CE/Registry Resources Walkthrough

Currently our API always uses json to send and receive data, so always use the Content-Type: application/json header on your requests.

We share resources on the metadataregistry by sending envelopes of data.

The envelopes are organized in "communities", the CE/Registry is a community.

For accessing info about the available communities you can use:

GET /info

Almost all resources on our system have an info endpoint so you can access api-docs and metadata about that resource. So, for example, to access info about the 'ce-registry' community you can do:

GET /ce-registry/info

Each envelope has a well defined structure which contains an encoded resource.

These resources are json-ld objects, which has a json-schema definition. They are encoded, on the envelope, using JWT, so you will need and RSA key pair.

Lets go step-by-step on how to deliver our first envelope of data for the 'credential_registry' community.

1 - Resource

As said before, the resources are community specific and they have a corresponding json-schema. The current schema definitions for 'ce-registry' are:

Organization:
- schema definition
- get schema from api: GET /schemas/ce_registry/organization
- sample data
Credential:
- schema definition
- get schema from api: GET /schemas/ce_registry/credential
- sample data

The resource json-ld usually uses a context as the following:

"@context": {
  "schema": "http://schema.org/",
  "dc": "http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/",
  "dct": "http://purl.org/terms/",
  "rdf": "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#",
  "rdfs": "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#",
  "ceterms": "http://purl.org/ceterms/terms/"
}

The valid @type entries are:

For the organization json-schema:
- ceterms:CredentialOrganization
For the credential json-schema:
- ceterms:Credential
- ceterms:Badge
- ceterms:DigitalBadge
- ceterms:OpenBadge
- ceterms:Certificate
- ceterms:ApprenticeshipCertificate
- ceterms:JourneymanCertificate
- ceterms:MasterCertificate
- ceterms:Certification
- ceterms:Degree
- ceterms:AssociateDegree
- ceterms:BachelorDegree
- ceterms:DoctoralDegree
- ceterms:ProfessionalDoctorate
- ceterms:ResearchDoctorate
- ceterms:MasterDegree
- ceterms:Diploma
- ceterms:GeneralEducationDevelopment
- ceterms:SecondarySchoolDiploma
- ceterms:License
- ceterms:MicroCredential
- ceterms:QualityAssuranceCredential

For simplicity, on this example we are going to use the minimal definition bellow:

create 'resource.json' with the content:

{
  "@context": {
    "schema": "http://schema.org/",
    "dc": "http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/",
    "dct": "http://purl.org/dc/terms/",
    "rdf": "http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#",
    "rdfs": "http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#",
    "ceterms": "http://purl.org/ctdl/terms/"
  },
  "@type": "ceterms:CredentialOrganization",
  "@id": "urn:ctid:e0959e98-78fd-495e-9189-ed7d3dafc70c",
  "ceterms:name": "Sample Org"
}

2 - Encode with JWT

The first step is to to ensure you have a RSA key pair, if you don't please check the Getting started Guide.
No prior registration is required in order to interact with the API. All you need is a RSA key pair.
You can use any JWT lib to encode, but if you have a ruby environment we provide a script bin/jwt_encode. You can just run:
```
ruby bin/jwt_encode resource.json ~/.ssh/id_rsa
```
The output will contain an encoded string for our resource.
If you are using another lib/language keep in mind that since you are using a RSA key, you should encode using a compatible hash algorithm, for example RS256.

3 - Generate the envelope

The envelope follows this structure:

{
  "envelope_type": "resource_data",
  "envelope_version": "1.0.0",
  "envelope_community": "ce_registry",
  "resource": /* JWT encoded resource from the previous step */,
  "resource_format": "json",
  "resource_encoding": "jwt",
  "resource_public_key": /* Public key in PEM format, e.g. the content from '~/.ssh/id_rsa.pem', be aware of line breaks */
}

Where:

envelope_type: Defines the type of the envelope. For now, the only accepted value is resource_data
envelope_version: The version that our envelope is using
envelope_community: The community for this envelope. All envelopes are organized on communities, each of these has different resource schemas. In this case we use ce_registry.
resource: The JWT encoded content we just generated
resource_format: Internal format of our resource. Can be json or xml
resource_encoding: The algorithm used to encode the resource. In our case it's jwt, but in the future we could support other encodings, such as MIME
resource_public_key: the public key in the PEM format whose private part was used to sign the resource. This is strictly needed for signature validation purposes

