# Verifiable Credentials

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

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- **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