Overview#
Evidence packages increasingly arrive with verifiable credentials that attest who sealed a package, when it was attested, which policy governed an export, or how a disclosure artefact was produced. Asking investigators to parse raw credential blobs on a workstation is slow, error-prone, and a poor fit for disclosure officers working under time pressure. Courts and partner agencies still expect the claims to be visible and copyable when a package moves.
The Evidence Verifiable Credential Claims Viewer asks the evidence service for a server-decoded view of the credential chain. Investigators see structured fields on the evidence VC chain experience, can copy a compact credential representation for disclosure packs, and stay inside the authenticated evidence workspace they already use for chain of custody. Decoding happens on the server, so the workstation receives structured claim fields for everyday review rather than parsing credentials itself. When an investigator copies the compact credential or opens the raw view, that full credential is delivered to their session, so those actions sit under the same evidence access controls and audit trail as any other disclosure material.
This viewer complements the broader Verifiable Credential Evidence capability docs: those describe the provenance architecture; this module is the investigator-facing working surface shipped with the evidence APIs and web evidence workspace.
Last Reviewed: 2026-09-15 Last Updated: 2026-09-15
Key Features#
-
Server-side decoding: Claims arrive as structured fields from the evidence API (the evidence credential-chain API), so workstations display decoded values instead of parsing sealed blobs locally.
-
Chain presentation: Claims appear in the evidence VC chain experience. Investigators walk issuer, subject, and attestation fields in order.
-
Compact credential copy: A compact representation is available to copy for disclosure packs or partner handoff, inside the authenticated UI.
-
Custody workflow fit: Lives beside chain-of-custody and evidence detail flows rather than as a standalone crypto utility.
-
Partner intake parity: Incoming VC-backed evidence shows claims in the same viewer used for domestically sealed items.
-
Least exposure posture: Keeping decode on the server reduces unnecessary distribution of raw credential material to every analyst device.
Use Cases#
-
Disclosure preparation: A disclosure officer reviews decoded claims and copies the compact credential into the package checklist.
-
Custody dispute review: An investigator confirms which identity attested a seal without first exporting the full binary credential.
-
Cross-border evidence intake: Partner-supplied VC-backed evidence is inspected with the same tooling as local seals.
-
Training and quality assurance: Evidence units teach staff to read claim fields consistently before packages leave the building.
Integration#
Platform evidence APIs expose decoded verifiable-credential claims on the credential-chain view. The web evidence workspace renders structured claims and the copyable compact credential. The existing Verifiable Credential Evidence module remains the architectural reference. Disclosure and case file tooling consume copied compact credentials as ordinary artefacts under existing export controls.
Open Standards#
- W3C Verifiable Credentials Data Model: Decoded claims follow the W3C VC property model.
- W3C VC Data Integrity: Chain display remains compatible with integrity-protected credentials.
- RFC 7519 (JWT): Compact credentials may use JWT representations when that profile is in play.
- RFC 3161: Where timestamp authorities participate in evidence sealing, related attestations remain visible among claims.