For our example:

create an 'envelope.json' with:

{
  "envelope_type": "resource_data",
  "envelope_version": "1.0.0",
  "envelope_community": "ce_registry",
  "resource": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiJ9.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.TVFa5Zjg07MDQ6XqdFYV2-9mevBA3BnzwHHj1ohXQ1eYvVRFPq63URd9x0atQ4B7vxI311gla7YW7tyT3o3AzFuLiylLlluFlXcomHYyEoWxTVlXOfaYsSdlYrA853cOoghahCS5_OxkPG5bV9jLt4nuovfbEbBZLQIcedh2g1fu2efHY7xoc3DrVQ4tNSYL4QKpOqdl3S-ccD-BP-dwx_lriwEQNZ8mI6N0BdRZDQHfksrkR4KApOoe19yQzUbS57XAnZFv5xvTowCavko4SZwgNcpcXYUhBx8UcAc6LH_0zDV-6bsjT1nv9VQV2taBfks16S99xwzbwV6IewVcWQ",
  "resource_format": "json",
  "resource_encoding": "jwt",
  "resource_public_key": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAp32A8vGxAxwgVM1pLNUb\nPH0WPB1tX6ASoyOcXvCuW0cTHGdxnbYY+3TbLmjBQSUiznUXWGO3eqTK9YU8kKAo\nApXtOZNwjBLxp5K3xZNjGv9mryqWiGN4IPQWvTR2lvLmPpNOPEhJETL9Hq9Lzzzk\nV0R/bdd2+5WxF83gV9tSH1FfmrEF5RZk8QoLCxdWxmymwF69M6AjV8KQnbZJazYK\n7dbei60Bs8Hy8OV23ehiW5kvUt7DUPBKxVtHvTySE2Ntmd/0Ib/s2bCIfZGJv2ts\nMerRRr665jRCQ43xU043qSPBLUa7TlWWiyqi5UUiWAlyPHXtxaaDJUajIYJD/1os\nCwIDAQAB\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
}

You can check the envelope schema definition on:
- schema definition
- get schema from api: GET /schemas/envelope

4 - POST to the API:

POST /ce_registry/resources < envelope.json

# or if you want to use the default community, simply omit the community name

POST /resources < envelope.json

This should return a 201 created response with the decoded resource in it.

5 - Errors:

If any validation error occurs you will receive an 422 unprocessable_entity with a json payload containing a list of validation errors.

{
  "errors": [/* list of validation error messages */],
  "json_schema": [ /* list of relevant json-schemas used for this resource validation */]
}

Whenever an error happens, you should receive a descriptive error message. If that is not the case, please contact us.

6 - Retrieve the resource:

To retrieve a resource, simply use the resource's ID.

GET /ce_registry/resources/urn:ctid:e0959e98-78fd-495e-9189-ed7d3dafc70c

# or again, simply omit the community name if you want to use the default

GET /resources/urn:ctid:e0959e98-78fd-495e-9189-ed7d3dafc70c

7 - Updating the resource:

To update the resource you have to PUT an updated resource in an envelope.

PUT /ce_registry/resources/urn:ctid:e0959e98-78fd-495e-9189-ed7d3dafc70c < envelope.json

# or again, simply omit the community name if you want to use the default

PUT /resources/urn:ctid:e0959e98-78fd-495e-9189-ed7d3dafc70c < envelope.json

8 - Deleting Resources

In order to delete a resource, make a DELETE request with an envelope following this specification in the payload:

