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How to Issue JSON-LD Credentials using Aca-py

Aca-py has the capability to issue and verify both Indy and JSON-LD (W3C compliant) credentials.

The JSON-LD support is documented here - this document will provide some additional detail in how to use the demo and admin api to issue and prove JSON-LD credentials.

Setup Agents to Issue JDON-LD Credentials

Clone this repository to a directory on your local:

git clone https://github.com/hyperledger/aries-cloudagent-python.git
cd aries-cloudagent-python/demo

Open up a second shell (so you have 2 shells open in the demo directory) and in one shell:

LEDGER_URL=http://dev.greenlight.bcovrin.vonx.io ./run_demo faber --did-exchange --aip 20 --cred-type json-ld

... and in the other:

LEDGER_URL=http://dev.greenlight.bcovrin.vonx.io ./run_demo alice

Note that you start the faber agent with AIP2.0 options. (When you specify --cred-type json-ld faber will set aip to 20 automatically, so the --aip option is not strictly required). Note as well the use of the LEDGER_URL. Technically, that should not be needed if we aren't doing anything with an Indy ledger-based credentials. However, there must be something in the way that the Faber and Alice controllers are starting up that requires access to a ledger.

Also note that the above will only work with the /issue-credential-2.0/create-offer endpoint. If you want to use the /issue-credential-2.0/send endpoint - which automates each step of the credential exchange - you will need to include the --no-auto option when starting each of the alice and faber agents (since the alice and faber controllers also automatically respond to each step in the credential exchange).

(Alternately you can run run Alice and Faber agents locally, see the ./faber-local.sh and ./alice-local.sh scripts in the demo directory.)

Copy the "invitation" json text from the Faber shell and paste into the Alice shell to establish a connection between the two agents.

(If you are running with --no-auto you will also need to call the /connections/{conn_id}/accept-invitation endpoint in alice's admin api swagger page.)

Now open up two browser windows to the Faber and Alice admin api swagger pages.

Using the Faber admin api, you have to create a DID with the appropriate:

  • DID method ("key" or "sov")
  • key type "ed25519" or "bls12381g2" (corresponding to signature types "Ed25519Signature2018" or "BbsBlsSignature2020")
  • if you use DID method "sov" you must use key type "ed25519"

Note that "did:sov" must be a public DID (i.e. registered on the ledger) but "did:key" is not.

For example, in Faber's swagger page call the /wallet/did/create endpoint with the following payload:

{
  "method": "key",
  "options": {
    "key_type": "bls12381g2" // or ed25519
  }
}

This will return something like:

{
  "result": {
    "did": "did:key:zUC71KdwBhq1FioWh53VXmyFiGpewNcg8Ld42WrSChpMzzskRWwHZfG9TJ7hPj8wzmKNrek3rW4ZkXNiHAjVchSmTr9aNUQaArK3KSkTySzjEM73FuDV62bjdAHF7EMnZ27poCE",
    "verkey": "mV6482Amu6wJH8NeMqH3QyTjh6JU6N58A8GcirMZG7Wx1uyerzrzerA2EjnhUTmjiSLAp6CkNdpkLJ1NTS73dtcra8WUDDBZ3o455EMrkPyAtzst16RdTMsGe3ctyTxxJav",
    "posture": "wallet_only",
    "key_type": "bls12381g2",
    "method": "key"
  }
}

You do not create a schema or cred def for a JSON-LD credential (these are only required for "indy" credentials).

You will need to create a DID as above for Alice as well (/wallet/did/create etc ...).

Congradulations, you are now ready to start issuing JSON-LD credentials!

  • You have two agents with a connection established between the agents - you will need to copy Faber's connection_id into the examples below.
  • You have created a (non-public) DID for Faber to use to sign/issue the credentials - you will need to copy the DID that you created above into the examples below (as issuer).
  • You have created a (non-public) DID for Alice to use as her credentialSubject.id - this is required for Alice to sign the proof (the credentialSubject.id is not required, but then the provided presentation can't be verified).

To issue a credential, use the /issue-credential-2.0/send-offer endpoint. (You can also use the /issue-credential-2.0/send) endpoint, if, as mentioned above, you have included the --no-auto when starting both of the agents.)

