Real Life Trust Protocol (RLTP)

Identity Protocol

A family of specifications, schemas and test vectors for a decentralized trust protocol rooted in encounters between people, published by the Real Life Organisation. It is layered: identity (a key-derived anchor per person and pairwise anchors), encounter (a ceremony in which two people confirm they met), trust, and access (groups as places, with policy and epochs), with delivery and replication kept behind ports. It follows the Decentralized Trust Graph work at Trust Over IP, binds Trust Spanning Protocol through a mediator adapter, and is the third generation of a protocol whose second generation runs in the Web of Trust app. Every document is an Editor's Draft .

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Details

License Specification text and vocabulary: CC BY 4.0. Library, schemas, contexts, test vectors, conformance suite, simulators and scripts: Apache-2.0. The second-generation Web of Trust app and Real Life Stack: MIT
Dev Status 📝 Draft
Dev Status Detail Draft (all specifications are Editor's Drafts, for example Identity 0.55 and Encounter 0.32; a reference library, conformance runner and browser simulators exist; the third-generation app is in preparation and the project says an independent implementation is 'the goal, not yet a fact')
Owner The Real Life Organisation (real-life.org); no legal form or seat is stated on the pages read
Governing Body None stated; specifications are reviewed in rounds by independent reviewers and feedback goes through the repository's issues
Country Not stated by the project.
Start Year 2026
Stack JavaScript reference library (published to npm) and Node reference engine; JSON Schemas, a pinned JSON-LD context, deterministic test vectors and a conformance runner; Ed25519 and X25519 keys derived from a BIP-39 mnemonic with HKDF-SHA-256; JCS canonicalization (RFC 8785); browser simulators
Funding Not stated by the project.
Last Investigated Nov 12, 2026

Topology view

This tool in the centre and the things it is directly related to. Each line names the kind of relationship.

Topology view: Real Life Trust Protocol (RLTP)This tool in the centre and the things it is directly related to. Each line names the kind of relationship.Real LifeTrust Proto…DIDs (Conforms to)DIDsVCs (Conforms to)VCsdid:key (Identifies via)did:keyTrust Spanning Protocol (Speaks protocol)TrustSpanning Pro…

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Use Case Domains

Identity & Trust Group Formation & Governance

Affordances

Sovereign identity Portable attestations Trust graph portability Composable groups

Identity Protocol Attributes

Origins The third generation of a protocol for building trust from in-person encounters; the second generation (wot-spec) runs in the Web of Trust app, and its users are to move to the third generation once their identities are migrated
Database N/A: a specification; it names no transport and no CRDT, and defines replication and delivery as contracts behind ports
Query Language N/A
Data Formats JSON documents with JSON Schemas and a pinned JSON-LD context; W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0 with a Decentralized Trust Graph RelationshipCredential structure and Data Integrity proofs (eddsa-jcs-2022); JCS canonicalization
Mobile Support Not stated by the project; the third-generation app is in preparation
Web Support Browser simulators are published; a web app (Web of Trust) implements the second generation
Native Apps Not stated by the project.
Terms Free: CC BY 4.0 specification text and Apache-2.0 code
Funds Not stated by the project.
Based On W3C DID Core and Verifiable Credentials 2.0, the Decentralized Trust Graph credentials work at Trust Over IP, DIDComm and Trust Spanning Protocol (through a delivery adapter), and the project's own earlier generations
Permissions Open: CC BY 4.0 specification text; Apache-2.0 code
Authentication & Identity A did:key anchor derived from a BIP-39 recovery phrase, with pairwise anchors per relationship and a fresh challenge-based encounter ceremony in which both parties confirm
Storage Model Keys are restored from the recovery phrase, but state needs an encrypted copy at a storage service whose contract is still unwritten; otherwise a person starts anew
Interoperability Medium: aligns with Decentralized Trust Graph ceremonies and Trust Tasks; binds Trust Spanning Protocol through a mediator adapter that runs live; a replication contract maps p2panda, Keyhive, SECSYNC, NextGraph and Automerge (the mapping was not read)
Data Portability Keys are portable through the recovery phrase; state portability depends on the storage-service contract that is not yet written
Governance & Decision Making Editor-led: each draft is reviewed in rounds by an independent adversarial reviewer, every finding is triaged and answered, and a layer counts as converged when consecutive rounds produce no blocker-level findings
Protocol Maturity / Standardization Editor's Drafts (Identity 0.55.0-draft, Encounter 0.32.0-draft, dated 2026-10-27; Access 0.58, Delivery Contract 0.85); aligned with, but not submitted to, a standards body
Identity Standards W3C Verifiable Credentials 2.0; Decentralized Trust Graph credentials (Working Draft 0.6.0); did:key; Ed25519 (RFC 8032), X25519, HKDF, JCS (RFC 8785), BIP-39
Identity Standards - List
DID Methods Supported did:key only (the anchor); did:key identifiers cannot rotate, so the community anchor rotates through generations with a pre-committed next key; did:peer:2 appears only in an informative interoperability check
DID Methods Supported - List
Key Management Keys derived from a 12 or 24-word BIP-39 phrase with HKDF-SHA-256 for Ed25519 signing and X25519 agreement; pre-rotation binding of the next anchor key; recovery must not require a custodian of key material
Credential Types Encounter credentials and cards (immutable), relationship credentials in the Decentralized Trust Graph form, trust and personhood predicates (draft)
Credential Types - List
Verification Method Data Integrity proofs (eddsa-jcs-2022) over JCS-canonicalized JSON with SHA-256; challenge-response in the encounter ceremony
Privacy Features Pairwise anchors aim for unlinkability, which the identity specification says holds until disclosed or stolen; storage services see sealed envelopes, sizes and timing
Authentication Methods An in-person encounter ceremony with a fresh single-use challenge per enactment, confirmed by both parties; a fresh pair anchor per enactment
Revocation Mechanism Device revocation per group in the access layer; encounter credentials are immutable and not revocable; revocation of the person's anchor is not stated
Agent Types Supported People and their devices; groups as places; delivery services and mediators
Wallet/Client Types The second-generation Web of Trust app (production); a third-generation app is in preparation; browser simulators
Recovery Mechanisms The recovery phrase restores keys, not state; losing the phrase is cryptographically final; restoring state needs an encrypted copy at a storage service
Compliance / Regulations None claimed: the encounter specification states that the protocol does not prove personhood; GDPR and eIDAS are not stated in the layers read
Credential Exchange Protocols Delivery through contracts behind ports; the first adapter binds Trust Spanning Protocol through the VTI mediator; Trust Tasks follow the Decentralized Trust Graph framework
Credential Exchange Protocols - List
Trust Framework Trust grows from verified in-person encounters recorded as credentials, then a trust layer and personhood predicates (drafts); no accredited trust framework is stated
Cost Model Free specification and open-source code; no commercial terms stated
Censorship Resistance Not stated by the project; the specification names no transport and relies on delivery adapters

Relationships

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Conforms to
Identifies via
Speaks protocol