Trust Gateway

The Verak Trust Gateway is a stateless verification layer that translates cryptographically signed professional credentials into machine-readable trust signals. It does not store credential data. It does not act as an issuer of record. It sits between the fragmented world of professional credential standards and the AT Protocol identity layer, making verified professional trust portable, discoverable, and visually authoritative.

Architecture Principles

The Trust Gateway is designed around four non-negotiable constraints that flow directly from Verak’s zero-database architecture. No central storage. Credential data lives on the user’s Personal Data Server (PDS). The gateway reads, verifies, and translates. It never persists. Label over record. Trust signals are expressed as cryptographically signed Ozone labels issued by the Verak Labeler (did:plc:upeagalqts3yutsgc6vo5tn3), not as self-asserted PDS records. This means a Verak-verified signal is tamper-proof and portable across any AT Protocol client that subscribes to the labeler. Open standards at every layer. The gateway speaks Open Badges 3.0, W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model 2.0, CLR 2.0, OID4VCI, and OID4VP. Institutional issuers and enterprise verifiers interact with standards they already know. Sovereignty first. Users control what is disclosed, for how long, and to whom. The gateway facilitates selective disclosure. It does not aggregate or profile.

Trust Stack

The gateway operates as the orchestration layer across three distinct protocol surfaces.

Layer	Standard	Role
Cryptographic proof	W3C VC DM 2.0	Foundational credential integrity
Educational and work credentials	Open Badges 3.0	Portable achievement records
Longitudinal career records	CLR 2.0	Structured career history
Credential issuance transport	OID4VCI	Issuer to wallet delivery
Credential presentation transport	OID4VP	Wallet to verifier presentation
Social portability and distribution	AT Protocol	Professional identity portability
Trust orchestration and UX	Verak	Editorial trust layer

Verak does not compete with issuers (universities, certification bodies, professional associations) or verifiers (HR platforms, ATS systems, regulated industry portals). Its intent is to sit above them as the connective tissue that makes fragmented standards actually usable.

Label Vocabulary

The Verak Labeler issues cryptographically signed labels against AT Protocol DIDs. Labels are queryable by any AT Protocol client that subscribes to the labeler. They propagate across Bluesky, Gander, EuroSky, and any compliant AT Protocol network. Labeler DID: did:plc:upeagalqts3yutsgc6vo5tn3 Labeler endpoint: https://labeler.verak.app

Labels

Label	Meaning	Trigger	Visible In
`verak-verified`	Identity verified by Verak	Manual review (future Keytrace flow)	Verak + any subscribing AT Protocol client
`verak-pro`	Active Sovereign Pro subscriber	Subscription grant / removed on lapse	Verak UI
`verak-gander`	Gander network participant	Gander ecosystem onboarding	Gander clients
`verak-eurosky`	EuroSky network participant	EuroSky ecosystem onboarding	EuroSky clients
`verak-recruiter`	Verified recruiter or employer	Manual review	Verak directory

Querying Labels

Any system can query current labels for a DID without authentication.

GET https://labeler.verak.app/xrpc/com.atproto.label.queryLabels?subjects={did}

Response

{
  "labels": [
    {
      "src": "did:plc:upeagalqts3yutsgc6vo5tn3",
      "uri": "did:plc:user-did-here",
      "val": "verak-verified",
      "cts": "2026-05-01T00:00:00.000Z",
      "neg": false
    }
  ]
}

A neg: true entry means the label has been revoked. Clients should filter these out. The Verak frontend library (lib/labels.js) handles this automatically.

Subscribing to the Labeler

Real-time label updates are available via WebSocket.

wss://labeler.verak.app/xrpc/com.atproto.label.subscribeLabels

This stream emits label events as they are applied or negated. Enterprise verifiers and third-party AT Protocol clients can subscribe to maintain live trust state without polling.

Verification Flow

The verification flows described in this section are specified but not yet implemented. They represent the Trust Gateway roadmap. The label query and subscription endpoints above are live.

