DID Resolution

DID resolution is the process of taking a DID string and producing the corresponding DID Document — the public record that contains verification keys, authentication methods, and service endpoints.

Resolution Flow

1. Parse DID — extract the method name (e.g., sns, pki, web, key)
2. Route to handler — select the method-specific resolver
3. Fetch DID Document — the handler queries the appropriate source (on-chain, HTTP, certificate store)
4. Extract public key — the relying party reads verification methods from the document

DID Document Structure

 {
  "@context": ["https://www.w3.org/ns/did/v1"],
  "id": "did:sns:attestto.sol",
  "verificationMethod": [{
    "id": "did:sns:attestto.sol#key-1",
    "type": "Ed25519VerificationKey2020",
    "controller": "did:sns:attestto.sol",
    "publicKeyMultibase": "z6Mkf5rGMoatrSj1f..."
  }],
  "authentication": ["did:sns:attestto.sol#key-1"],
  "assertionMethod": ["did:sns:attestto.sol#key-1"]
} 

Universal Resolver Pattern

Rather than hard-coding each DID method, a universal resolver dispatches to the correct handler based on the method prefix. Attestto's resolver supports did:sns, did:pki, did:web, did:key, and did:sol.

The wallet-identity-resolver Package

 npm install @attestto/wallet-identity-resolver 

Code Example

 import { resolve } from '@attestto/wallet-identity-resolver'

// Resolve a DID to its DID Document
const doc = await resolve('did:sns:attestto.sol')

// Extract the first public key
const key = doc.verificationMethod[0]
console.log('Key type:', key.type)
console.log('Public key:', key.publicKeyMultibase)

// Check if a specific key is authorized for authentication
const canAuth = doc.authentication.includes(key.id)
console.log('Authorized for auth:', canAuth) 

Supported Methods

• did:sns — Solana Name Service (human-readable)
• did:pki — PKI bridge (X.509 certificates)
• did:web — DNS-based (hosted DID Documents)
• did:key — Self-contained (public key in the DID)
• did:sol — Solana public key