How to Build Digital Credentials using Solana Attestation Service

What is Solana Attestation Service?

The Solana Attestation Service (SAS) is a powerful on-chain credentialing system that enables developers to create, manage, and verify digital attestations on the Solana blockchain. Think of it as a decentralized way to issue and verify credentials, certificates, badges, or any form of digital proof that someone or something meets certain criteria.

SAS introduces powerful capabilities for associating offchain data with on-chain accounts, building trust and identity systems, including:

• Compliance Systems - Provable KYC/AML status
• Professional Credentials - Verification of professional certificates or degrees
• Gaming Achievements - Issuance of badges/milestone recognition
• Event Attendance - Proof of participation
• Loyalty - Rewards users for engagement, volume, etc.

Attestations can then be consumed by service providers (e.g., DEXs, DAOs, or other platforms) to vet users and gate services based on their credentials (e.g., enable VIP Members to access unique content on a website or Accredited Investors to participate in certain on-chain investment opportunities).

This guide will walk you through creating a complete attestation script that:

• Creates a new credential with authorized signers
• Defines a schema for the type of data we want to attest
• Issues an attestation to a specific user
• Updates authorized signers for enhanced security
• Verifies attestations for both attested and non-attested users
• Closes an attestation (effectively revoking a user's credential)

The end goal will be to see a working attestation system in action:

Starting Solana Attestation Service Demo
 
1. Setting up wallets and funding payer...
    - Airdrop completed: 384wkVUZsyuk53Npyy5N29tWTRA6dGe82b6fpBa4gKMDHoZYsb3iNAUfYMD6Lo2V3MYJeDhk8xvEDrmyxjeW2xdB
 
2. Creating Credential...
    - Credential created - Signature: 5LnkP762S9yvcLxFUVU7N3Mzen5Tqp8abC4h1rJYZn1vCviq7GpyFvUNVneVd8btiV7KK6pe5NEpXvwtTXK96gM1
    - Credential PDA: 3yB9Xrgg73oWxuQv8564q9LwwRL2rX2fjZD7ssy3X4M3
 
3.  Creating Schema...
    - Schema created - Signature: 4qHfY6FfjsUrssymRDWgShgr2sxRgWTbSdHxnJhgus7Cra5t6n6f4snhPDDkMyAX9bkqpD7aMCbKUpoJnD9NXzoS
    - Schema PDA: FfNqeLfPHy4p7FPgH2LDTm9gzVWSDcupA3LUhiMEzBXw
 
4. Creating Attestation...
    - Attestation created - Signature: 3czDWMmDkZEJbww7qfphcKe96vJJMAawFk2DedbknrzVpBSJ5fGBjtEK1aZHsYzvj8QLvRcadohEaxANNb4c4nUN
    - Attestation PDA: 6JEEL89jNXvxk63N6ND8njsp6e1Ve8BLZYShYNfjFajR
 
5. Updating Authorized Signers...
    - Authorized signers updated - Signature: 23V3bmTYnKUA6fT9WnchFmKi7bNj9biqxxnLBW9coUtkWhippu49PrY5fnefAcHWKofNDoojCicD2qJFq16RNz1Y
 
6. Verifying Attestations...
    - Attestation data: { name: 'test-user', age: 100, country: 'usa' }
    - Test User is verified
    - Random User is not verified
 
7. Closing Attestation...
    - Closed attestation - Signature: 5DS7GYpzKirWcusEgBhN3LGfX7D34q5rSQmbdNpCmzU5nYM1CUA4fJ3B9DRXwuiYNHvMnbBRSiMGDVJoCfLMc6ti
 
Solana Attestation Service demo completed successfully!

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, ensure you have:

• Node.js (v22 or later)
• Solana CLI v 2.2.x or greater
• Familiarity with Solana Program Derived Addresses (PDAs) and on-chain accounts
• TypeScript Experience

Understanding Solana Attestation Service

SAS provides a standardized way to create verifiable claims about entities (users, organizations, or even other programs) directly on Solana.

