Verifiable Credentials

A W3C standard for tamper-evident, cryptographically verifiable digital credentials that prove a claim about a subject without contacting the issuer.

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

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