This repository contains the source content for the AnonCreds open specification, a part of the Hyperledger AnonCreds Project. This open specification is based on the open source AnonCreds verifiable credential implementation in the Hyperledger AnonCreds GitHub repository anoncreds-rs. That implementation was originally part of the Hyperledger Indy open source project, accepted into Hyperledger in 2017. The extensive use of AnonCreds around the world has made it a de facto standard, and the AnonCreds Working Group (hyperledger) has been established to formalize the specification and place it on a standards track.
This repository contains guidelines for contributing to the specification and submitting edits via GitHub pull requests.
The scope and background for this work can be found in the Scope in this repository. The <tl;dr> summary is the following:
The open source AnonCreds implementations (here in Hyperledger Indy and here) in Hyperledger AnonCreds provide capabilities that many see as important for digital identity use cases in particular, and verifiable data in general. These features include:
The AnonCreds working group is producing an AnonCreds v1.0 specification that describes the existing implementation minus any dependency on the Hyperledger Indy ledger ("ledger-agnostic"). Once sufficient progress has been made on the v1.0 specification, a forward looking version will be started that evolves the specification to add new elements while retaining the core features of AnonCreds (listed above). Such a future version is likely to include features such as replacing CL Signatures with BBS+ Signatures, defining a more scalable revocation scheme. Those participating in this Working Group will define the exact direction of future versions of the AnonCreds specification.
This work is being carried out under the Community Specification License v1.0. Any person or organization willing to adhere to this license is welcome to participate in this Working Group and contribute to the development of the specification. Please read the Contributions document in this repo for details. For those unfamiliar with the Community Specification License, you can think of it as analogous to an open source code license, such as Apache 2.0, but for specifications.
All participants in this working group must follow the group's Code of Conduct.
Meetings of the Working Group are held weekly on Mondays at 7AM Pacific/Vancouver time. That is 16:00 CET for most of the year, except for the periods around the daylight savings time changes. Meeting details, agendas, notes and links to the recordings are posted on the repository Wiki (to be done).
The working group has an AnonCreds Specification Discord channel for participants. Invitations for those interested: https://discord.gg/hyperledger.