{
  "dataset": "glossary",
  "record": {
    "id": "verifiable-credentials",
    "term": "Verifiable Credentials",
    "category": "identity",
    "short_def": "A W3C standard for tamper-evident, cryptographically verifiable digital credentials that prove a claim about a subject without contacting the issuer.",
    "long_def": "The Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0 became a W3C Recommendation on 15 May 2025. A VC binds claims (e.g. 'this agent is operated by X' or 'this principal authorized this scope') to an issuer's signature, so a verifier can check authenticity and integrity offline. In the agentic web they are a candidate mechanism for portable agent and delegation identity.",
    "see_also": [
      "agent-identity",
      "http-message-signatures",
      "delegation"
    ],
    "etymology_origin": "Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0 published as a W3C Recommendation on 15 May 2025 by the W3C Verifiable Credentials Working Group.",
    "related_to": [
      "agent-identity",
      "http-message-signatures",
      "delegation",
      "web-bot-auth"
    ],
    "contrast_with": "Unlike HTTP Message Signatures, which authenticate a single live request, a verifiable credential is a portable, reusable attestation about a subject that a verifier can check independently of the issuer — a credential, not a per-request signature.",
    "example": "The W3C published the Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0 as a Recommendation on 15 May 2025.",
    "source": "https://www.w3.org/TR/vc-data-model-2.0/",
    "status": "active",
    "why_it_matters": "Verifiable credentials are a leading candidate for portable agent identity and delegation proofs — letting a site trust 'who an agent is and what it may do' without a central lookup.",
    "sameAs": [
      "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verifiable_credentials"
    ],
    "bridge_entity": "protocols/identity/web-bot-auth",
    "last_verified": "2026-06-15",
    "md_twin": "/glossary/verifiable-credentials.md"
  }
}