You can test with this example payload (just replace the "connection_id", "issuer" key, "credentialSubject.id" and "proofType" with appropriate values:

{
  "connection_id": "4fba2ce5-b411-4ecf-aa1b-ec66f3f6c903",
  "filter": {
    "ld_proof": {
      "credential": {
        "@context": [
          "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
          "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/examples/v1"
        ],
        "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "UniversityDegreeCredential"],
        "issuer": "did:key:zUC71KdwBhq1FioWh53VXmyFiGpewNcg8Ld42WrSChpMzzskRWwHZfG9TJ7hPj8wzmKNrek3rW4ZkXNiHAjVchSmTr9aNUQaArK3KSkTySzjEM73FuDV62bjdAHF7EMnZ27poCE",
        "issuanceDate": "2020-01-01T12:00:00Z",
        "credentialSubject": {
          "id": "did:key:aksdkajshdkajhsdkjahsdkjahsdj",
          "givenName": "Sally",
          "familyName": "Student",
          "degree": {
            "type": "BachelorDegree",
            "degreeType": "Undergraduate",
            "name": "Bachelor of Science and Arts"
          },
          "college": "Faber College"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "proofType": "BbsBlsSignature2020"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note that if you have the "auto" settings on, this is all you need to do. Otherwise you need to call the /send-request, /store, etc endpoints to complete the protocol.

To see the issued credential, call the /credentials/w3c endpoint on Alice's admin api - this will return something like:

{
  "results": [
    {
      "contexts": [
        "https://w3id.org/security/bbs/v1",
        "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/examples/v1",
        "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1"
      ],
      "types": [
        "UniversityDegreeCredential",
        "VerifiableCredential"
      ],
      "schema_ids": [],
      "issuer_id": "did:key:zUC71KdwBhq1FioWh53VXmyFiGpewNcg8Ld42WrSChpMzzskRWwHZfG9TJ7hPj8wzmKNrek3rW4ZkXNiHAjVchSmTr9aNUQaArK3KSkTySzjEM73FuDV62bjdAHF7EMnZ27poCE",
      "subject_ids": [],
      "proof_types": [
        "BbsBlsSignature2020"
      ],
      "cred_value": {
        "@context": [
          "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
          "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/examples/v1",
          "https://w3id.org/security/bbs/v1"
        ],
        "type": [
          "VerifiableCredential",
          "UniversityDegreeCredential"
        ],
        "issuer": "did:key:zUC71Kd...poCE",
        "issuanceDate": "2020-01-01T12:00:00Z",
        "credentialSubject": {
          "id": "did:key:aksdkajshdkajhsdkjahsdkjahsdj",
          "givenName": "Sally",
          "familyName": "Student",
          "degree": {
            "type": "BachelorDegree",
            "degreeType": "Undergraduate",
            "name": "Bachelor of Science and Arts"
          },
          "college": "Faber College"
        },
        "proof": {
          "type": "BbsBlsSignature2020",
          "proofPurpose": "assertionMethod",
          "verificationMethod": "did:key:zUC71Kd...poCE#zUC71Kd...poCE",
          "created": "2021-05-19T16:19:44.458170",
          "proofValue": "g0weLyw2Q+niQ4pGfiXB...tL9C9ORhy9Q=="
        }
      },
      "cred_tags": {},
      "record_id": "365ab87b12f74b2db784fdd4db8419f5"
    }
  ]
}

If you don't see the credential in your wallet, look up the credential exchange record (in alice's admin api - /issue-credential-2.0/records) and check the state. If the state is credential-received, then the credential has been received but not stored, in this case just call the /store endpoint for this credential exchange.

Building More Realistic JSON-LD Credentials

The above example uses the "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/examples/v1" context, which should never be used in a real application.

To build credentials in real life, you first determine which attributes you need and then include the appropriate contexts.

Context schema.org

You can use attributes defined on schema.org. Although this is NOT RECOMMENDED (included here for illustrative purposes only) - individual attributes can't be validated (see the comment later on).

