@verifiedpress/cli

A decentralized identity and authorship CLI for VerifiedPress.org

The VerifiedPress CLI empowers journalists, bots, and publishers to create, manage, and sign digital credentials using did:press and Verifiable Credentials. It supports multi-key identity documents, cryptographic signing, and authorship provenance.

Release Version

1.1.0

• added DID method user prompt during the onboarding process, (use press to register on verifiedpress.org)
• created JSON Web Key (JWK) from the public key and added to identity.json
• notice for adding a DNS TXT entry of (_did.press IN TXT "did=did:press::publisher;url=https:///.well-known/did.json")
• fixed separate identity paths, included domain for path on doctor option
• fixed version output, vp --version displays the correct version

1.0.1

• create separate identity paths

1.0.0

• initial release

🚀 Features

• 🔐 Create and manage decentralized identities
• 🧩 Add, revoke, and rotate multiple keys
• ✍️ Sign content with scoped keys
• 📄 Output W3C-compliant identity.json documents
• 🧱 Built for did:web and did:key and Veramo-compatible ecosystems

📦 Installation

npm install -g @verifiedpress/verifiedpress-cli

🛠 Commands

Create Identity

vp create-id --email [email protected] --name "Alice Author" --withKey

Add Key

vp add-key --label editor-2025 --purpose assertionMethod

List Keys

vp list-keys

Revoke Key

vp revoke-key --label editor-2025 --reason "Key rotation"

Remove Key

vp remove-key --label editor-2025 --delete

Sign Content

vp sign --file article.md --key editor-2025

Matrix Add Key

vp matrix-add-key --persona robot --purpose signing --expires 2025-12-31

📁 Output Structure

[USER DIRECTORY]/output/
├─ identity.json
├─ private.editor-2025.pem
├─ revoked-keys.json

Explanation of identity.json

Certainly! This is a Decentralized Identifier (DID) Document following the W3C DID specification. It's specifically using the did:web method, meaning the identifier is anchored to a domain—here, msn.com.

{
  "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/did/v1",
  "id": "did:web:msn.com",
  "verificationMethod": [
    {
      "id": "did:web:msn.com#key-2",
      "type": "RsaVerificationKey2018",
      "controller": "did:web:msn.com",
      "publicKeyPem": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMCowBQYDK2VwAyEAL0LJH6puTmzgHyqSImt3QjU2GUZSp0jIEJqm39kI04U=\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
    },
    {
      "id": "did:web:msn.com#key-1",
      "type": "RsaVerificationKey2018",
      "controller": "did:web:msn.com",
      "publicKeyPem": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMCowBQYDK2VwAyEA5coAckRjypu5fNc9oqAl4RWTVJ+DHMqefljOJ9Cih2w=\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
    }
  ],
  "authentication": [
    "did:web:msn.com#key-2"
  ],
  "assertionMethod": [
    "did:web:msn.com#key-1"
  ]
}

Let’s break down the components:

🌐 id: The DID itself

"id": "did:web:msn.com"

This states that msn.com is the controller of this decentralized identity.

📌 @context

"@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/did/v1"

Specifies the JSON-LD context, ensuring semantic alignment with the DID Core vocabulary.

🔐 verificationMethod

These are the cryptographic keys the identity owner uses to prove control over their DID.

Each entry includes:

• id: A unique identifier for the key (like a label)
• type: The type of cryptographic key (here, RsaVerificationKey2018)
• controller: Who controls the key (the DID itself)
• publicKeyPem: The key, encoded in PEM format

{
  "id": "did:web:msn.com#key-2",
  "type": "RsaVerificationKey2018",
  "controller": "did:web:msn.com",
  "publicKeyPem": "..."
}

🔑 authentication

"authentication": [
  "did:web:msn.com#key-2"
]

Indicates which key(s) are authorized to perform authentication—e.g., proving "I am this DID."

📣 assertionMethod

"assertionMethod": [
  "did:web:msn.com#key-1"
]

Defines which key(s) can be used for assertions, like signing verifiable credentials or claims issued by this DID.

🧩 Summary

| Role | Key Reference | |-----------------------|------------------------------| | DID Identifier | did:web:msn.com | | Auth Key | #key-2 | | Credential Signer | #key-1 | | Key Format | RSA + PEM |

This structure enables trusted interactions (e.g., login, signing, verification) without centralized intermediaries. If you’re planning to use this DID in VerifiedPress or across federated domains, you can host this document at:

https://msn.com/.well-known/did.json

🧠 Philosophy

VerifiedPress (by PRESSPAGE ENTERTAINMENT INC) is committed to transparent, cryptographically verifiable authorship. This CLI is part of a broader ecosystem that includes registry services, credential verification, and editorial integrity tooling.

📜 License

Apache-2.0 © PRESSPAGE ENTERTAINMENT INC