Core Concepts

The attestation system consists of three main components:

• Credentials - The top-level identity or organization that issues attestations. Think of this as a "university" that issues diplomas or the "company" that issues employee badges.
• Schemas - Define the structure and fields of data that can be attested. Schemas are essentially a template that specifies what information (name, age, skills, etc.) will be included in attestations.
• Attestations - Individual claims made about specific entities following a particular schema. These are the actual "diplomas" or "badges" issued to users.

Each of these components is represented on-chain as an account governed by the SAS Program: 22zoJMtdu4tQc2PzL74ZUT7FrwgB1Udec8DdW4yw4BdG.

Key Features

• Authority Management - Credentials can have multiple authorized signers who can issue attestations
• Expiration Support - Attestations can have expiration dates for time-sensitive credentials
• Structured Data - Schemas define typed data structures for consistent attestations
• Versioning - Schemas can be versioned for variations over time
• Pausable - Schemas can be paused, or disabled
• Verification - Anyone can verify if a user has a valid attestation for a specific credential
• Revocable - Attestations can be terminated by authorized signers defined in the Credential account.

Key Considerations

• Data Privacy - Because attestations are on-chain, the data can be read by anyone. Do not store personal identifiable or other sensitive information directly on chain. Consider what data to include directly vs. storing hashes of sensitive information off-chain.
• Trusted Credentials - anyone can create a credential/schema. Make sure you know/trust the credential provider if you are accepting an Attestation as verification of a user's credentials.
• User Verification - ensure connected wallets are actual users by requiring signing a message (e.g., Sign in with Solana or Supabase)
• Versioning - Note that Schemas are versioned, so you will need to establish business practices for monitoring and handling schema changes. This guide will walk you through using a single version–we will cover more advanced applications in a future guide.
• Performance - Verification checks can be batched and cached. For certain use cases, consider indexing services for applications that need to check many attestations frequently.

Project Setup

Let's start by creating our project structure:

mkdir solana-attestation-starter && cd solana-attestation-starter

Initialize a new Node.js project with the required dependencies

pnpm init
pnpm i sas-lib gill
pnpm i -D typescript ts-node @types/node

Create a tsconfig.json file:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es2020",
    "module": "nodenext",
    "lib": ["es2020"],
    "declaration": true,
    "outDir": "./dist",
    "rootDir": "./",
    "strict": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "resolveJsonModule": true,
    "moduleResolution": "nodenext"
  },
  "rootDir": "./", 
  "outDir": "./dist",
  "include": ["./"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist"]
}

Update your package.json scripts:

{
  "scripts": {
    "start": "ts-node attestation.ts",
    "build": "tsc"
  }
}

Implementation

Let's create our attestation.ts file and build it step by step:

Imports and Configuration

Start with the necessary imports and configuration:

import {
  getCreateCredentialInstruction,
  getCreateSchemaInstruction,
  serializeAttestationData,
  getCreateAttestationInstruction,
  fetchSchema,
  getChangeAuthorizedSignersInstruction,
  fetchAttestation,
  deserializeAttestationData,
  deriveAttestationPda,
  deriveCredentialPda,
  deriveSchemaPda,
  deriveEventAuthorityAddress,
  getCloseAttestationInstruction,
  SOLANA_ATTESTATION_SERVICE_PROGRAM_ADDRESS,
} from 'sas-lib'
import {
  airdropFactory,
  generateKeyPairSigner,
  lamports,
  Signature,
  TransactionSigner,
  Instruction,
  Address,
  Blockhash,
  createSolanaClient,
  createTransaction,
  SolanaClient,
} from 'gill'
import {
  estimateComputeUnitLimitFactory,
} from 'gill/programs'
 
const CONFIG = {
  CLUSTER_OR_RPC: 'devnet',
  CREDENTIAL_NAME: 'TEST-ORGANIZATION',
  SCHEMA_NAME: 'THE-BASICS',
  SCHEMA_LAYOUT: Buffer.from([12, 0, 12]),
  SCHEMA_FIELDS: ['name', 'age', 'country'],
  SCHEMA_VERSION: 1,
  SCHEMA_DESCRIPTION: 'Basic user information schema for testing',
  ATTESTATION_DATA: {
    name: 'Evan',
    age: 25,
    country: 'USA',
  },
  ATTESTATION_EXPIRY_DAYS: 365,
}