OID4VP Presentation Flow

The OID4VP (OpenID for Verifiable Presentations) flow allows an external verifier (HR platform, ATS, regulated industry portal, grant system) to request proof of a professional credential held in a user’s AT Protocol PDS. Step 1 — Verifier initiates a presentation request

POST https://trust.verak.app/v1/verify/request
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "verifier_did": "did:plc:verifier-did",
  "requested_credentials": ["OpenBadge", "CLRCredential"],
  "purpose": "employment_verification",
  "expires_in": 172800
}

expires_in is in seconds. The example above creates a 48-hour verification window. After expiry, the presentation link is invalidated and no further credential data can be accessed via this request. Step 2 — Gateway returns a presentation URI

{
  "presentation_uri": "https://trust.verak.app/v1/verify/present/{request_id}",
  "request_id": "req_abc123",
  "expires_at": "2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z",
  "qr_code_url": "https://trust.verak.app/v1/verify/qr/{request_id}"
}

The user receives this URI via their Verak profile and chooses whether to fulfil it. Step 3 — User selects credentials for disclosure The user’s Verak interface presents a selective disclosure screen. They choose which credentials to include in the presentation. Nothing is transmitted until explicit confirmation. Step 4 — Gateway assembles and returns a Verifiable Presentation

{
  "@context": ["https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1"],
  "type": ["VerifiablePresentation"],
  "verifiableCredential": [
    {
      "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "OpenBadgeCredential"],
      "issuer": "did:plc:issuer-institution-did",
      "credentialSubject": {
        "id": "did:plc:user-did",
        "achievement": {
          "name": "AWS Solutions Architect",
          "description": "...",
          "criteria": "..."
        }
      },
      "proof": { }
    }
  ]
}

Step 5 — Verifier checks the response

GET https://trust.verak.app/v1/verify/result/{request_id}
Authorization: Bearer {verifier_token}

{
  "status": "verified",
  "subject_did": "did:plc:user-did",
  "credentials_presented": ["OpenBadgeCredential"],
  "verak_labels": ["verak-verified"],
  "verified_at": "2026-05-18T12:00:00.000Z",
  "expires_at": "2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Possible status values: verified, pending, expired, revoked, rejected.

Issuer Integration

Issuer integration endpoints are specified but not yet implemented. This section describes the planned Open Badges 3.0 and CLR 2.0 issuance surface.

Open Badges 3.0 Issuance

Credential issuers (universities, professional certification bodies, membership organisations) can deliver Open Badges 3.0 credentials directly to a recipient’s AT Protocol DID via the OID4VCI flow.

POST https://trust.verak.app/v1/issue/badge
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {issuer_api_key}

{
  "recipient_did": "did:plc:user-did",
  "badge": {
    "@context": [
      "https://www.w3.org/2018/credentials/v1",
      "https://purl.imsglobal.org/spec/ob/v3p0/context.json"
    ],
    "type": ["VerifiableCredential", "OpenBadgeCredential"],
    "issuer": {
      "id": "did:plc:issuer-institution-did",
      "type": "Profile",
      "name": "Institution Name"
    },
    "credentialSubject": {
      "type": "AchievementSubject",
      "achievement": {
        "id": "https://example.edu/badges/aws-architect",
        "type": "Achievement",
        "name": "AWS Solutions Architect",
        "description": "...",
        "criteria": { "narrative": "..." }
      }
    }
  }
}

On receipt, Verak writes the credential as a blob to the user’s PDS, links it to their is.verak.portfolio record, and queues it for Ozone validation.

CLR 2.0 Record Linking

Comprehensive Learner Records covering longitudinal career and education history can be linked to a Verak profile via the CLR 2.0 standard. The gateway maps CLR achievement records to id.sifa.* lexicon fields for AT Protocol portability.

Revocation Webhooks

Issuers can notify the Trust Gateway when a credential’s status changes (expiry, revocation, suspension) via a signed webhook.

POST https://trust.verak.app/v1/webhooks/revoke
Content-Type: application/json
X-Issuer-Signature: {hmac_signature}

{
  "credential_id": "https://example.edu/credentials/abc123",
  "recipient_did": "did:plc:user-did",
  "reason": "certification_expired",
  "effective_at": "2026-05-01T00:00:00.000Z"
}

On receipt, the gateway triggers a revocation assessment in the Ozone engine. If the credential was used as the basis for a verak-verified label, the label is downgraded and the profile trust state is recalculated.

