間-spec

Formal specification documents for the did:ma decentralized identifier method, intended for use with W3C DID method registration.

did:ma is a self-sovereign identity method built on IPFS/IPNS for identity resolution, CBOR/dag-cbor for wire encoding, Ed25519 for signatures, and iroh for peer-to-peer transport. Every entity has a globally resolvable DID. Every interaction is a signed message. There is no shared state, no central server, no synchronous return channel.

See HISTORY.md for the design philosophy and influences.

Document Map

Identity and Messaging

These documents define the did:ma identity layer — DID syntax, document format, and base message format. They are intentionally minimal: the DID document and the message envelope are the only shared contracts every implementation must agree on.

• did:ma Method Specification — Method syntax (did:ma:<ipns-key>#<fragment>), DID document structure, Multikey verification methods, MultiformatSignature2023 proof type (Ed25519 over BLAKE3, multicodec-prefixed), dag-cbor serialization, CRUD operations, verifiable data registry, security and privacy considerations.
• Messaging Format — Signed CBOR message envelope, foundational content types (x-ma-doc, x-ma-broadcast, x-ma-message), encryption envelope, replay protection, correlation semantics.

Core Extensions

The core documents define field extensions, service protocols, and optional transport-adjacent behavior. Implementations pick up what they need; nothing in core/ is required unless the relevant service is advertised.

• ma Field Extensions — The ma key in DID documents: ma.services (inbox, rpc, ipfs), ma.kind hint, transport addresses, conformance. iroh is currently the only standardised transport.
• RPC Service Protocol — /ma/rpc/0.0.1: application/x-ma-rpc and application/x-ma-rpc-reply content types, CBOR term format (atoms and tuples), reply conventions, protocol mismatch handling.
• Pub/Sub Transport — Optional gossip layer (iroh-gossip) for discovery and announcements. Not required; absent when unavailable.

Runtime

Work in progress. These documents are incomplete and unstable. Do not use them as a basis for implementation yet.

Status

Draft. Not yet submitted for W3C DID method registration.

Aligned with W3C DID v1.1 (@context, media type, Multikey naming).