This sets up our basic configuration, including:

• Connection details: we'll be using our Solana devnet for this demo.
• Credential parameters (name and authorized signers)
• Schema definition (structure, fields, and description)
• Attestation data (the actual information we'll attest)

Schemas and Layouts

Before moving on, let's examine the Schema Layout and Fields we defined above. The SCHEMA_LAYOUT array defines the data types for each field in our attestation, where each number corresponds to a specific data type from the Solana Attestation Service's type system. In our example, Buffer.from([12, 0, 12]) maps to our three fields:

• the first 12 represents a String type for the "name" field,
• 0 represents a U8 integer type for the "age" field, and
• the final 12 represents another String type for the "country" field.

The SCHEMA_FIELDS array provides human-readable names that correspond one-to-one with the layout types. This approach ensures that when attestations are created, the data is properly typed and validated according to the schema definition. The available data types range from basic integers (U8, U16, U32, U64, U128) and signed integers (I8-I128) to booleans, characters, strings, and even vectors of these types, giving you flexibility in designing your attestation data structures. Check out the full list of options and mapping here.

Utility Functions

Next, let's add a couple of utility functions to handle keypair management and transaction confirmations:

async function setupWallets(client: SolanaClient) {
  try {
    const payer = await generateKeyPairSigner() // or loadKeypairSignerFromFile(path.join(process.env.PAYER))
    const authorizedSigner1 = await generateKeyPairSigner()
    const authorizedSigner2 = await generateKeyPairSigner()
    const issuer = await generateKeyPairSigner()
    const testUser = await generateKeyPairSigner()

    const airdrop = airdropFactory({ rpc: client.rpc, rpcSubscriptions: client.rpcSubscriptions })
    const airdropTx: Signature = await airdrop({
      commitment: 'processed',
      lamports: lamports(BigInt(1_000_000_000)),
      recipientAddress: payer.address
    })

    console.log(`    - Airdrop completed: ${airdropTx}`)
    return { payer, authorizedSigner1, authorizedSigner2, issuer, testUser }
  } catch (error) {
    throw new Error(`Failed to setup wallets: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'}`)
  }
}

Our setupWallets function creates five keypairs and airdrops SOL to our payer account:

These utility functions handle:

This should create five keypair files in the wallets directory:

• payer will be used to pay our transaction fees
• issuer will be the authority that creates our credential
• Two authorizedSigner keys will be authorized to create attestations
• testUser will receive the attestation we create

Next add a reusable function that will help us easily create and send transactions. Add the following to your code:

async function sendAndConfirmInstructions(
  client: SolanaClient,
  payer: TransactionSigner,
  instructions: Instruction[],
  description: string,
): Promise<Signature> {
  try {
    const simulationTx = createTransaction({
      version: 'legacy',
      feePayer: payer,
      instructions: instructions,
      latestBlockhash: {
        blockhash: '11111111111111111111111111111111' as Blockhash,
        lastValidBlockHeight: 0n,
      },
      computeUnitLimit: 1_400_000,
      computeUnitPrice: 1,
    })

    const estimateCompute = estimateComputeUnitLimitFactory({ rpc: client.rpc })
    const computeUnitLimit = await estimateCompute(simulationTx)
    const { value: latestBlockhash } = await client.rpc.getLatestBlockhash().send()
    const tx = createTransaction({
      version: 'legacy',
      feePayer: payer,
      instructions: instructions,
      latestBlockhash,
      computeUnitLimit,
      computeUnitPrice: 1, // In production, use dynamic pricing
    })

    const signature = await client.sendAndConfirmTransaction(tx)
    console.log(`    - ${description} - Signature: ${signature}`)
    return signature
  } catch (error) {
    throw new Error(`Failed to ${description.toLowerCase()}: ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : 'Unknown error'}`)
  }
}

Our function does two things:

1. First, we create a dummy transaction to simulate the total compute units required (more information on compute here).
2. Then we assemble our optimized transaction and send it to the network for processing.

