Introduction

did-web-server is an HTTP server for providing Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) that conform to the did:web method. did:web is a simple DID method that uses DNS and HTTP servers to host DIDs.

Unlike other DID methods, did:web doesn’t require a blockchain to store identifier states. Instead, it uses an HTTP server, which is cost-effective to operate and leverages established protocols and software libraries.

However, traditional HTTP servers are centrally managed and don’t allow users to manage hosted documents, making decentralized identifier management challenging. did-web-server solves this problem by being the first DID-centered HTTP server that enables self-sovereign management of identifiers by their controllers.

did-web-server uses DIDs, Verifiable Credentials (VCs), and Verifiable Presentations (VPs) to verify access and encode identifier data. No API tokens, usernames, or passwords are required to interact with the service.

The following diagram depicts the system context in which did-web-server operates. The context includes additional actors and systems that are not part of did-web-server. A wallet manages the keys that control an identifier. Only via these keys can DID documents on did-web-server be modified and updated. The main components that did-web-server interacts with are DID resolvers. They retrieve DID documents from the server via the standardized did:web DID method.

Tutorial

Let’s discover did-web-server in less than 15 minutes.