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Introduction

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Please note that the documentation you are viewing is a draft for software under active development. Some information may change and features may not be fully implemented.

We value your input and invite you to improve the documentation or contribute to the development process. Your feedback is crucial in refining and enhancing vc-kit.

If you find any inaccuracies or have recommendations for improvement, please get involved. Your collaboration helps create a better user experience and keeps the documentation up to date.

Introduction​

Welcome to the documentation for the vc-kit project, an open source verifiable credentials solution designed to assist organizations involved in cross-border trade. vc-kit provides a comprehensive set of libraries and reference implementations that adhere to industry standards, enabling seamless integration of verifiable credential solutions into your existing systems. This documentation serves as a guide to help you understand and utilize the features and capabilities of vc-kit effectively.

Getting Started​

To get started with vc-kit, it is recommended to follow the steps outlined below:

  1. Installation: Begin by installing vc-kit onto your system. Refer to the installation guide for detailed instructions on setting up the required dependencies and configuring vc-kit for your environment.

  2. Concepts: Familiarize yourself with the key concepts and terminologies used in verifiable credentials. Understanding these concepts will provide you with a solid foundation for working with vc-kit.

  3. Tutorials: Explore the tutorials section, which provides step-by-step instructions on implementing common verifiable credential use cases using vc-kit. These tutorials cover various scenarios and guide you through the process of integrating verifiable credentials into your cross-border trade workflows.

  4. API Reference: Refer to the API reference documentation for a comprehensive overview of the vc-kit libraries and their associated functionalities. This section provides detailed descriptions, parameters, and usage examples for each available API, empowering you to leverage vc-kit's capabilities to their fullest extent.

Features​

vc-kit offers a range of features that facilitate the development of verifiable credential implementations. Some of the key features include:

  • Standards Compliance: vc-kit ensures adherence to industry standards, allowing you to seamlessly integrate with existing verifiable credential ecosystems.

  • Flexible Architecture: The modular architecture of vc-kit enables easy customization and extensibility to meet your specific business requirements.

  • Credential Issuance: vc-kit provides comprehensive tools and libraries for issuing verifiable credentials, empowering you to securely create and manage digital credentials within your organization.

  • Credential Verification: With vc-kit, you can easily verify the authenticity and integrity of verifiable credentials, ensuring trust and enabling streamlined cross-border trade processes.

  • Interoperability: vc-kit supports interoperability between different verifiable credential implementations, enabling seamless integration with other systems and applications.

Community and Support​

vc-kit is currently developed and maintained by a small team of developers, but we aim to grow the community of contributors to ensure that vc-kit is a sustainable solution for organisations engaged in cross border trade. If you have any questions, encounter issues, or want to contribute to the project, there are several resources available:

  • Community Forum: Join the vc-kit community forum to connect with fellow users, ask questions, share insights, and stay up to date with the latest developments.

  • Issue Tracker: For bug reports or feature requests, you can submit issues through the vc-kit issue tracker on the official GitHub repository.

  • Contributing: vc-kit welcomes contributions from the community. If you're interested in improving the project, refer to the contribution guidelines for detailed information on how to get involved.

  • Support: There is no formal support arrangement for vc-kit, but you can use the community forum or issue tracker to raise questions.

How to use these docs​

These docs are aimed at two primary audiences, across both public and private sectors:

  1. Decision makers involved in driving innovation in the cross border trade space
  2. Developers involved in assessing or implementing Verifiable Credentials solutions in the context of cross border trade.

These two perspectives are not inherently distinct, but the structure of these docs seeks to seperate implementation details and "how to" guides from broader conceptual discussion. We hope that this affords the ability for readers to choose the perspective from which they would like to view this site.

Decision Makers can read through linearly until you reach the Roadmap. This should give you a clear picture of the context in which vc-kit sits, it's goals, current state, and direction. You should also gain a clear picture of how vc-kit can assist you in adopting a verifiable credentials solution that is conformant with international standards.

Developers can either read linearly through from the Overview, or, if you are already familiar with the SSI/VC space, skip straight to the the Quickstart Guide.

Prerequisites​

As a Decision Maker, we assume you are already familiar wiith Verifiable Credentials. We will be using some terminology in the overview section that you can look up [here](link to glossary). Being conversant with the idea of VCs, having a quick skim of the glossary, and having a background in the cross border trade space should put you on the right footing to follow the conceptual portions of these docs.

We have assumed some familiarity with Verifiable Credentials as a concept in these docs. If you think it would be an improvement to include some foundational material here, you could raise a GitHub issue, or send a message on Discord.