Attestation Verification Function

Now let's add a verification function that demonstrates how to check if a user has a valid attestation. To verify a user's attestation, we will need to pass two pieces of information: the user's address (or other identifier associated with the user) and the Schema address that you want to validate against. Add the verifyAttestation function to your code and then we will walk through how it works:

async function verifyAttestation({
  client,
  schemaPda,
  userAddress
}: {
  client: SolanaClient
  schemaPda: Address
  userAddress: Address
}): Promise<boolean> {
  try {
    const schema = await fetchSchema(client.rpc, schemaPda)
    if (schema.data.isPaused) {
      console.log(`    -  Schema is paused`)
      return false
    }
    const [attestationPda] = await deriveAttestationPda({
      credential: schema.data.credential,
      schema: schemaPda,
      nonce: userAddress,
    })
    const attestation = await fetchAttestation(client.rpc, attestationPda)
    const attestationData = deserializeAttestationData(schema.data, attestation.data.data as Uint8Array)
    console.log(`    - Attestation data:`, attestationData)
    const currentTimestamp = BigInt(Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000))
    return currentTimestamp < attestation.data.expiry
  } catch (error) {
    return false
  }
}

This function:

• Fetches the Schema: check to ensure the schema is active
• Derives the attestation PDA for a specific user
• Deserializes the data to show what was attested
• Validates the attestation exists and hasn't expired

Additionally, if you know it, you could pass a credentialPda as a double check that your schema is correctly associated with the known credential.

Step 1: Setup

Now, let's build the main demonstration function that showcases the complete attestation workflow. Add the main function to your code -- we'll use this to outline for our steps:

async function main() {
  console.log('Starting Solana Attestation Service Demo\n')
  
  const client: SolanaClient = createSolanaClient({ urlOrMoniker: CONFIG.CLUSTER_OR_RPC })

  // Step 1: Setup wallets and fund payer
  console.log('1. Setting up wallets and funding payer...')
  const { payer, authorizedSigner1, authorizedSigner2, issuer, testUser } = await setupWallets(client)

  // Step 2: Create Credential


  // Step 3: Create Schema


  // Step 4: Create Attestation


  // Step 5: Update Authorized Signers


  // Step 6: Verify Attestations


  // Step 7. Close Attestation
}
 
main()
  .then(() => console.log('\nSolana Attestation Service demo completed successfully!'))
  .catch((error) => {
    console.error('❌ Demo failed:', error)
    process.exit(1)
  })

The current code includes spaces for 7 steps. We've started by creating our client and calling our setupWallets function. Let's add the remaining steps next.

Step 2: Create Credential

First, we will need to create our Credential. This establishes the issuing authority (like a certification body) with initial authorized signers.

Add the following code to your main function:

// Step 2: Create Credential
console.log('\n2. Creating Credential...')
const [credentialPda] = await deriveCredentialPda({
  authority: issuer.address,
  name: CONFIG.CREDENTIAL_NAME,
})

const createCredentialInstruction = getCreateCredentialInstruction({
  payer,
  credential: credentialPda,
  authority: issuer,
  name: CONFIG.CREDENTIAL_NAME,
  signers: [authorizedSigner1.address]
})

await sendAndConfirmInstructions(client, payer, [createCredentialInstruction], 'Credential created')
console.log(`    - Credential PDA: ${credentialPda}`)

Here, we just need to use a couple of helper function sas-lib package:

• deriveCredentialPda: derives the PDA of our credential account based on the authority (our issuer wallet) and the name of our credential (meaning an issuer could create multiple credentials by creating new ones with different names) (ref).
• getCreateCredentialInstruction: will assemble the instruction to create the credential account (ref). For now, we will just add a single authorized signer, so that we can add our second signer later.

We send our instruction to the network by calling our sendAndConfirmInstructions helper function.

