param options optional verification options for the returned session (e.g., { audience })
+     * @param options optional verification options for the returned session (e.g., { audience, scopes })
      * @returns AuthenticationInfo with session JWT data
      */
     async exchangeAccessKey(
diff --git a/lib/types.ts b/lib/types.ts
index 42e9251e3..e06f55d3e 100644
--- a/lib/types.ts
+++ b/lib/types.ts
@@ -21,9 +21,10 @@ export interface RefreshAuthenticationInfo extends AuthenticationInfo {
   refreshJwt?: string;
 }
 
-/** Options for token verification (extensible). For now only audience. */
+/** Options for token verification (extensible). For now only audience and scopes. */
 export interface VerifyOptions {
   audience?: string | string[];
+  scopes?: string | string[];
 }
 
 /** Descope core SDK type */