VC Type Menu (Platform Guide)

Audience: users of the platform.
This guide explains the Menu page (menu.html) where you choose how to create, manage, or discover VC Type Metadata (VCTs). Think of it as the starting point for all workflows.

What you’ll do on this page

From the menu you can:

• Generate a VCT from an Issuer (OIDC4VCI metadata).
• Generate a VCT from JSON Schema you already have.
• Generate a VCT from Scratch, assisted by AI.
• Manage your own VCTs (publish, update, delete).
• Browse the Registry of public VCTs.

Each card on the page corresponds to one of these flows.

Quick Start (2 minutes)

1. Open the Menu page.
2. Decide what you want to do:
3. Have an Issuer URL? → choose Generate from an Issuer.
4. Have a JSON Schema file? → choose Generate from JSON Schema.
5. Have only a description of your credential? → choose Generate from Scratch.
6. Want to edit or publish your own VCTs? → open Manage your VC Types.
7. Want to see what others published? → click Browse the Registry.
8. Click the button on the card to continue.

Step-by-Step: the options

1) Generate from an Issuer

• Purpose: Fetch OIDC4VCI Credential Issuer metadata to prefill a VCT.
• What happens:
• Reads vct, display[], claims, and schema from the issuer.
• Supports OIDC4VCI drafts 11 through final.
• Next: After loading, you select the specific credential and continue editing.

2) Generate from JSON Schema

• Purpose: Reuse an existing schema (.json file).
• What happens:
• The tool keeps your property names.
• Lets you add localized display[].
• Optional AI assistance.
• Next: Upload the file and proceed to the generator/editor.

3) Generate from Scratch

• Purpose: Start without an issuer or schema.
• What happens:
• Describe your credential in free form.
• The tool drafts a schema and display[].
• Supports up to 30 languages, with AI assistance.
• Next: Review and refine the generated result.

4) Manage your VC Types

• Purpose: Workspace for your own VCTs.
• What happens:
• List, update visibility (public/private), or delete VCTs.
• Each entry requires a name and description.
• The platform computes an integrity hash (sha256-…).
• Next: Click a row to download, edit, or change settings.

5) Browse the Registry

• Purpose: Discover VCTs shared by others.
• What happens:
• Search by keyword (with optional AI search).
• See ratings, usage counts, and supported languages.
• Next: Reuse these VCTs directly in your own system.

Result overview

By the end of any of the generation flows you’ll have a VC Type Metadata JSON file that includes: - vct — identifier (URL or URN).
- display[] — localized names, descriptions, and rendering options.
- schema — JSON Schema of the claims.
- claims[] — mapping of claim paths to localized display labels.

If you choose Manage or Browse, you won’t generate a new file, but you’ll interact with existing VCTs.

Practical recipes

• You have an Issuer → use Generate from an Issuer, then refine.
• You have a schema file → use Generate from JSON Schema, add translations, then save.
• You only have an idea → use Generate from Scratch, describe, then refine with AI help.
• You already published VCTs → use Manage your VC Types to keep them up to date.
• You want to reuse community types → use Browse the Registry.

Tips & best practices

• Start from the flow that matches what you already have (issuer, schema, or just an idea).
• Keep your VCT identifiers stable — use a URL or URN you control.
• Localize names/descriptions for your target languages early.
• Use the registry to avoid reinventing existing types.
• Manage visibility: keep VCTs private until they’re ready.

Troubleshooting

• Issuer not loading → Check the issuer URL is accessible and supports OIDC4VCI metadata.
• Schema upload fails → Ensure it’s valid JSON, using draft 2020-12 or later.
• AI draft looks wrong → Edit the schema/labels manually or retry with simpler description.
• Registry empty → Try changing scope (My, Public, Private, All) or adjust search terms.
• Cannot change visibility → Only the creator can change visibility of their VCTs.

Where to get help

• On the page header, click “Explain ?” to open this guide.
• For technical issues, include the VCT identifier or JSON snippet when contacting support.

That’s it! You now know what each menu option does and how to pick the right flow.

Using the Open Registry: two integration patterns

There are at least two ways to consume VC Type metadata (vct) from this Open Registry:

1) Use vct as a URL (direct dereferencing)

• Put the URL directly as the vct in your SD‑JWT VC.
  Example: https://issuer.example/vct/person-id/2025-09-28.json
• Issuer, Verifier, and Wallet can fetch the URL to retrieve the canonical VC Type Metadata JSON.
• Pros: simple, decentralized, cache/CDN‑friendly, works without any central resolver.

When to choose: you control a domain, prefer open‑web linking, or want fast iteration with explicit versions (e.g., .../v1/, dated paths, or content hashes).

2) Use vct as a URN (centralized resolution), with URL in the registry

• Some ecosystems (e.g., EUDI Wallet) prefer or require a URN as the VC Type identifier.
  Example: urn:example:vct:person-id
• In that case, publish your VCT’s canonical URL inside the centralized registry entry.
• Relying parties resolve the URN → registry entry → URL, then fetch the metadata from that URL.

When to choose: your governance requires URNs or you operate in a curated, centrally resolved namespace—while still leveraging a URL for actual metadata hosting.

Tip: The Open Registry supports both. You can list a URN and a URL in the same entry so ecosystems that dereference URLs and those that resolve URNs are both happy.