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Identity Registry

Four logical registries, one set of rules

Preserves identity, namespace allocation, authority, historical mappings, and lifecycle information.

RSM ID Learning Center2 min read

The RSM Identity Registry is the logical infrastructure that keeps persistent identity registration, uniqueness, namespace delegation, identity lifecycle, and resolution metadata. Document 08 divides it into four logical registries: a Prefix Registry for RID prefix allocations, an Authority Registry for authenticated namespace controllers and delegations, a Resource Identity Registry for permanent RID records and lifecycle mappings, and a Space Registry for Semantic Space identities and their resolution endpoints.

The registry holds identity, not knowledge. It need not contain a resource body or every relationship; authoritative content stays with its Semantic Space. It also need not be one central database that every lookup contacts: prefix registries, authority bindings, and resolution records may be replicated, cached, or distributed under consistent rules.

Example

In that proposal, issuing the Wellzai paper's identity writes the RID, its first RRN, its binding to the Wellzai space, and an issuance event in a single transaction. A later transfer to the RSM space adds a successor name and a new binding while keeping the old ones in history, with effective periods.

A common misconception

“The registry is where the content lives.” It is where identities, names, authority, and bindings live. Another misconception is that a registry exists today: no RSM ID registry is operating, and nothing on this site has been issued.

That staging matters because persistence is a promise about operations as much as syntax: backups, succession, and tested recovery are what let a registry keep its word for decades.

Each identity has an Identity Record in the registry. The Prefix Registry allocates prefixes; the Authority Registry records issuance authority.

In the specification

Responsibilities: Document 08 §5.1. Hierarchy: §5.2. Independence: §5.5. Reference entities: Document 09 §4.1.