Create a DID

Create a Decentralized Identifier (DID) on cheqd using Veramo.

Follow these instructions to create a new DID and publish the associated DID Document on cheqd ledger.

⚠️ Before you begin...

Make sure you've correctly configured the cheqd plugin's agent settings for Veramo CLI

Instructions

1. Create your identity keys within a DID Document template

The first step is generating a template for your DID Document, including a new DID and associated public/private key pair. This process also aligns with method 1 in the key management guide.

It is important to note that this step does not create your DID on ledger, but it generates your identity keys as a draft DID Document for you to use in the on-ledger transaction in Step 3.

Command (inline)

You can use the following command in your CLI to create your DIDDoc and associated identity keys:

veramo execute -m cheqdGenerateDidDoc --argsJSON '{"verificationMethod": "JsonWebKey2020", "methodSpecificIdAlgo": "uuid", "network": "testnet"}'

Command (pass as file)

You can pass the payload of the inputs and arguments as a file rather than inline using:

veramo execute -m cheqdGenerateDidDoc --argsFile path/to/exampleFile.json

You can reuse this example file:

106B
identity-keys-on-the-fly-with-did-docs.json
Example file for creating DID Document template

Inputs and arguments

Within this command, you are able to choose from the following inputs below to produce different types of DIDDocs:

verificationMethod

  • Ed25519VerificationKey2020

  • JsonWebKey2020

  • Ed25519VerificationKey2018

methodSpecificIdAlgo

  • base58btc

  • uuid

network

  • mainnet

  • testnet

Expected output

Once you have submitted the command above, you should receive a DID Document draft template, including a set of identity keys, including your chosen inputs and arguments. You can find an example of this output below:

Example output
Method:  cheqdGenerateDidDoc

Arguments:  {
  "argsObj": {
    "verificationMethod": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020",
    "methodSpecificIdAlgo": "uuid",
    "network": "testnet"
  }
}

Result : {
  "didDoc": {
    "context": [],
    "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:e43f36e4-9fa6-40a4-a8f9-7f7b49eb44db",
    "controller": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:e43f36e4-9fa6-40a4-a8f9-7f7b49eb44db"
    ],
    "authentication": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:e43f36e4-9fa6-40a4-a8f9-7f7b49eb44db#key-1"
    ],
    "assertionMethod": [],
    "capabilityInvocation": [],
    "capabilityDelegation": [],
    "keyAgreement": [],
    "alsoKnownAs": [],
    "verificationMethod": [
      {
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:e43f36e4-9fa6-40a4-a8f9-7f7b49eb44db#key-1",
        "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020",
        "controller": "did:cheqd:testnet:e43f36e4-9fa6-40a4-a8f9-7f7b49eb44db",
        "publicKeyMultibase": "z2yJuNbhoUpRn7ypAugSLzkCc8QEw146RJ8DD3jzCZQ6A",
        "publicKeyJwk": []
      }
    ],
    "service": []
  },
  "versionId": ""07109dba-7582-491e-9c17-8fadbdabb304",
  "keys": {
    "publicKeyHex": "XXXX",
    "privateKeyHex": "XXXXXXXX",
    "kid": "XXXX",
    "type": "Ed25519"
  }
}

You can then use this template to populate your payload.json file in Step 2.

Unexpected output

After running the above command, if you see an unexpected error, follow our DID Operations Troubleshooting Guide to fix it. A common error is:

Unexpected token v in JSON at position 1

2. Prepare/edit DIDDoc contents

Once you have created a template for your DIDDoc and generated your keys, and before creating a DID on-ledger, you will need to prepare the payload.json file. This file can be saved where ever you choose, but the location must be specified in the create DID command used in Step 3. (By default, it will be saved under the project root directory.)

You should copy and paste the output of Step 1 as an initial starting template for your payload.json file.

Example of payload.json files

The below examples show the variation in syntax for different verification method key types in the DIDDoc payload file itself. Note that each key type has a slightly different output.

