DIDComm

DIDComm Messaging is a communication methodology that is built on top of Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs). This methodology offers more than just a mechanism for individual or sequential messages, but also defines how messages compose into larger application-level protocols and workflows, while retaining trust. DIDComm Messaging connects to the larger decentralized identity movement, providing benefits such as security, privacy, and decentralization.

The current mechanisms for secure communication often depend on centralizations like key registries, identity providers, certificate authorities, etc., limiting their composability. DIDComm Messaging aims to fix these problems by offering a system where individuals become full peers of highly available web servers. It enables higher-order protocols that are secure, private, decentralized, and transport-independent, allowing for a wide range of activities like exchanging verifiable credentials, negotiating contracts, voting, etc.

Technical Details

To understand DIDComm Messaging, consider a situation where two agents, representing Alice and Bob, exchange a series of messages. Alice's agent prepares a plaintext JSON message about a proposed sale, obtains key information from Bob's agent, encrypts the plaintext using Bob's public key, and delivers the message to Bob. Bob's agent then decrypts the message, authenticates Alice using her public key, prepares its response and routes it back to Alice using a reciprocal process.

DIDComm Messaging is designed to be secure, private, decentralized, transport-agnostic, routable, interoperable, extensible, and efficient. It is message-based, asynchronous, and simplex, similar to an email paradigm. It uses public key cryptography, not certificates from some parties and passwords from others, and its security guarantees are independent of the transport over which it flows.