You first include https://schema.org in the @context block of the credential as follows:

"@context": [
  "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
  "https://schema.org"
],

Then you review the attributes and objects defined by https://schema.org and decide what you need to include in your credential.

For example to issue a credetial with givenName, familyName and alumniOf attributes, submit the following:

{
  "connection_id": "ad35a4d8-c84b-4a4f-a83f-1afbf134b8b9",
  "filter": {
    "ld_proof": {
      "credential": {
        "@context": [
          "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
          "https://schema.org"
        ],
        "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "Person"],
        "issuer": "did:key:zUC71pj2gpDLfcZ9DE1bMtjZGWCSLhkQsUCaKjqXtCftGkz27894pEX9VvGNiFsaV67gqv2TEPQ2aDaDDdTDNp42LfDdK1LaWSBCfzsQEyaiR1zjZm1RtoRu1ZM6v6vz4TiqDgU",
        "issuanceDate": "2020-01-01T12:00:00Z",
        "credentialSubject": {
          "id": "did:key:aksdkajshdkajhsdkjahsdkjahsdj",
          "givenName": "Sally",
          "familyName": "Student",
          "alumniOf": "Example University"
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "proofType": "BbsBlsSignature2020"
      }
    }
  }
}

Note that with https://schema.org, if you include attributes that aren't defined by any context, you will not get an error. For example you can try replacing the credentialSubject in the above with:

"credentialSubject": {
  "id": "did:key:aksdkajshdkajhsdkjahsdkjahsdj",
  "givenName": "Sally",
  "familyName": "Student",
  "alumniOf": "Example University",
  "someUndefinedAttribute": "the value of the attribute"
}

... and the credential issuance should fail, however https://schema.org defines a @vocab that by default all terms derive from (see here).

You can include more complex schemas, for example to use the schema.org Person schema (which includes givenName and familyName):

{
  "connection_id": "ad35a4d8-c84b-4a4f-a83f-1afbf134b8b9",
  "filter": {
    "ld_proof": {
      "credential": {
        "@context": [
          "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
          "https://schema.org"
        ],
        "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "Person"],
        "issuer": "did:key:zUC71pj2gpDLfcZ9DE1bMtjZGWCSLhkQsUCaKjqXtCftGkz27894pEX9VvGNiFsaV67gqv2TEPQ2aDaDDdTDNp42LfDdK1LaWSBCfzsQEyaiR1zjZm1RtoRu1ZM6v6vz4TiqDgU",
        "issuanceDate": "2020-01-01T12:00:00Z",
        "credentialSubject": {
          "id": "did:key:aksdkajshdkajhsdkjahsdkjahsdj",
          "student": {
            "type": "Person",
            "givenName": "Sally",
            "familyName": "Student",
            "alumniOf": "Example University"
          }
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "proofType": "BbsBlsSignature2020"
      }
    }
  }
}

Credential-Specific Contexts

The recommended approach to defining credentials is to define a credential-specific vocaublary (or make use of existing ones). (Note that these can include references to https://schema.org, you just shouldn't uste this directly in your credential.)

Credential Issue Example

The following example uses the W3C citizenship context to issue a PermanentResident credential (replace the connection_id, issuer and credentialSubject.id with your local values):

{
    "connection_id": "41acd909-9f45-4c69-8641-8146e0444a57",
    "filter": {
        "ld_proof": {
            "credential": {
                "@context": [
                    "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
                    "https://w3id.org/citizenship/v1"
                ],
                "type": [
                    "VerifiableCredential",
                    "PermanentResident"
                ],
                "id": "https://credential.example.com/residents/1234567890",
                "issuer": "did:key:zUC7Dus47jW5Avcne8LLsUvJSdwspmErgehxMWqZZy8eSSNoHZ4x8wgs77sAmQtCADED5RQP1WWhvt7KFNm6GGMxdSGpKu3PX6R9a61G9VoVsiFoRf1yoK6pzhq9jtFP3e2SmU9",
                "issuanceDate": "2020-01-01T12:00:00Z",
                "credentialSubject": {
                    "type": [
                        "PermanentResident"
                    ],
                    "id": "did:key:zUC7CXi82AXbkv4SvhxDxoufrLwQSAo79qbKiw7omCQ3c4TyciDdb9s3GTCbMvsDruSLZX6HNsjGxAr2SMLCNCCBRN5scukiZ4JV9FDPg5gccdqE9nfCU2zUcdyqRiUVnn9ZH83",
                    "givenName": "ALICE",
                    "familyName": "SMITH",
                    "gender": "Female",
                    "birthCountry": "Bahamas",
                    "birthDate": "1958-07-17"
                }
            },
            "options": {
                "proofType": "BbsBlsSignature2020"
            }
        }
    }
}

