Update an existing DID

Update an existing Decentralized Identifier (DID) on cheqd using Veramo.

Follow these instructions to update an existing did:cheqd entry on cheqd ledger.

⚠️ Before you begin...

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

Instructions

1. Prepare DIDDoc contents

Before updating the DID, you will need to prepare the updated DIDDoc and parameters for the transaction in an payload.json file.

This file can be saved whereever you choose, but the location must be specified in the create DID command used in Step 2. (By default, it will be saved under the project root directory.)

Parameters

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

• did: The did that resolves to your DIDDoc.

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

• document: Full body of the DID Document including updated sections.

• 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: 25000000000 (This is 25 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.

2. Update existing DID

Use the command below to construct and broadcast update transaction.

So, let's try to update service section of our DIDDoc. Then, your payload.json file will look like this.

{
  "kms": "local",
  "alias": "update-my-did",
  "did": "did:cheqd:testnet:3e6bd814-6851-4c8a-b114-c64f035ef590",
  "document": {
    "context": [],
    "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:3e6bd814-6851-4c8a-b114-c64f035ef590",
    "controller": ["did:cheqd:testnet:3e6bd814-6851-4c8a-b114-c64f035ef590"],
    "verificationMethod": [
      {
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:3e6bd814-6851-4c8a-b114-c64f035ef590#key-1",
        "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020",
        "controller": "did:cheqd:testnet:3e6bd814-6851-4c8a-b114-c64f035ef590",
        "publicKeyMultibase": "z6Mkf5rGMoatrSj1f4CyvuHBeXJELe9RPdzo2PKGNCKVtZxP"
      }
    ],
    "authentication": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:3e6bd814-6851-4c8a-b114-c64f035ef590#key-1"
    ],
    "service": [
      {
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:3e6bd814-6851-4c8a-b114-c64f035ef590#linked-domain",
        "type": "LinkedDomains",
        "serviceEndpoint": ["https://cheqd.io/"]
      }
    ],
    "assertionMethod": [],
    "capabilityInvocation": [],
    "capabilityDelegation": [],
    "keyAgreement": [],
    "alsoKnownAs": [],
  },
  "versionId": "<uuid>", // optional
  "keys": [
    {
      "publicKeyHex": "074035480cdcf09c33b1e8066deb55c75822c8c3b27f1c100717eb413bc08e06",
      "privateKeyHex": "84ecb7d289dd5c5e82071f8a16503ba5d7b5b3174a619186f430918a6ab00e3b074035480cdcf09c33b1e8066deb55c75822c8c3b27f1c100717eb413bc08e06",
      "kid": "074035480cdcf09c33b1e8066deb55c75822c8c3b27f1c100717eb413bc08e06",
      "type": "Ed25519"
    }
  ],
  "fee": {
    "amount": [{
      "denom": "ncheq",
      "amount": "25000000000"
      }],
    "gas": "400000",
    "payer": "cheqd1rnr5jrt4exl0samwj0yegv99jeskl0hsxmcz96"
  }
}

Note, that we are updating a service section of in our DIDDoc.

After you have updated the payload.json file, run the command below to update the did:

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

If you would like to fetch the updated DIDDoc body following the successful DID update result, execute the resolve command as outlined here. You can check if service section of DIDDoc has been updated.

Next steps

DID update operations can be complicated, especially when changing or updating keys, using multiple keys etc. Understand the design of the cheqd DID method and Verification Relationships in the W3C DID Core specification to understand the logic that is applied in these scenarios.