Attestation rulebook

The specification of one attestation type: attributes, namespaces, encoding, validity and verification rules. What makes wallet credentials interoperable.

The document that defines one type of attestation. The reference framework describes it as a document describing the attestation type, the namespaces and other features for a specific attestation type - in plain terms: which attributes are in it, what each attribute means, how it is encoded, how long it is valid, how it is revoked and what a verifier must check.

Rulebooks are what make an attestation of attributes interoperable instead of bilateral. Without one, every issuer invents its own field names and every relying party writes a custom parser. With one, an mdoc or SD-JWT credential from a Dutch issuer can be read by a Spanish verifier because both sides implement the same rulebook. The best known examples are the rulebooks behind PID and the mDL; domain rulebooks for things like diplomas, professional qualifications and payment attributes follow the same pattern.

For a QTSP issuing a QEAA, the rulebook is where product decisions become verifiable commitments, and the ETSI work on rulebooks for electronic attestations of attributes is the standardised frame for writing one. Cleverbase maintains its rulebooks in the intranet's own Rulebook Builder for that reason: a rulebook is a specification you version, review and publish, not a slide.