Copy and paste this content into Faber's /issue-credential-2.0/send-offer endpoint, and it will kick off the exchange process to issue a W3C credential to Alice.

In Alice's swagger page, submit the /credentials/records/w3c endpoint to see the issued credential.

Request Presentation Example

To request a proof, submit the following (with appropriate connection_id) to Faber's /present-proof-2.0/send-request endpoint:

{
    "comment": "string",
    "connection_id": "41acd909-9f45-4c69-8641-8146e0444a57",
    "presentation_request": {
        "dif": {
            "options": {
                "challenge": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa7",
                "domain": "4jt78h47fh47"
            },
            "presentation_definition": {
                "id": "32f54163-7166-48f1-93d8-ff217bdb0654",
                "format": {
                    "ldp_vp": {
                        "proof_type": [
                            "BbsBlsSignature2020"
                        ]
                    }
                },
                "input_descriptors": [
                    {
                        "id": "citizenship_input_1",
                        "name": "EU Driver's License",
                        "schema": [
                            {
                                "uri": "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials#VerifiableCredential"
                            },
                            {
                                "uri": "https://w3id.org/citizenship#PermanentResident"
                            }
                        ],
                        "constraints": {
                            "limit_disclosure": "required",
                            "is_holder": [
                                {
                                    "directive": "required",
                                    "field_id": [
                                        "1f44d55f-f161-4938-a659-f8026467f126"
                                    ]
                                }
                            ],
                            "fields": [
                                {
                                    "id": "1f44d55f-f161-4938-a659-f8026467f126",
                                    "path": [
                                        "$.credentialSubject.familyName"
                                    ],
                                    "purpose": "The claim must be from one of the specified issuers",
                                    "filter": {
                                        "const": "SMITH"
                                    }
                                },
                                {
                                    "path": [
                                        "$.credentialSubject.givenName"
                                    ],
                                    "purpose": "The claim must be from one of the specified issuers"
                                }
                            ]
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    }
}

Note that the is_holder property can be used by Faber to verify that the holder of credential is the same as the subject of the attribute (familyName). Later on, the received presentation will be signed and verifiable only if is_holder with "directive": "required" is included in the presentation request.

There are several ways that Alice can respond with a presentation. The simplest will just tell aca-py to put the presentation together and send it to Faber - submit the following to Alice's /present-proof-2.0/records/{pres_ex_id}/send-presentation:

{
  "dif": {
  }
}

There are two ways that Alice can provide some constraints to tell aca-py which credential(s) to include in the presentation.

Firstly, Alice can include the received presentation request in the body to the /send-presentation endpoint, and can include additional constraints on the fields:

