Agent Gateway

Authority reference

How to add an Authority, an outside organisation’s DID that your gateway trusts as a trust anchor for agents and Issuers, and the fields and actions of the Authority editor.

An Authority is an outside organisation’s DID that your gateway trusts as a trust anchor: a Trust Check asks the trust registry whether that DID recognises or authorises an agent or an Issuer. Authorities are kept on the Authorities tab of the Identities page, which is Identity in the sidebar. They are this gateway’s own register: adding an Authority writes nothing to a trust registry.

Use an Authority as a trust anchor:

  • In a Trust Check, as the Authority ID of a query, to ask the trust registry whether that organisation recognises or authorises an agent.
  • In a Trust Recorder entry, as the Authority of the records it writes.

When the gateway writes records with an Authority’s DID, it also publishes the Authority’s name to the trust registry, so the registry can show it.

For conceptual background, see Trust registries.

Adding an Authority

Before you start

You needWhere it comes from
The organisation’s DIDThe other organisation. To check agents from another gateway, use the DID of the Issuer that organisation registered in the shared trust registry. It cannot be changed later.
A role that can manage AuthoritiesAdministrator, by default.

Steps

  1. Select Identity in the sidebar, open the Authorities tab, and select Add Authority.
Authorities tab of the Identities page listing one Authority with its name, description and DID, and the Add Authority button
  1. Enter an Authority Name and the Authority DID, then select Save. Authority Description and Authority Context are optional.
New Authority form with Authority Name, Authority DID, Authority Description, and an Authority Context JSON object marked Valid JSON object, with the Save button
  1. Open a Trust Check query or a Trust Recorder entry. The Authority now appears in its Authority ID or Authority list.

What to do next

Fields

FieldRequiredEditableDescription
Authority NameYesYesDisplay name, shown in the Trust Check and Trust Recorder lists and published to the trust registry with records that use this Authority.
Authority DIDYesNoThe organisation’s DID, the identifier that anchors trust to it. It must start with did: and be unique on this gateway.
Authority DescriptionNoYesFree-text description.
Authority ContextNoYesA JSON object of extra properties, such as {"role": "issuer"}, stored with the Authority. The editor confirms Valid JSON object or shows the parsing error. In this version, the gateway stores it for reference only.
Created / Last updated—NoShown when you open an existing Authority.

Actions

ActionAvailable whenDescription
SaveAlways.Creates the Authority, or saves your changes to an existing one.
Delete (trash icon)You open an existing Authority.Removes the Authority from this gateway’s register. Select it twice: the first click asks “Click again to confirm deletion”. Trust Checks and Trust Recorder entries that use its DID keep the DID.