{
  "envelope_community":"ce_registry",
  "delete_token":"eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiJ9.eyJkZWxldGUiOnRydWV9.CEdAcsR-qKrjmwXHdxxJWsrH2zltQzhyfv8R0Adm08ckWpXNw4ZDEzJFCMP8QP4p_Qaun5rmK6IoFXA_xtTJ_xGVtLEVXt5ajpgyUubbgVj33nUxxPhCWhjHWssbdw6wYIUl2Ny0nKU5jSDt-eiJ3bhAtykFzi3teqqM3sl8OQEMPwxSrxTevJxpFcT0874Ymb5_8bjQ_GygqvD_dx6z3vy9UkS6ZffYb_CCYub1u-nFD9kHb7mhLZwAuOEA5DOGJT4pflK8rdAJUz9OwyMAO4yRK2ZYvjPBNkQPyNIBzescGTI8P7FkoE2JRVsPwuh5wncnSmE7XLsjr84pioAWkQ",
  "delete_token_format":"json",
  "delete_token_encoding":"jwt",
  "delete_token_public_key":"-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\nMIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAp32A8vGxAxwgVM1pLNUb\nPH0WPB1tX6ASoyOcXvCuW0cTHGdxnbYY+3TbLmjBQSUiznUXWGO3eqTK9YU8kKAo\nApXtOZNwjBLxp5K3xZNjGv9mryqWiGN4IPQWvTR2lvLmPpNOPEhJETL9Hq9Lzzzk\nV0R/bdd2+5WxF83gV9tSH1FfmrEF5RZk8QoLCxdWxmymwF69M6AjV8KQnbZJazYK\n7dbei60Bs8Hy8OV23ehiW5kvUt7DUPBKxVtHvTySE2Ntmd/0Ib/s2bCIfZGJv2ts\nMerRRr665jRCQ43xU043qSPBLUa7TlWWiyqi5UUiWAlyPHXtxaaDJUajIYJD/1os\nCwIDAQAB\n-----END PUBLIC KEY-----\n"
}

where:

envelope_community: 'ce_registry'
delete_token: is any json encoded in JWT using your key pair. This is used to guarantee that it's you who are sending the request (only the bearer of the private key, can provide a valid token). For example: you can use the json {"delete": true}
delete_token_format: only json for now
delete_token_encoding: only jwt for now
delete_token_public_key: It has to be the same key used to create the resource, i.e: only the creator can delete. A different key would cause a Signature verification raised error.

Regarding the responses:

204 No Content is the success response, indicating that this resource was successfully deleted.
422 Unprocessable Entity indicates validation errors, check the body for the messages.

http DELETE /ce_registry/resources/urn:ctid:e0959e98-78fd-495e-9189-ed7d3dafc70c < delete_envelope.json

# or again, simply omit the community name if you want to use the default

http DELETE /resources/urn:ctid:e0959e98-78fd-495e-9189-ed7d3dafc70c < delete_envelope.json

9 - Get a list of envelopes

In addition to the /resources endpoint, the API offers an /envelopes endpoint. You can use it to retrieve a list of all envelopes (and their embedded resources).

GET /ce-registry/envelopes

Use the page and per_page params to control pagination.

The pagination info is included in the Link header.


Link: <https://example-url.com/ce-registry/envelopes?page=3&per_page=100>; rel="next",
 <https://example-url.com/ce-registry/envelopes?page=50&per_page=100>; rel="last"

The possible rel values are:

next : The link relation for the immediate next page of results.
last : The link relation for the last page of results.
first : The link relation for the first page of results.
prev : The link relation for the immediate previous page of results.

10 - Requesting deleted envelopes

Since deleting an envelope is purely logical, i.e. envelopes are only marked as deleted, you can retrieve deleted records using query parameters.

Add these parameters to any API request to include the deleted records into the result set:

?include_deleted=true - returns all records including deleted ones
?include_deleted=only - returns only deleted records

For example: GET /ce-registry/envelopes?include_deleted=true - should return a list of envelopes including the deleted ones.

These parameters also work with search requests. Read more about searching envelopes.

11 - Configuring the default community

A default community can be configured both globally (See db/seeds.rb) as well as per server host (See config/envelope_communities.json).

For more info check our swagger docs and the json-schemas.

If you have any questions or suggestion, please open an issue on GitHub.

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02_ce-registry_walkthrough.md

02_ce-registry_walkthrough.md

CE/Registry Resources Walkthrough

1 - Resource

2 - Encode with JWT

3 - Generate the envelope

4 - POST to the API:

5 - Errors:

6 - Retrieve the resource:

7 - Updating the resource:

8 - Deleting Resources

9 - Get a list of envelopes

10 - Requesting deleted envelopes

11 - Configuring the default community

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02_ce-registry_walkthrough.md

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CE/Registry Resources Walkthrough

1 - Resource

2 - Encode with JWT

3 - Generate the envelope

4 - POST to the API:

5 - Errors:

6 - Retrieve the resource:

7 - Updating the resource:

8 - Deleting Resources

9 - Get a list of envelopes

10 - Requesting deleted envelopes

11 - Configuring the default community