{
  "dif": {
    "issuer_id": "did:key:zUC7Dus47jW5Avcne8LLsUvJSdwspmErgehxMWqZZy8eSSNoHZ4x8wgs77sAmQtCADED5RQP1WWhvt7KFNm6GGMxdSGpKu3PX6R9a61G9VoVsiFoRf1yoK6pzhq9jtFP3e2SmU9",
    "presentation_definition": {
      "format": {
        "ldp_vp": {
          "proof_type": [
            "BbsBlsSignature2020"
          ]
        }
      },
      "id": "32f54163-7166-48f1-93d8-ff217bdb0654",
      "input_descriptors": [
        {
          "id": "citizenship_input_1",
          "name": "Some kind of citizenship check",
          "schema": [
            {
              "uri": "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials#VerifiableCredential"
            },
            {
              "uri": "https://w3id.org/citizenship#PermanentResident"
            }
          ],
          "constraints": {
            "limit_disclosure": "required",
            "is_holder": [
                {
                    "directive": "required",
                    "field_id": [
                        "1f44d55f-f161-4938-a659-f8026467f126",
                        "332be361-823a-4863-b18b-c3b930c5623e"
                    ],
                }
            ],
            "fields": [
              {
                "id": "1f44d55f-f161-4938-a659-f8026467f126",
                "path": [
                  "$.credentialSubject.familyName"
                ],
                "purpose": "The claim must be from one of the specified issuers",
                "filter": {
                  "const": "SMITH"
                }
              },
              {
                  "id": "332be361-823a-4863-b18b-c3b930c5623e",
                  "path": [
                      "$.id"
                  ],
                  "purpose": "Specify the id of the credential to present",
                  "filter": {
                      "const": "https://credential.example.com/residents/1234567890"
                  }
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Note the additional constraint on "path": [ "$.id" ] - this restricts the presented credential to the one with the matching credential.id. Any credential attributes can be used, however this presumes that the issued credentials contain a uniquely identifying attribute.

Another option is for Alice to specify the credential record_id - this is an internal value within aca-py:

{
  "dif": {
    "issuer_id": "did:key:zUC7Dus47jW5Avcne8LLsUvJSdwspmErgehxMWqZZy8eSSNoHZ4x8wgs77sAmQtCADED5RQP1WWhvt7KFNm6GGMxdSGpKu3PX6R9a61G9VoVsiFoRf1yoK6pzhq9jtFP3e2SmU9",
    "presentation_definition": {
      "format": {
        "ldp_vp": {
          "proof_type": [
            "BbsBlsSignature2020"
          ]
        }
      },
      "id": "32f54163-7166-48f1-93d8-ff217bdb0654",
      "input_descriptors": [
        {
          "id": "citizenship_input_1",
          "name": "Some kind of citizenship check",
          "schema": [
            {
              "uri": "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials#VerifiableCredential"
            },
            {
              "uri": "https://w3id.org/citizenship#PermanentResident"
            }
          ],
          "constraints": {
            "limit_disclosure": "required",
            "fields": [
              {
                "path": [
                  "$.credentialSubject.familyName"
                ],
                "purpose": "The claim must be from one of the specified issuers",
                "filter": {
                  "const": "SMITH"
                }
              }
            ]
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    "record_ids": {
      "citizenship_input_1": [ "1496316f972e40cf9b46b35971182337" ]
    }
  }
}

Another Credential Issue Example

TBD the following credential is based on the W3C Vaccination schema:

{
  "connection_id": "ad35a4d8-c84b-4a4f-a83f-1afbf134b8b9",
  "filter": {
    "ld_proof": {
      "credential": {
        "@context": [
          "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
          "https://w3id.org/vaccination/v1"
        ],
        "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "VaccinationCertificate"],
        "issuer": "did:key:zUC71pj2gpDLfcZ9DE1bMtjZGWCSLhkQsUCaKjqXtCftGkz27894pEX9VvGNiFsaV67gqv2TEPQ2aDaDDdTDNp42LfDdK1LaWSBCfzsQEyaiR1zjZm1RtoRu1ZM6v6vz4TiqDgU",
        "issuanceDate": "2020-01-01T12:00:00Z",
        "credentialSubject": {
            "id": "did:key:aksdkajshdkajhsdkjahsdkjahsdj",
            "type": "VaccinationEvent",
            "batchNumber": "1183738569",
            "administeringCentre": "MoH",
            "healthProfessional": "MoH",
            "countryOfVaccination": "NZ",
            "recipient": {
              "type": "VaccineRecipient",
              "givenName": "JOHN",
              "familyName": "SMITH",
              "gender": "Male",
              "birthDate": "1958-07-17"
            },
            "vaccine": {
              "type": "Vaccine",
              "disease": "COVID-19",
              "atcCode": "J07BX03",
              "medicinalProductName": "COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna",
              "marketingAuthorizationHolder": "Moderna Biotech"
            }
        }
      },
      "options": {
        "proofType": "BbsBlsSignature2020"
      }
    }
  }
}