Deactivate a DID

Deactivate a did:cheqd Decentralized Identifier (DID) using cheqd Studio.

Deactivating a DID marks it as no longer active or in use. This process updates the DID Document on the ledger to signal to verifiers, wallets, and other clients that the DID should no longer be trusted for interactions such as credential issuance or presentation.

Once a DID is deactivated:

  • ✅ It cannot be updated again

  • ❌ It cannot be reactivated

  • 🛑 Applications resolving the DID will see its status marked as deactivated

When to Deactivate a DID

You should deactivate a DID when:

  • The associated identity (e.g. organisation, credential issuer) is no longer operating

  • The cryptographic keys have been compromised or rotated to a new DID

  • You want to enforce a clean break with no further updates to the DID Document

Security Requirement

To prevent unauthorized deactivations, a deactivate request must be signed by all of the Verification Method keys listed in the current DID Document.

This ensures that only the current controller(s) of the DID can authorize its deactivation.

🔐 If even one required key is missing or invalid, the request will be rejected.

How to Deactivate a DID

Use the API below to submit a request to deactivate a did:cheqd DID.

Deactivate a DID Document.

post

This endpoint deactivates a DID Document by taking the DID identifier as input. Must be called and signed by the DID owner.

Authorizations
Path parameters
didstringRequired

DID identifier to deactivate.

Body
publicKeyHexsstring[]Optional

List of key references (publicKeys) which will be used for signing the message. The should be in hexadecimal format and placed in the wallet of current user.

Responses
200
The request was successful.
application/json
post
POST /did/deactivate/{did} HTTP/1.1
Host: 
x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Accept: */*
Content-Length: 26

"publicKeyHexs=['text']"
{
  "@context": "https://w3id.org/did-resolution/v1",
  "didDidResolutionMetadata": {
    "contentType": "application/did+ld+json",
    "retrieved": "2021-09-01T12:00:00Z",
    "did": {
      "didString": "did:cheqd:testnet:55dbc8bf-fba3-4117-855c-1e0dc1d3bb47",
      "method": "cheqd",
      "methodSpecificId": "55dbc8bf-fba3-4117-855c-1e0dc1d3bb47"
    }
  },
  "didDocument": {
    "@context": [
      "https://www.w3.org/ns/did/v1"
    ],
    "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:7bf81a20-633c-4cc7-bc4a-5a45801005e0",
    "controller": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:7bf81a20-633c-4cc7-bc4a-5a45801005e0"
    ],
    "verificationMethod": [
      {
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:7bf81a20-633c-4cc7-bc4a-5a45801005e0#key-1",
        "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2018",
        "controller": "did:cheqd:testnet:7bf81a20-633c-4cc7-bc4a-5a45801005e0",
        "publicKeyBase58": "z6MkkVbyHJLLjdjU5B62DaJ4mkdMdUkttf9UqySSkA9bVTeZ"
      }
    ],
    "authentication": [
      "did:cheqd:testnet:7bf81a20-633c-4cc7-bc4a-5a45801005e0#key-1"
    ],
    "service": [
      {
        "id": "did:cheqd:testnet:7bf81a20-633c-4cc7-bc4a-5a45801005e0#service-1",
        "type": "LinkedDomains",
        "serviceEndpoint": [
          "https://example.com"
        ]
      }
    ]
  },
  "didDocumentMetadata": {
    "created": "2021-09-01T12:00:00Z",
    "deactivated": true,
    "updated": "2021-09-10T12:00:00Z",
    "versionId": "3ccde6ba-6ba5-56f2-9f4f-8825561a9860",
    "linkedResourceMetadata": [
      {
        "resourceURI": "did:cheqd:testnet:55dbc8bf-fba3-4117-855c-1e0dc1d3bb47/resources/398cee0a-efac-4643-9f4c-74c48c72a14b",
        "resourceCollectionId": "55dbc8bf-fba3-4117-855c-1e0dc1d3bb47",
        "resourceId": "398cee0a-efac-4643-9f4c-74c48c72a14b",
        "resourceName": "cheqd-issuer-logo",
        "resourceType": "CredentialArtwork",
        "mediaType": "image/png",
        "resourceVersion": "1.0",
        "checksum": "a95380f460e63ad939541a57aecbfd795fcd37c6d78ee86c885340e33a91b559",
        "created": "2021-09-01T12:00:00Z",
        "nextVersionId": "d4829ac7-4566-478c-a408-b44767eddadc",
        "previousVersionId": "ad7a8442-3531-46eb-a024-53953ec6e4ff"
      }
    ]
  }
}

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