Identity

Your identity in UNAVI is a DID, or decentralized identifier. A DID is a globally unique string that resolves to you.

Every DID starts with did:, followed by a method and an identifier. The method decides how the DID is created and how other people verify it belongs to you. Because a DID is an open standard, it is not owned by UNAVI, and the same identity can be used anywhere that understands DIDs.

did:key

A did:key is made directly from a cryptographic key, and looks like this:

did:key:zDnaerDaTF5BXEavCrfRZEk316dpbLsfPDZ3WJ5hRTPFU2169

In this example, the long string after did:key: is the public half of that key, so anyone can verify you without asking a server.

The app creates a did:key for you the first time it runs. It needs no sign-up and works offline, but it lives only on the device that has the key.

The key is stored in the app's data directory as key.pem.

Back up key.pem to keep your identity across reinstalls. If the key is lost, the identity is lost with it.

did:web

A did:web is tied to a domain name, and looks like this:

did:web:unavi.xyz:user:alice

Whoever controls the domain controls the identity, and it can be used from any device you sign in on. Each : after the domain is a step in a path, so this example identity, for a user named alice, is published at unavi.xyz/user/alice.

If you own a domain, you can host your own did:web and use that as your identity.