Step 3: Create Schema

Next, we need to define our Schema to define the structure of data that can be attested (name, age, country in our example). Add the following to your code:

// Step 3: Create Schema
console.log('\n3. Creating Schema...')
const [schemaPda] = await deriveSchemaPda({
  credential: credentialPda,
  name: CONFIG.SCHEMA_NAME,
  version: CONFIG.SCHEMA_VERSION,
})

const createSchemaInstruction = getCreateSchemaInstruction({
  authority: issuer,
  payer,
  name: CONFIG.SCHEMA_NAME,
  credential: credentialPda,
  description: CONFIG.SCHEMA_DESCRIPTION,
  fieldNames: CONFIG.SCHEMA_FIELDS,
  schema: schemaPda,
  layout: CONFIG.SCHEMA_LAYOUT,
})

await sendAndConfirmInstructions(client, payer, [createSchemaInstruction], 'Schema created')
console.log(`    - Schema PDA: ${schemaPda}`)

We follow a similar pattern here--derive PDA, assemble instruction, and send it to the network using sendAndConfirmInstructions:

• deriveSchemaPda: derives the PDA of our schema account based on the credential we created in Step 2, the name of our schema, and the version (ref).
• getCreateSchemaInstruction: will assemble the instruction to create the schema account (ref).

Step 4: Create Attestation

Next, we need to issue an actual attestation to a specific user with the defined data and expiration. Add the following to Step 4 of your main function:

// Step 4: Create Attestation
console.log('\n4. Creating Attestation...')
const [attestationPda] = await deriveAttestationPda({
  credential: credentialPda,
  schema: schemaPda,
  nonce: testUser.address,
})

const schema = await fetchSchema(client.rpc, schemaPda)
const expiryTimestamp = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000) + (CONFIG.ATTESTATION_EXPIRY_DAYS * 24 * 60 * 60)

const createAttestationInstruction = await getCreateAttestationInstruction({
  payer,
  authority: authorizedSigner1,
  credential: credentialPda,
  schema: schemaPda,
  attestation: attestationPda,
  nonce: testUser.address,
  expiry: expiryTimestamp,
  data: serializeAttestationData(schema.data, CONFIG.ATTESTATION_DATA),
})

await sendAndConfirmInstructions(client, payer, [createAttestationInstruction], 'Attestation created')
console.log(`    - Attestation PDA: ${attestationPda}`)

Like before, we will first derive our Attestation PDA using a helper function, deriveAttestationPda (ref). Note that the parameters include a nonce which can be a user's address or some other unique identifier address (e.g. some value stored off-chain).

Prior to calling getCreateAttestationInstruction, we need to do a couple of things:

• We must fetch our Schema from the chain -- we will use fetchSchema to get the deserialized schema data which is required to serialize our attestation data. We do so by passing the schema data and our attestation into serializeAttestationData.
• We define an expiration of 1-year from now.

Notice that the authority in our instruction parameters is authorizedSigner1, the authorized signer we defined in Step 2 when we created our credential.

Finally, we send the instruction to the network to create the attestation PDA.

Step 5: Update Authorized Signers

We mentioned earlier that we can update a credential's authorized signers. Let's add authorizedSigner2 as an authorized signer to our credential to demonstrate how to manage who can issue attestations for the credential. Add the following to Step 5 of your main function:

// Step 5: Update Authorized Signers
console.log('\n5. Updating Authorized Signers...')
const changeAuthSignersInstruction = await getChangeAuthorizedSignersInstruction({
  payer,
  authority: issuer,
  credential: credentialPda,
  signers: [authorizedSigner1.address, authorizedSigner2.address],
})

await sendAndConfirmInstructions(client, payer, [changeAuthSignersInstruction], 'Authorized signers updated')

We just need to assemble an instruction passing our new signers array (this replaces the old list of signers, so make sure to include existing signers you wish to keep) into getChangeAuthorizedSignersInstruction and send it to the network with our helper function.

Step 6: Verify Attestations

Let's run a verification check to show how you might check if users have valid attestations, testing both attested and non-attested users. Normally, you might run something like this on your backend when a user signs into your platform. Add the following to Step 6 of your main function:

// Step 6: Verify Attestations
console.log('\n6. Verifying Attestations...')

const isUserVerified = await verifyAttestation({
  client,
  schemaPda,
  userAddress: testUser.address,
})
console.log(`    - Test User is ${isUserVerified ? 'verified' : 'not verified'}`)

const randomUser = await generateKeyPairSigner()
const isRandomVerified = await verifyAttestation({
  client,
  schemaPda,
  userAddress: randomUser.address,
})
console.log(`    - Random User is ${isRandomVerified ? 'verified' : 'not verified'}`)

Here, we are calling our helper function verifyAttestation twice: once with our testUser address (which we would expect to be verified at this point) and a new randomUser who does not have an attestation (we would expect this user's verification to fail).

