How LearnCard Works
The two-minute mental model — the integration flow, three layers, and one credential's journey.
LearnCard's mission is to help people collect, understand, and navigate their learning records, but the developer model is built around a simple flow: Issuer → Credential → Holder → Verifier.
The Integration Flow
Issuer
Your server (or CLI)
send() or /api/send
Delivery
LearnCard hosts
Universal Inbox
Holder
Recipient's device
Wallet app or SDK
Verifier
Your server or app
verifyCredential()
Three layers
LearnCard is the wallet app and SDK. Signing and verification use a Rust core compiled to native and WebAssembly for web, iOS, Android, and Node.
LearnCloud provides APIs for network delivery, user-controlled encrypted storage, and AI analysis. Each API can be used independently.
Open standards support interoperability. LearnCard issues W3C Verifiable Credentials, usually Open Badges 3.0, that work with conformant wallets and verifiers. LearnCard also accepts credentials from other systems.
One credential's journey
You issue it. Your seed (or a hosted signing authority you registered) signs a credential naming you as issuer. It's now tamper-evident: anyone can check the signature without asking you.
You send it. To a profile, a DID, or — for someone with no account — an email or phone via the Universal Inbox. They get a claim link.
They hold it. After claiming, the credential is stored encrypted in the person's own storage, under a DID they control. You can't revoke their copy of the data — only mark the credential's status.
They share it. With a verifier, an employer, another app — through consent the person grants and can withdraw. Verifiers check the signature and status; they don't need to call you.
The issuer's key signs the credential. Before claiming, an email recipient has no key and the credential waits in the inbox. After claiming, the holder's key controls storage and sharing. Verifiers need neither key.
Where to go deeper
Full architecture, including how a credential moves through every component → Ecosystem Architecture
Why open standards are the point, not a feature → Interoperability
The credential formats themselves → Verifiable Credentials, Boosts
Identity and keys → DIDs, Storing your issuer seed
Consent → ConsentFlow Overview
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