GuidesIdentifiersDIDsCreate a did:key

How to create a did:key

DIDs with a method of key are the most basic type of DID. The public key forms the DID and has no further data associated with it.

Request

Make a request of the following structure to create a did:key:

HTTP
POST /v1/dids
JSON
{
    "method": "key",
    "options": {
        "keyType": "Ed25519"
    }
}
  • method : Set to key.
  • keyType : Supported key types for did:key are Ed25519 and Bls12381G2.
    • If keyType is omitted, the default is Ed25519.
    • If keyType is set to Bls12381G2 the created DID supports BBS+ signatures for creating ZKP-enabled credentials.
    • As did:key only support Ed25519 or Bls12381G2 key types, you can only use it to sign JSON credentials. If you wish to sign CWT credentials, create a DID using a keyType of P-256, such as did:web.
    • Bls12381G2 cannot be used as a Verifier DID as it does not support symmetric key signing required to verify messages.

Response

JSON
{
    "did": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX",
    "registrationStatus": "COMPLETED",
    "localMetadata": {
        "keys": [
            {
                "didDocumentKeyId": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX",
                "kmsKeyId": "FiBZLe1WzR9LDJ9jpqYMaEYrUgSuCY8ULDzAHVV2Mzh9"
            },
            {
                "didDocumentKeyId": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6LSgjkRLLbm634tqaMMtrwmk1svFDVEeGX4ke25A8o72ter",
                "kmsKeyId": "64aFp2ntzaM9kBybNDRpRRfSQ4x7wfLusfJPfg9aKWt6"
            }
        ],
        "registered": 1601004096785,
        "initialDidDocument": {
            "@context": [
                "https://w3.org/ns/did/v1",
                "https://w3id.org/security/suites/x25519-2019/v1",
                "https://w3id.org/security/suites/ed25519-2018/v1"
            ],
            "id": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX",
            "verificationMethod": [
                {
                    "id": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX",
                    "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2018",
                    "controller": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX",
                    "publicKeyBase58": "FiBZLe1WzR9LDJ9jpqYMaEYrUgSuCY8ULDzAHVV2Mzh9"
                }
            ],
            "authentication": [
                "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX"
            ],
            "assertionMethod": [
                "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX"
            ],
            "capabilityDelegation": [
                "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX"
            ],
            "capabilityInvocation": [
                "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX"
            ],
            "keyAgreement": [
                {
                    "id": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX#z6LSgjkRLLbm634tqaMMtrwmk1svFDVEeGX4ke25A8o72ter",
                    "type": "X25519KeyAgreementKey2019",
                    "controller": "did:key:z6MkuASbvtFxKxdoKnzSWQWCRL6rJFikcRNq2Eu67mT3HDUX",
                    "publicKeyBase58": "64aFp2ntzaM9kBybNDRpRRfSQ4x7wfLusfJPfg9aKWt6"
                }
            ]
        }
    }
}
  • did : This is the resulting did:key.
  • registrationStatus : MATTR VII automatically registers created DIDs when applicable. Any did:key will always have a registrationStatus of COMPLETED as it is instantly available.

The above example used Ed25519 as keyType. Notice that when using Bls12381G2 as keyType the public key in the DID Document is larger:

JSON
{
    "did": "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v",
    "registrationStatus": "COMPLETED",
    "localMetadata": {
        "keys": [
            {
                "didDocumentKeyId": "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v#zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v",
                "kmsKeyId": "25voPUCTSWXcDLCZNfZeTWuNaDcM3KgQZqwkvuY1s2GNGJ3tJ3UubY8uFR4X8Ykhdb2xTnXkGffugi9rHsM4A3J5FRPCyoAh4ZrdcCWUSEj29pGahY1cUA7uR1ns52JeZBQc"
            }
        ],
        "registered": 1600918030673,
        "initialDidDocument": {
            "@context": [
                "https://w3.org/ns/did/v1",
                "https://w3id.org/security/suites/x25519-2019/v1",
                "https://w3id.org/security/bbs/v1"
            ],
            "id": "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v",
            "verificationMethod": [
                {
                    "id": "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v#zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v",
                    "type": "Bls12381G2Key2020",
                    "controller": "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v",
                    "publicKeyBase58": "25voPUCTSWXcDLCZNfZeTWuNaDcM3KgQZqwkvuY1s2GNGJ3tJ3UubY8uFR4X8Ykhdb2xTnXkGffugi9rHsM4A3J5FRPCyoAh4ZrdcCWUSEj29pGahY1cUA7uR1ns52JeZBQc"
                }
            ],
            "authentication": [
                "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v#zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v"
            ],
            "assertionMethod": [
                "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v#zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v"
            ],
            "capabilityDelegation": [
                "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v#zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v"
            ],
            "capabilityInvocation": [
                "did:key:zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v#zUC7KmMGXt7fs9URk9EDqWLfpCjVTtfFMexViLLkPPUfm9j4heqvk9JkLarva3sP54FGjFNLpwc63ZTef2aR2cPssFbyDj75kopYqWL16j7JigA2BAvJcwnaKvKPUybxbroRg1v"
            ]
        }
    }
}
DIDsCreate a did:web