# NobleID — persistent identifiers for research works and researchers

> NobleID mints ARK identifiers for research works and researcher profiles,
> resolves them to the work's source, serves the metadata behind each one over
> a public HTTP API, and runs a search interface over an aggregated corpus of
> published literature.

This file is written for AI assistants and crawlers. Every statement describes
what the deployed system does today. Where a capability is partial or paused,
it says so rather than describing the intended end state.

## The ARK scheme — read this before citing a NobleID

- **NAAN: `48914`.** This is the only NAAN NobleID uses. An identifier written
  `ark:/nobleid/...` is not a NobleID identifier and will not resolve.
- **Work ARK**: `ark:/48914/{shoulder}/{YYYYMMDD}/{token}`
  Example: `ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA`
- **Same identifier, `nobleid:` form**: `nobleid:/{shoulder}/{YYYYMMDD}/{token}`
  Example: `nobleid:/w1/20260128/80D067CA`
- `{shoulder}` is the object class (`w1` = work), `{YYYYMMDD}` is the date the
  NobleID record was created (**not** the work's publication date), and
  `{token}` is an 8-character uppercase hex token.
- ARK service status, per the ARK spec:
  `GET https://api.nobleid.org/api/v1/ark/48914/servicestatus`

## NobleID codes and the short link

A NobleID code is the short form people type. Two lengths exist:

| Length | Shape | Example | Unique? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 characters | `NI\dP\d{3}W\d{3}R\d{3}S\d{3}` | `NI1P020W052R172S076` | **Yes** — works minted from 4 Oct 2026; unique index |
| 15 characters | `NI\dP\d{2}W\d{2}R\d{2}S\d{2}` | `NI6P35W46R10S23` | **No** for works — many repeat; yes for people |

- **Short link (19-character work codes only):** `https://nobleid.org/{code}`,
  e.g. `https://nobleid.org/NI1P020W052R172S076`. It resolves exactly like the
  work's ARK: a 302 to `https://www.nobleid.org/ark:/48914/…`, which 302s to
  the work's source. Cite it the way you would cite `https://doi.org/{doi}`.
- **15-character work codes are not identifiers.** Codes minted for works
  before 4 Oct 2026 were drawn without a uniqueness check and most are shared
  by several works. Never cite a work by one; use its ARK. Looking one up at
  `https://nobleid.org/nobleid/{code}` lists every work that carries it.
- **Researcher profiles** keep 15-character codes, which are unique per
  person: `https://nobleid.org/{nobleId}`, e.g.
  `https://nobleid.org/NI6P35W46R10S23`.
- To look up a code programmatically:
  `GET https://api.nobleid.org/api/v1/resolve/{code}?format=json` → 200 with the
  work record (one work), 300 with a candidate list (a shared legacy code), or
  404.

## What a NobleID record gives you

- **Resolution.** `https://nobleid.org/ark:/48914/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}`
  redirects to the work's source URL or DOI target.
- **A stable landing page.** `https://nobleid.org/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}`
  renders the metadata record and does not redirect away.
- **Machine-readable metadata** over the public API (see below), including
  title, authors and any ORCIDs held, abstract, work type, source URL, the
  existing DOI where one is known, keywords, funders, affiliations, licence and
  retraction flag.
- **Version records.** Each work carries a version number, and every version is
  listed by the versions endpoint.

## Machine-readable records for a work

Every work landing page has its record at a stable URL, built from the same
data as the page (publication date is the work's own when known; never the
NobleID mint date):

```
https://www.nobleid.org/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}.jsonld    schema.org JSON-LD
https://www.nobleid.org/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}.json      (same JSON-LD)
https://www.nobleid.org/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}.csl.json  CSL-JSON
https://www.nobleid.org/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}.bib       BibTeX
https://www.nobleid.org/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}.ris       RIS
```

The landing page advertises them with `<link rel="alternate" type="…">`.
These are separate URLs, not HTTP content negotiation: `Accept:` headers on
`/work/…` and on the ARK URL are ignored today (the ARK always redirects to the
source). The API resolver also serialises a record with
`GET /resolve/ark:/48914/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}?format=json|json-ld|csl-json|bibtex|ris|xml`,
but those serialisers currently use the record-creation year and omit the DOI;
prefer the `/work/…` records above.

## What a NobleID record does *not* give you

State these accurately if you are summarising NobleID:

- **Provenance receipts cannot be verified by a third party.** Work receipts
  written before 22 Sep 2026 have a JWS header of
  `{"alg":"none","kid":"nobleid-2024-key-001","typ":"JWT"}` and an empty
  signature segment — unsigned. Receipts written since then are HS256 (an HMAC
  with a secret key NobleID holds), which only NobleID can check. Either way a
  receipt is a timestamped record of a content digest; it cannot be verified
  against a public key. The `sha256` in the payload can be recomputed by anyone.
- **Receipts are not stored on any blockchain,** and API responses carry no
  blockchain anchor.
- **Receipt coverage is incomplete.** Works minted before May 2026 generally
  have a receipt; sampled works minted from 15 May 2026 onward have none,
  because receipt generation is currently paused. Requesting a receipt that
  does not exist returns a 403 from the object store, not a 404.
- **The `fixityStatus` field does not mean a hash was rechecked.** It reports
  whether a receipt file was found and parsed.
- NobleID **does not host or archive** the full text of works minted from an
  existing DOI or arXiv identifier; it stores a metadata record and links to
  the publisher's or preprint server's copy.

