The OpenID Foundation is pleased to announce implementers will be able to start self-certifying their implementations in February 26th 2026 for OpenID for Verifiable Presentations (OpenID4VP) 1.0, OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance (OpenID4VCI) 1.0 and High Assurance Interoperability Profile (HAIP) 1.0 implementations through the OpenID Foundation's conformance testing platform. 

Organizations developing wallets, issuers, and/or verifiers in any of the 38 jurisdictions that have selected the OpenID for Verifiable Credential specifications can start using the free, open source tests. All the OpenID Foundation tests can be run locally or via OpenID Foundation servers - whichever the implementer prefers. The tests empower developers to mature and debug their code anytime, with many developers choosing to integrate the tests into their Continuous Integration pipelines via the published API. 

Once the self-certification program launches, implementers will have the additional option (but not the obligation) to submit their self-certified logs for review by the OpenID Foundation, then the OpenID Foundation will publish the results on OpenID.net/certification.   

Benefits of self-certification 

As digital credentials move from pilot programs to production scale deployments, both consistency and quality of implementations are essential for ecosystem success.

Self-certified implementations benefit from:

• Tooling to build code against efficiently, saving developer and testing resources
• Minimal risk of security, interoperability or operational issues at the protocol level, through comprehensive positive and negative tests regularly maintained by the same non-profit that is home to the technical standards
• Compatibility with other implementations building to the same standards locally, regionally and globally
• Independent third party review by a trusted, technical standards body that has published four thousand self-certifications
• A public commitment to global open standards, interoperability and technical excellence visible to customers, partners and regulators
• Transparent, non-profit pricing designed to deliver on the OpenID Foundation's mission and vision, ensuring the community fully realises the benefits of the standards.

Credential presentation: OpenID4VP 1.0 + HAIP 1.0

Tests for online presentation already cover both the SD-JWT and mdoc credential formats, enabling implementers to demonstrate support for the leading verifiable credential types deployed globally.

Implementers will be able to assert that their implementations correctly handle credential requests, presentation protocols, and verification workflows across these different credential types and security profiles.

The tests are available here: OpenID for Verifiable Presentation 1.0 + HAIP 1.0

Credential issuance: OpenID4VCI 1.0 + HAIP 1.0

Current tests focus on SD-JWT credentials, with mdoc support planned for release in the weeks ahead. 

The tests are available here: OpenID for Verifiable Credential Issuance 1.0 + HAIP 1.0

Mature tests

The OpenID for Verifiable Credential family of tests live on OpenID.net. They have been proven out through 11 interop events in 2025 by expert contributors to the Digital Credentials Protocols Working Group. Over the next couple of months, further positive and negative tests will be added for completeness, along with detailed developer guides. The tests will continue to be maintained in the years ahead as ecosystems across the globe mature. For more information on prior interop events, please visit the OpenID Foundation blog posts about the events. 

Localising tests

The tests can be configured or profiled to support local or regional ecosystem requirements, like those of the EUDIW program, California DMV, NIST NCCoE, UK and Swiss governments. The OpenID Foundation already collaborates with most of the ecosystems that have selected the OpenID for Verifiable Credential family or specs to support their local and regional needs.  

Shortly after self-certification launches in February, the OpenID Foundation will also launch accreditation services in Q2 2026 (announced by the OpenID Foundation board earlier this year) with pilot partnerships in development now. Accreditation of local managing entities and accredited labs further supports local sovereignty and integration of the OpenID Foundation's capabilities into wider conformance regimes. 

Regardless of whether self-certification or accreditation works best for a specific ecosystem or implementation, the OpenID Foundation offers a gold standard of excellence in establishing  conformance to the OpenID Foundation's specs. 

For ecosystems interested in discussing a localised approach, please contact the OpenID Foundation at certification@openid.net to explore the options. The OpenID Foundation’s aspiration is to ensure subject matter expertise and learnings are scaled along with each ecosystem. 

Timing aligns with global deployment plans

The rollout of the OpenID for Verifiable Credential family of specifications this year and the launch of self-certification in February 2026 aligns with many national and regional digital wallet deployment roadmaps worldwide. 

National and regional governments, such as the European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the Western Balkans are just a few that have committed to OpenID specifications for their digital credential infrastructure. For example, the European Union's Digital Identity Wallet initiative continues expanding across member states, with production launches planned throughout 2026. 

Many of these jurisdictions have conformance as a core part of their roadmap, and for many it is or will be a part of their regulatory framework as well. Many ecosystems will expect participants to demonstrate conformance to OpenID Foundation standards. 

The OpenID Foundation expects its conformance tests and tooling to complement local regulatory frameworks, offering a gold standard that helps avert fragmentation at the testing layer - fragmentation which could undermine the security, interoperability and operational scale benefits of the specifications. 

As an example of ecosystem collaboration, the OpenID Foundation committed this week  to support the next phase of European Commission and ETSI collaboration, as announced at the EUDIW launchpad standard panel on December 11th, and the EUDIW Resource Hub launched by OpenID Foundation the same day.   

About the OpenID Foundation

The OpenID Foundation (OIDF) is a global open standards body committed to helping people assert their identity wherever they choose. Founded in 2007, we are a community of technical experts leading the creation of open identity standards that are secure, interoperable, and privacy preserving. The Foundation’s OpenID Connect standard is now used by billions of people across millions of applications. In the last five years, the FAPI standard for interoperable, high security, OAuth2 has become the standard of choice for Open Banking and Open Data implementations, allowing people to access and share data across entities. Today, the OpenID Foundation’s standards are the connective tissue to enable people to assert their identity and access their data at scale, the scale of the internet, enabling “networks of networks” to interoperate globally. Individuals, companies, governments and non-profits are encouraged to join or participate. Find out more at openid.net.

To learn more about conformance testing and self-certification, please visit the OpenID Foundation’s FAQ section.