# Build Trust Registries

Trust Registries enable a Relying Party to determine the authenticity and authorization of a legal entity within a digital credential ecosystem. Trust Registries are crucial to establish for production environments, because they allow relying parties to make informed decisions on whether to trust the credentials they receive.

<figure><img src="https://3569764573-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPVAMvpKH7PYzvXA6u6Cn%2Fuploads%2FjmQa86d5cA2pIb15pK1N%2FIntroduction%20to%20Trust%20Registries.png?alt=media&#x26;token=3eec3e7f-6981-4665-94f5-faf9b5bd20be" alt=""><figcaption><p>Diagram showing how cheqd trust registries are referenced</p></figcaption></figure>

cheqd has **pioneered a industry-leading trust registry solution**, allowing users to **create hierarchical chains of trust, with each trust registry entry being DID-Resolvable**.

## cheqd’s Trust Registry Model

cheqd offers an **industry-leading, decentralized trust registry solution**, allowing issuers to be accredited through **hierarchical chains of trust called Decentralized Trust Chains (DTCs)**. Each entry in the registry is:

* ✅ **DID-resolvable**
* 📜 **Cryptographically signed and verifiable**
* 🌍 **Publicly discoverable using DID-Linked Resources**
* 🔗 **Linked to governance frameworks**

## Learn about cheqd Trust Registries

cheqd enables you to build **Decentralized Trust Chains** — a powerful model for structuring trust in credential ecosystems without relying on centralized authorities or static whitelists.

Using cheqd’s flexible **DID** and **DID-Linked Resource** architecture, trust is established through a chain of cryptographically verifiable credentials:

* **Root Authorizations** define the governance framework and root of trust
* **Verifiable Accreditations** delegate authority to trusted organisations
* 🏷**Verifiable Attestations** **(Credentials)** are issued by accredited entities to end users

Each link in the chain is publicly resolvable, tamper-evident, and policy-bound — forming a complete lineage of trust from issuer to root authority.

Before you begin building, we recommend familiarising yourself with how Decentralized Trust Chains work and the role of each credential type:

<table data-card-size="large" data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-cover data-type="files"></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Decentralized Trust Chains (DTCs)</strong></mark></td><td>Build using our Trust Registry solution using DIDs and DID-Linked Resources based on the EBSI Trust Chain model.</td><td></td><td><a href="https://3569764573-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPVAMvpKH7PYzvXA6u6Cn%2Fuploads%2FomTABA1WxiEvNuY9LiMM%2Fdecentralized%20trust%20chains.png?alt=media&#x26;token=edf9ddb3-f1a1-42a4-bf0b-608c72261645">decentralized trust chains.png</a></td><td><a href="trust-registries/dtc">dtc</a></td></tr></tbody></table>

## Get started

Use **cheqd Studio APIs** to define, issue, and publish trust registry entries:

* Create and manage **Root Authorizations**, **Accreditations**, and **Attestations**
* Resolve trust chains in real time using standard DID resolution
* Anchor trust registries on-chain while keeping business logic off-chain

For verification, use TRAIN to validate the trust registry to determine whether an issuer DID is accredited, and what they are accredited for — by traversing the full trust chain to its root.&#x20;

<table data-card-size="large" data-view="cards"><thead><tr><th></th><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th><th data-hidden data-card-cover data-type="files"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Set up Trust Chain</strong></mark></td><td>Design and build a trust chain for establishing a trust hierarchy in your ecosystem.</td><td><a href="trust-registries/set-up">set-up</a></td><td><a href="https://3569764573-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPVAMvpKH7PYzvXA6u6Cn%2Fuploads%2FxEjgxlDKvTmXV0jRpuTp%2FSet%20Up%20Trust%20Chain.png?alt=media&#x26;token=1d0b8eed-7e73-421e-8eb6-1a4985d2b371">Set Up Trust Chain.png</a></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Get started with TRAIN</strong></mark></td><td>Deploy TRAIN and start validating trust chains with DNS-anchored roots and cryptographic accreditations.</td><td><a href="trust-registries/train">train</a></td><td><a href="https://3569764573-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPVAMvpKH7PYzvXA6u6Cn%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-e721026059ae81bd3527e531a6013e5e74bdb42e%2Ffraunhofer.png?alt=media">fraunhofer.png</a></td></tr><tr><td><mark style="color:blue;"><strong>Use Trust Registries for AI Agents</strong></mark></td><td>Design, build and validate trust registries for AI Agents using cheqd's APIs and our MCP Server.</td><td><a href="../getting-started/ai-agents">ai-agents</a></td><td><a href="https://3569764573-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPVAMvpKH7PYzvXA6u6Cn%2Fuploads%2FeD9eD4zcHYZd0KFYKmFm%2FSetup%20AI%20Agent%20Trust%20Registry.png?alt=media&#x26;token=8daa4d89-35b2-4329-84c0-08c8cc097b86">Setup AI Agent Trust Registry.png</a></td></tr></tbody></table>