Credential types
The type says what a credential is — a person identification document, a driving licence, a diploma — and therefore which claims it carries.
Type versus format
Two different things, easily conflated. The type is the meaning; the format is the encoding. The same mobile driving licence can exist as an mdoc and as an SD-JWT VC — same type, different wire representation.
| Type | Typically carries |
|---|---|
| PID | Name, date of birth, nationality, national identifier |
| mDL | Licence number, categories, expiry, portrait |
| Age verification | A single attestation, often just over-18 |
| Diploma, professional licence, membership | Whatever the issuing authority asserts |
Types are agreed, not invented
A verifier can only ask for a type it knows how to interpret, so types are defined by rulebooks and catalogues rather than per-issuer. In LutraID a type is a document type: a catalogue entry with claims, formats and an authority. See Create a credential template.