Create a DID

Create a did:cheqd DID using the Credo Agent.

This tutorial shows you how to create a cheqd DID using your configured Credo Agent, and how to publish the associated DID Document to the cheqd ledger.

⚠️ Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• ✅ Ensure your Credo agent is correctly configured with the @credo-ts/cheqd module

• ✅ You’ve set up a cosmosPayerSeed for publishing to the cheqd network

• ✅ You're connected to the correct network (mainnet or testnet)

Method Overview

Credo supports two approaches to creating a DID:

Option 1 – Manually construct a full DID Document

Use when you want full control over the DID structure and already have key(s) in your wallet.

Option 2 – Auto-generate the DID Document

Use when you want Credo to create the DID Document from a key you specify in secret.

Create DID

Parameters​

1. method*: cheqd

2. secret

3. options*

4. didDocument

Option 1: Create a DID from a full DID Document

1. First, generate a key pair:

const key = await agent.wallet.createKey({
  keyType: KeyType.Ed25519,
})

const ed25519PublicKeyBase58 = key.publicKeyBase58

1. Use that key to construct and register the DID Document:

import { DidDocument } from '@credo-ts/core'

await agent.dids.create<CheqdDidCreateOptions>({
  method: 'cheqd',
  secret: {}, // No secret needed if key is already in wallet
  options: {
    network: 'testnet',
  },
  didDocument: new DidDocument({
    id: 'did:cheqd:testnet:92874297-d824-40ea-8ae5-364a1ec9237d',
    controller: ['did:cheqd:testnet:92874297-d824-40ea-8ae5-364a1ec9237d'],
    verificationMethod: [
      {
        id: 'did:cheqd:testnet:92874297-d824-40ea-8ae5-364a1ec9237d#key-1',
        type: 'Ed25519VerificationKey2018',
        controller: 'did:cheqd:testnet:92874297-d824-40ea-8ae5-364a1ec9237d',
        publicKeyBase58: ed25519PublicKeyBase58,
      },
    ],
    authentication: [
      'did:cheqd:testnet:92874297-d824-40ea-8ae5-364a1ec9237d#key-1',
    ],
  }),
})

📝 Make sure the publicKeyBase58 matches the key in your wallet. The DID will be written to the testnet unless you specify "mainnet" in options.network.

Option 2​

If you don’t want to manually build a DID Document, you can let Credo handle it based on your input key type and ID.

await agent.dids.create({
  method: 'cheqd',
  secret: {
    verificationMethod: {
      id: 'key-1', // Logical key name
      type: 'Ed25519VerificationKey2020', // Or another supported type
    },
  },
  options: {
    network: 'testnet',
    methodSpecificIdAlgo: 'uuid', // Optional: 'uuid' (default) or 'base58'
  },
})

🔐 Credo will generate the DID Document using the key referenced in secret and publish it to the network.

What’s Next?

Now that your DID is live on the cheqd network, try:

Create DID-Linked Resource

Associate DID-Linked Resources to your DID.

Issue Verifiable Credentials

Issue Credentials using your cheqd DID.