Revocation and Credential Freshness

Trust signals degrade when the credentials underlying them change state. The Trust Gateway maintains revocation awareness at two levels. Subscription-level revocation is live. When a Sovereign Pro subscription lapses, the verak-pro Ozone label is negated automatically via lib/labels-server.js. Any client querying the labeler will see the updated state within seconds. Credential-level revocation is part of the Phase 2 roadmap. When implemented, the Ozone engine will monitor credential freshness, check issuer revocation registries, and dynamically downgrade trust indicators for stale or revoked credentials. Verifiers consuming Trust Gateway responses will always receive a status field that reflects current revocation state, not the state at time of issuance.

Selective Disclosure and Privacy

The Trust Gateway implements selective disclosure following the DIF Presentation Exchange specification. Users never expose a full credential record to a verifier. They expose only the specific claims required to satisfy a verification request. Disclosure bundles are ephemeral. They expire. They are not stored by Verak. The user’s PDS remains the single source of truth for all credential data. Audience-specific views are supported. A user can create a presentation that exposes employment verification claims to a recruiter while keeping education records and certification details private.

Ecosystem Alignment

The Trust Gateway is designed for forward compatibility with regional trust frameworks. European alignment. The gateway architecture maps to EBSI (European Blockchain Services Infrastructure), ESSIF, and eIDAS 2.0 wallet requirements. EuroSky users operating under European data sovereignty constraints can use the Trust Gateway with confidence that the architecture is compatible with emerging regulatory requirements. Canadian alignment. Gander network participants benefit from infrastructure hosted on Oracle Cloud Canada A1, ensuring data residency compliance for Canadian professionals in regulated industries. HR and ATS interoperability. External HR systems, applicant tracking platforms, and background verification services can integrate via the OID4VP verification flow without requiring any Verak-specific SDK or proprietary integration.

Versioning

This specification is versioned. Breaking changes will increment the major version in the API path (/v1/, /v2/). Additive changes are non-breaking. The changelog below tracks all revisions.

Version	Date	Notes
0.1.0	2026-05-18	Initial public specification. Label query and subscription endpoints live. Verification and issuance flows specified, not yet implemented.

What Is Live vs. Roadmap

To be explicit about current state: Live today

Ozone labeler at labeler.verak.app
Label vocabulary: verak-verified, verak-pro, verak-gander, verak-eurosky, verak-recruiter
Public label query via com.atproto.label.queryLabels
WebSocket label subscription via com.atproto.label.subscribeLabels
Subscription-level revocation (Pro lapse negates verak-pro label automatically)
Verak profile trust signal rendering from live labels

Specified, not yet built

OID4VP presentation flow
Open Badges 3.0 issuance endpoint
CLR 2.0 record linking
Issuer API and webhook infrastructure
Credential-level revocation monitoring
Selective disclosure UI
Enterprise verifier token system

If you are an institution or enterprise verifier interested in early integration, reach out at support@verak.app.

Overview

Trust Infrastructure

Integrate Verak Trust

Resources

Trust Gateway

Trust Gateway

Architecture Principles

Trust Stack

Label Vocabulary

Labels

Querying Labels

Subscribing to the Labeler

Verification Flow

OID4VP Presentation Flow

Issuer Integration

Open Badges 3.0 Issuance

CLR 2.0 Record Linking

Revocation Webhooks

Revocation and Credential Freshness

Selective Disclosure and Privacy

Ecosystem Alignment

Versioning

What Is Live vs. Roadmap

​Trust Gateway

​Architecture Principles

​Trust Stack

​Label Vocabulary

​Labels

​Querying Labels

​Subscribing to the Labeler

​Verification Flow

​OID4VP Presentation Flow

​Issuer Integration

​Open Badges 3.0 Issuance

​CLR 2.0 Record Linking

​Revocation Webhooks

​Revocation and Credential Freshness

​Selective Disclosure and Privacy

​Ecosystem Alignment

​Versioning

​What Is Live vs. Roadmap

Trust Gateway

Architecture Principles

Trust Stack

Label Vocabulary

Labels

Querying Labels

Subscribing to the Labeler

Verification Flow

OID4VP Presentation Flow

Issuer Integration

Open Badges 3.0 Issuance

CLR 2.0 Record Linking

Revocation Webhooks

Revocation and Credential Freshness

Selective Disclosure and Privacy

Ecosystem Alignment

Versioning

What Is Live vs. Roadmap