DIDKit HTTP

DIDKit exposes its functionality as an HTTP server.

Build

$ cargo build

Install

$ cargo install --path .

CLI

didkit-http

Run a DIDKit HTTP server. The command outputs the URL it is listening on, and runs until interrupted.

Options

• -s, --host <host> - Hostname to listen on. Default is 127.0.0.1.
• -p, --port <port> - Port to listen on. Default is a random OS-chosen port.
• -k, --key <key> - Filename of a JWK to use for issuing credentials and presentations.
• -j, --jwk <jwk> - JWK to use for issuing credentials and presentations.
• -r, --did-resolver <url> - DID resolver HTTP(S) endpoint URL to use for resolving DIDs and dereferencing DID URLs that the built-in resolver does not support. Equivalent to environmental variable DID_RESOLVER.

Issuer keys

Provide issuer keys using the -k/--key-path or -j/--jwk options. If none are provided, issuance functionality will be unavailable. If one is provided, that one will be used to sign all credentials and presentations, regardless of the proof options in the issuance request. If more than one key is provided, the issuance request may identify which key to use for signing by its DID in the verificationMethod property of the proof options; if none is identified in that property, the first key is used.

Rust library

Rust crate didkit-http contains DIDKit's HTTP server implementation as a Rust library. Struct didkit_http::DIDKitHTTPMakeSvc implements a Tower (hyper) Service.

API

Verifiable Credentials and Verifiable Presentations

The following routes implement W3C CCG's VC (HTTP) API (vc-http-api) v0.0.1. POST bodies should be application/json. Output will be application/json on success; on error it will be either application/json or plain text. For more details, see vc-api.

Limits

Maximum payload size

DIDKit HTTP's POST endpoints implement a request payload maximum size of 2MB, to protect against resource exhaustion due to excessively large payloads. This limit is in a constant, MAX_BODY_LENGTH, but in the future might be made configurable: https://github.com/spruceid/didkit/issues/236.

POST /credentials/issue

Issue a verifiable credential. The server uses its configured key and the given linked data proof options to generate a proof and append it to the given credential. On success, the resulting verifiable credential is returned, with HTTP status 201.

POST /credentials/verify

Verify a verifiable credential. The server verifies the given credential with the given linked data proof options. To successfully verify, the credential must contain at least one proof that verifies successfully. Verification results include a list of checks performed, warnings that should be flagged to the user, and errors encountered. On success, the errors list will be empty, and the HTTP status code will be 200.

POST /presentations/prove

Create a verifiable presentation. Given a presentation and linked data proof options, the server uses its key to generate a proof and append it to the presentation. On success, returns the verifiable presentation and HTTP status 201.

POST /presentations/verify

Verify a verifiable presentation using the given proof options. Returns a verification result. HTTP status 200 indicates successful verification.

DIDs (Decentralized Identifiers)

The following route implements the DID Resolution HTTP(S) Binding.

GET /identifiers/<uri>

Resolve a DID to a DID document, or dereference a DID URL to a resource. Parameter <uri> is the DID or DID URL to resolve/dereference.

Security Considerations

Spruce does not use DIDKit HTTP in any production environments except with a reverse proxy, and does not recommend them for production use-cases without a holistic review of security levels. The following is not an exhaustive list, but should be considered in any such review.

Authorization

DIDKit HTTP does not implement any endpoint authorization or access control. Any client can request a signature/proof creation from the server's key(s) using the issue credential/presentation endpoints. To limit access to some or all of DIDKit HTTP's endpoints, a deployment should place DIDKit HTTP behind a reverse proxy with appropriate settings.

Denial of Service

DIDKit HTTP does not implement complete protection against resource exhaustion. Clients may be able to overwhelm the server with excessively slow and/or concurrent requests. To protect against resource exhaustion, deployments should use a reverse proxy with rate limiting, load balancing across multiple DIDKit HTTP instances, and/or other protections.