Identity
Overview

Identity

Your identity on Superhero is your æternity address plus whatever you choose to attach to it. Attachments are provider links in the AddressLink contract, each authorised by your own signature over a nonce-bearing message. There is no account to be locked out of, and only you can remove a link.

The shape of an identity

LayerWhat it isWhere it lives
Addressak_… public key derived from your seedThe æternity chain; you hold the key
Preferred AENS nameA .chain name you own and linkedAddressLink, provider prefaens, ownership checked on chain
Chain nameAn AENS name resolved for your addressThe Superhero API, refreshed hourly from the middleware
X handleAn X handle you linked after OAuthAddressLink, provider x
Nostr keyThe npub your chat identity usesAddressLink, provider nostr
Bio and websiteFree-text linksAddressLink, providers bio and site
Fullname, avatar, usernameLegacy profile fields, read-onlyThe Superhero API

A name is never the identity. Resolution always ends at an address, and the name types differ in how much evidence backs them. See Names.

In this section

  • SuperheroID: what an identity links, what is on chain, and how a third party verifies each link.
  • AddressLink: the contract reference: data model, entrypoints, events, providers and the signed message format.
  • Names: the name types, and how a public name is resolved.
  • Chain Names (AENS): registering, pointing, extending and losing a .chain name, including the sponsored free claim.
  • Verifying Your X Account: the OAuth plus claim-sign-submit flow, in enough detail to reimplement.
  • Profiles & Accounts: what an account page shows, which fields are editable, and how each edit is authorised.
  • Identity and DIDs: how the model maps onto W3C DID Core.

Related

  • On-chain social: why identity, content and money share one address on Superhero.
  • Chat: the nostr link, and the pipeline that consumes it for token-gated rooms.
  • Accounts and keys: where an ak_ address comes from.
TroubleshootingSuperheroID