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Agent Identity

DIF · date: see source

Peer DID Method Specification

did:peer (DIF method spec)

Related protocolVendor / protocol (not an RFC)IdentityAdjacent

Useful when two agents want a private pairwise identity without publishing a well-known JWKS. Poor fit for open-world HTTP APIs that must verify a stranger's first request.

At a glance

Problem
Many relationships are pairwise and should not require a ledger or public resolution. Peer DIDs are self-certifying identifiers stored by the parties who need them.
Identity / authn / authz
Pairwise identity. Authentication happens when those keys are used (often via DIDComm).

Actors

  • Two (or n) peers
  • Their agents

When this matters for agents

When this matters for agents: one of the things people mean by 'p2p identity', especially in SSI communities. Pairwise, not globally resolvable. Useful when two agents want a private relationship without publishing a JWKS. Poor fit for open-world HTTP APIs that must verify a stranger's first request. Not AAuth two-party mode and not A2A.

Flow in plain language

Each party creates a peer DID and exchanges DID documents (typically inside DIDComm). Later messages authenticate against those keys. Not globally resolvable.

Key tokens and claims

did:peer:…
Method-specific identifier; variants (2, 3, 4) exist — read the current DIF spec.

Implementer notes

Not an IETF RFC. This is one of the things people mean by 'p2p identity', especially in SSI communities. It is not AAuth two-party mode.

Relationship to others

Primary sources