diff --git a/arango/connection.py b/arango/connection.py
index e65fd326..840284cb 100644
--- a/arango/connection.py
+++ b/arango/connection.py
@@ -407,7 +407,8 @@ def send_request(self, request: Request) -> Response:
             return resp
 
         now = int(time.time())
-        if self._token_exp < now - self.exp_leeway:  # pragma: no cover
+        has_credentials = self._username is not None and self._password is not None
+        if not has_credentials and self._token_exp < now - self.exp_leeway:
             return resp
 
         self.refresh_token()
diff --git a/docs/auth.rst b/docs/auth.rst
index 11f62985..cd6ae5a2 100644
--- a/docs/auth.rst
+++ b/docs/auth.rst
@@ -31,10 +31,48 @@ This is python-arango's default authentication method.
 JSON Web Tokens (JWT)
 =====================
 
-Python-arango automatically obtains JSON web tokens from the server using
-username and password. It also refreshes expired tokens and retries requests.
-The client and server clocks must be synchronized for the automatic refresh
-to work correctly.
+JWTs are sent in the HTTP ``Authorization`` header as Bearer tokens. Token
+renewal depends on whether the driver obtains tokens using username/password
+or the application supplies them.
+
+Driver-managed tokens
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+With ``auth_method='jwt'``, the driver obtains an initial token using the
+configured username and password when ``client.db()`` is called. It retains
+those credentials to obtain replacement tokens. If initial acquisition fails,
+``client.db()`` raises an error instead of returning a database wrapper.
+
+For each database request, the authentication policy is:
+
+1. Send the request with the current token.
+2. If the response has both HTTP status 401 and ArangoDB error code 11, attempt
+   to obtain a replacement token using the configured credentials.
+3. If renewal succeeds, retry the original request once with the replacement
+   token.
+
+   * If that retry fails, the application receives the error. The driver does
+     not renew the token or retry the request again.
+
+4. If obtaining a replacement token fails, the original request is not retried.
+   The error from that renewal attempt is raised to the caller.
+
+Both the HTTP status and ArangoDB error code must match to trigger renewal.
+Other responses, including HTTP 403, do not trigger JWT renewal or an
+authentication retry. For example, a rejected version request raises
+:class:`arango.exceptions.ServerVersionError`.
+
+HTTP 401/error code 11 does not prove that the token expired. The same renewal
+and retry policy applies if the server rejects a locally unexpired token.
+Renewal authenticates the same user and does not grant additional permissions;
+if access is still denied, the retried request fails normally.
+
+Renewal is reactive: it happens after a qualifying server rejection, not on a
+timer or proactively before expiration. The driver does not fall back to Basic
+authentication when JWT authentication fails.
+
+Keep client and server clocks synchronized because the driver checks token
+expiration when accepting a token.
 
 **Example:**
 
@@ -55,11 +93,20 @@ to work correctly.
     # Manually refresh the token.
     db.conn.refresh_token()
 
-    # Override the token expiry compare leeway in seconds (default: 0) to
-    # compensate for out-of-sync clocks between the client and server.
-    db.conn.ext_leeway = 2
+Application-managed tokens
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-User generated JWT token can be used for user and superuser access.
+Use ``user_token`` or ``superuser_token`` to supply a token obtained outside
+the driver. These tokens are not renewed automatically: the application is
+responsible for obtaining replacements. Supplied username/password and
+``auth_method`` are ignored when either token argument is used, so they cannot
+provide renewal credentials for that connection.
+
+``user_token`` is checked for expiration locally when the connection is
+created. ``superuser_token`` is accepted without a local expiry check at
+construction; the server can reject it on the first request. With
+``verify=True``, that first request occurs during ``client.db()`` and a rejected
+token causes :class:`arango.exceptions.ServerConnectionError`.
 
 **Example:**
 
@@ -85,7 +132,7 @@ User generated JWT token can be used for user and superuser access.
             'server_id': 'client'
         },
         key='secret',
-    ).decode('utf-8')
+    )
 
     # Connect to "test" database as superuser using the token.
     db = client.db('test', superuser_token=token)
@@ -93,7 +140,12 @@ User generated JWT token can be used for user and superuser access.
     # Connect to "test" database as user using the token.
     db = client.db('test', user_token=token)
 
-User and superuser tokens can be set on the connection object as well.
+Replace an application-managed token using ``db.conn.set_token(new_token)``.
+This changes the token used by the database wrapper and existing collection
+wrappers sharing its connection. Separate connections created by other
+``client.db()`` calls are unaffected. For both user and superuser connections,
+``set_token()`` checks expiration locally and raises
+:class:`arango.exceptions.JWTExpiredError` if the replacement has expired.
 
 **Example:**
 
@@ -104,7 +156,7 @@ User and superuser tokens can be set on the connection object as well.
     # Initialize the ArangoDB client.
     client = ArangoClient()
 
-    # Connect to "test" database as superuser using the token.
+    # Connect to "test" database as a user using the token.
     db = client.db('test', user_token='token')
 
     # Set the user token on the connection object.
diff --git a/tests/test_auth.py b/tests/test_auth.py
index 9a869512..e5f71f2a 100644
--- a/tests/test_auth.py
+++ b/tests/test_auth.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import time
 
+import jwt
+
 from arango.connection import BasicConnection, JwtConnection, JwtSuperuserConnection
 from arango.errno import FORBIDDEN, HTTP_UNAUTHORIZED
 from arango.exceptions import (
@@ -140,6 +142,8 @@ def test_auth_jwt_expiry(client, db_name, root_password, secret):
     expired_token = generate_jwt(secret, exp=-1000)
     db.conn._token = expired_token
     db.conn._auth_header = f"bearer {expired_token}"
+    payload = jwt.decode(expired_token, options={"verify_signature": False})
+    db.conn._token_exp = payload["exp"]
     assert isinstance(db.version(), str)
 
     # Test expiry error on db instantiation (superuser)