Ed25519VerificationKey2018
{
  "kms": "local",
  "alias": "Veramo specific name of your DIDDoc",
  "document": {
    "context": [],
    "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>",
    "controller": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>"
    ],
    "verificationMethod": [{
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>#key-1",
        "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2018",
        "controller": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>",
        "publicKeyBase58": "H3C2AVvLMv6gmMNam3uVAjZpfkcJCwDwnZn6z3wXmqPV"     
    }],
    "authentication": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>#key-1"
    ],
    "assertionMethod": [],
    "capabilityInvocation": [],
    "capabilityDelegation": [],
    "keyAgreement": [],
    "alsoKnownAs": [],
    "service": []
  },
  "versionId": "<uuid>", // optional
  "keys": [{
    "publicKeyHex": "<public_key_in_hex_encoding>",
    "privateKeyHex": "<private_key_in_hex_encoding>",
    "kid": "<equal_to_public_key_hex>",
    "type": "Ed25519"
    // add additional key(s) if required
  }],
  "fee": {
    "amount": [{
      "denom": "ncheq",
      "amount": "50000000000"
      }],
    "gas": "400000",
    "payer": "cheqd1rnr5jrt4exl0samwj0yegv99jeskl0hsxmcz96" // add the cheqd account the transaction will come from
  }
}
Ed25519VerificationKey2020
{
  "kms": "local",
  "alias": "Veramo specific name of your DIDDoc",
  "document": {
    "context": [],
    "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>",
    "controller": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>"
    ],
    "verificationMethod": [{
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>#key-1",
        "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020",
        "controller": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>",
        "publicKeyMultibase": "z2yJuNbhoUpRn7ypAugSLzkCc8QEw146RJ8DD3jzCZQ6A"     
    }],
    "authentication": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>#key-1"
    ],
    "assertionMethod": [],
    "capabilityInvocation": [],
    "capabilityDelegation": [],
    "keyAgreement": [],
    "alsoKnownAs": [],
    "service": []
  },
  "versionId": "<uuid>", // optional
  "keys": [{
    "publicKeyHex": "<public_key_in_hex_encoding>",
    "privateKeyHex": "<private_key_in_hex_encoding>",
    "kid": "<equal_to_public_key_hex>",
    "type": "Ed25519"
    // add additional key(s) if required
  }],
  "fee": {
    "amount": [{
      "denom": "ncheq",
      "amount": "50000000000"
      }],
    "gas": "400000",
    "payer": "cheqd1rnr5jrt4exl0samwj0yegv99jeskl0hsxmcz96" // add the cheqd account the transaction will come from
  }
}
JSONWebKey2020
{
  "kms": "local",
  "alias": "Veramo specific name of your DIDDoc",
  "document": {
    "context": [],
    "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>",
    "controller": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>"
    ],
    "verificationMethod": [{
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>#key-1",
        "type": "JsonWebKey2020",
        "controller": "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>",
        "publicKeyJwk": {
          "kty": "OKP", // external (property name)
          "crv": "Ed25519", // external (property name)
          "x": "VCpo2LMLhn6iWku8MKvSLg2ZAoC-nlOyPVQaO3FxVeQ" // external (property name)
        }
    }],
    "authentication": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:<uniqueId>#key-1"
    ],
    "assertionMethod": [],
    "capabilityInvocation": [],
    "capabilityDelegation": [],
    "keyAgreement": [],
    "alsoKnownAs": [],
    "service": []
  },
  "versionId": "<uuid>", // optional
  "keys": [{
    "publicKeyHex": "<public_key_in_hex_encoding>",
    "privateKeyHex": "<private_key_in_hex_encoding>",
    "kid": "<equal_to_public_key_hex>",
    "type": "Ed25519"
    // add additional key(s) if required
  }],
  "fee": {
    "amount": [{
      "denom": "ncheq",
      "amount": "50000000000"
      }],
    "gas": "400000",
    "payer": "cheqd1rnr5jrt4exl0samwj0yegv99jeskl0hsxmcz96" // add the cheqd account the transaction will come from
  }
}

Parameters

  • kms (default local): Key Management System (KMS) to be used for storage.

  • alias: A human-friendly alias for the DID. Only used locally when referencing operations in Veramo CLI.

  • document: Full body of the DID Document

  • versionId: (optional): Custom versionId for the DID Document. If this is not set manually, then a UUID will be automatically generated for the DID Document version.

  • keys: Keys used to sign the DIDDoc. These must match the ones specified in the DIDDoc, otherwise an error will be thrown.

  • fee

    • amount: An array of coins, coins are represented as an object with 2 fields

      • denom: ncheq (smallest denomination classification)

      • amount: 50000000000 (This is 50 CHEQ by default and will not work with a different value)

    • gas: Each transaction must specify the maximum amount of gas it may consume.

    • payer (optional): The cheqd fee payer address

    • granter (optional): The cheqd fee granter address, Provided the grantee has an allowance by the granter

Note that transaction fees are paid by the cheqd account set in the agent.yml configuration file, setup here. Each of cheqd's on-ledger identity transactions has a fixed fee, the pricing for cheqd DIDs and DID-Linked Resources can be found here. If your account has insufficient balance the transaction will fail.

3. Create new DID and publish DIDDoc

veramo execute -m cheqdCreateIdentifier --argsFile path/to/payload.json

If you do not specify the --argsFile, you can also paste a JSON inline argument object by using the --argsJSON flag followed by the JSON payload.

Next steps

If your transaction is successful, you'll receive a success message along with the transaction details. You can query your DID using the instructions here to see the representation of your DID Document on-ledger.

Troubleshooting

  1. If you are using testnet, you can top-up your testnet balance using our testnet faucet.

  2. You can also configure your Leap wallet to support cheqd testnet using the instructions here.

  3. If you are using mainnet, you can purchase CHEQ tokens here.

  4. Check out our troubleshooting guide for DID Operations to see common errors and fixes.

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