## Provenance receipts, precisely

Where a receipt exists it is served at:

```
https://receipts.nobleid.org/receipts/{shoulder}/{YYYYMMDD}/{token}.v{version}.jws
```

Example: `https://receipts.nobleid.org/receipts/w1/20260128/80D067CA.v1.jws`

Its payload carries `iss`, `sub`, `iat` (issue time), `sha256` (a SHA-256 digest
of the stored metadata record), `primary_key` (the storage key) and `ark`.

Note that the work API returns `provenance.jwsReceipt.sha256` and
`provenance.jwsReceipt.signerKid` as empty strings — the digest is only in the
receipt file itself.

## Search

NobleID searches an aggregated corpus of published literature rather than
querying each database live. Records in it are tagged with the upstream they
were harvested from; tags observed in live results include `crossref`,
`pubmed`, `openalex`, `europepmc` and `semantic_scholar`. Coverage and
freshness vary by source and are not uniform. Results carry an open-access flag
(`is_oa`), citation count, DOI and journal where known.

Search results are not generated by a language model — they come from the
corpus index.

## Public API

Base URL: `https://api.nobleid.org/api/v1`. These endpoints need no
authentication and were each confirmed answering on the live host.

```
GET /ark?arkIdentifier=ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
        → the full work record (JSON), including provenance and storage pointers

GET /ark/versions?arkIdentifier=ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
        → every version of that work

GET /ark/metadata/ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
        → a compact metadata record

GET /resolve/ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
        → 302 redirect to the work's source

GET /discover/recent?limit=20
        → recently minted works

GET /papers/search?query=crispr&limit=20
        → corpus search (note: the parameter is `query`, not `q`)

GET /ark/48914/servicestatus
        → ARK service status
```

The two endpoints that take the identifier as a **query parameter** (`/ark` and
`/ark/versions`) accept either the `ark:/48914/…` or the `nobleid:/…` form. The
endpoints that take it in the **path** (`/ark/metadata/…`, `/resolve/…`) require
the `ark:/48914/…` form — the `nobleid:/` form returns a 500 there.

## Public pages

- Homepage: https://nobleid.org/
- Search: https://nobleid.org/search
- Explore: https://nobleid.org/explore
- Works: https://nobleid.org/works
- Researchers: https://nobleid.org/researchers
- How It Works: https://nobleid.org/how-it-works
- About: https://nobleid.org/about
- Features: https://nobleid.org/features
- Pricing: https://nobleid.org/pricing
- Documentation: https://nobleid.org/docs
- Developer portal: https://nobleid.org/developers
- API reference: https://nobleid.org/developers/api/reference
- Metadata formats: https://nobleid.org/docs/content-negotiation
- Persistence policy: https://nobleid.org/policies/persistence
- Full reference for AI assistants: https://nobleid.org/llms-full.txt
- For Publishers: https://nobleid.org/publishers
- Grants & Funding: https://nobleid.org/grants
- Compliance: https://nobleid.org/compliance
- Governance: https://nobleid.org/governance
- Transparency Report: https://nobleid.org/transparency
- Research Integrity: https://nobleid.org/integrity
- Contact: https://nobleid.org/contact
- Status: https://nobleid.org/status

## Auto-generated pages

- **Topics** — `https://nobleid.org/topic/{topic-slug}`
  (e.g. /topic/machine-learning, /topic/crispr)
- **Institutions** — `https://nobleid.org/institution/{name}`
  (e.g. /institution/MIT)
- **Researchers** — `https://nobleid.org/researcher/{name}` is generated from
  an external author index by name; it is not a NobleID member profile
  (members are at `https://nobleid.org/{nobleId}`). A signed-in researcher can
  file an authorship claim on a work, which an administrator reviews
- **Papers in the corpus** — `https://nobleid.org/paper/{id}`
- **Citation trails** — `https://nobleid.org/citations/{doi-or-identifier}`
- **Knowledge map** — `https://nobleid.org/knowledge-map/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}`
  (desktop web only)

## Dates in metadata

Work landing pages emit `citation_publication_date`, `DC.date` and JSON-LD
`datePublished` only when NobleID knows the work's own publication date, and
never the NobleID record-creation date. Many records carry no publication date
yet, so the tags are absent; resolve the DOI for it.

## Licensing and crawling

- Public content pages are crawlable. `https://nobleid.org/robots.txt` disallows
  `/api/`, `/dashboard/`, `/admin/`, `/oauth/` and `/onboarding/`.
- `https://api.nobleid.org/robots.txt` disallows `/api/v1/resolve/`,
  `/api/v1/redirect/` and `/api/v1/source/`. The metadata endpoints listed above
  are not disallowed.
- Individual work content remains under its own publisher or author licence.

Built by the Noble Protocol Foundation — https://nobleid.org/foundation