Step 7: Close Attestation

Finally, let's revoke an attestation from a user. Add the following code to your project as Step 7:

// Step 7. Close Attestation
console.log('\n7. Closing Attestation...')

const eventAuthority = await deriveEventAuthorityAddress()
const closeAttestationInstruction = await getCloseAttestationInstruction({
  payer,
  attestation: attestationPda,
  authority: authorizedSigner1,
  credential: credentialPda,
  eventAuthority,
  attestationProgram: SOLANA_ATTESTATION_SERVICE_PROGRAM_ADDRESS,
})
await sendAndConfirmInstructions(client, payer, [closeAttestationInstruction], 'Closed attestation')

In order to generate an attesation instruction, we need to get the Event Authority address using deriveEventAuthorityAddress. The event authority is used to emit close events in the SAS program. We then assemble our instruction using the getCloseAttestationInstruction -- note that we must pass one of our authorizedSigner addresses into the authority parameter.

Run the Demonstration

To test your attestation workflow, run the script in your project terminal:

pnpm start

Here's what you should expect to see in the output:

Starting Solana Attestation Service Demo
 
1. Setting up wallets and funding payer...
    - Airdrop completed: 4QE4VGMxnvU9psgjDCYSoRsGEcdZzSsnqFKdzgTf5tPt2i833TC2gLdZE6QZfphie4S9MXNgJEVpQhvwgQJG5Bd5
 
2. Creating Credential...
    - Credential created - Signature: 2hb857yRrxficGU6zCMEvMwf6uKTASfgswgmwx1VS9z6zUL66FoapXMNK5VV7P3cZ6HktBMETp2Pu85EvSvUu1dr
    - Credential PDA: 14Bfygrnpj7bA5H8gvAU3Jr1dfpudZFr2QkJSUFUqoYp
 
3.  Creating Schema...
    - Schema created - Signature: 3Jo9pQgPcAJj1AmYm6weR9t4tw4Unq2qTxjS5przBUbwt94TLGm1sDaV7z5pBzt1Kyw4oxuCYg6NkUBijVs6vJ4X
    - Schema PDA: EyzsLnwtcCXrPJ8bSWHopRRNj3nGicXwuj8McfskToNs
 
4. Creating Attestation...
    - Attestation created - Signature: 2UJAcwTEF98xge1HPfZicYiBW4NqQDrtBiLcvAWWJ9sx9x4XyYZD4XGuwfkero11Mw5X9fhFzb7QTAMGvewDyZek
    - Attestation PDA: B2CQ5uqsHgV9QYcCdqfeZGEWNJijTTFgNutNVcFjae8D
 
5. Updating Authorized Signers...
    - Authorized signers updated - Signature: 3h7x8y8v5fGyV368b6DxDuJ6HpD73whAGVYNJLmTQPk3HezgZcWqsMXPcHqiYM9NQzwHJgCQmhyqnteE1yHVrDDu
 
6. Verifying Attestations...
    - Attestation data: { name: 'Evan', age: 25, country: 'USA' }
    - Test User is verified
    - Random User is not verified
 
7. Closing Attestation...
    - Closed attestation - Signature: 5DS7GYpzKirWcusEgBhN3LGfX7D34q5rSQmbdNpCmzU5nYM1CUA4fJ3B9DRXwuiYNHvMnbBRSiMGDVJoCfLMc6ti
 
Solana Attestation Service demo completed successfully!

Wrap Up

Congratulations! You've successfully implemented a complete Solana Attestation Service system. You now have a working demonstration that shows how to:

• Create credentials that represent issuing authorities
• Define schemas for structured attestation data
• Issue attestations to specific users
• Manage authorized signers for enhanced security
• Verify attestations programmatically
• Close attestation as needed

The Solana Attestation Service provides a powerful foundation for building trust and identity systems on Solana. Whether you're creating compliance systems, financial credentials, professional certifications, or gaming achievements, SAS gives you the tools to issue and verify claims in a decentralized, transparent way.

Additional Resources

• Solana Attestation Service Documentation