---
title: "OpenID Federation: definition | KYA glossary"
url: https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/openid-federation
lang: en
updated: 2026-10-12
license: © Innopulse Consulting GmbH
---

# OpenID Federation

OpenID Federation is a specification by the OpenID Foundation with which organizations prove, through signed trust chains, that an issuer or service belongs to a trusted federation.

Instead of knowing every issuer individually, a [verifying party](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/verifying-party) trusts a higher-level anchor, such as an industry organization or an authority. Every entity publishes a signed self-description with its keys; higher-level entities confirm subordinate ones with signed statements. This yields a chain from the issuer up to the anchor that can be resolved and verified automatically.

The approach is being discussed for wallet ecosystems and the exchange of credentials. For agents, it could answer which issuers of mandates count as trustworthy within an industry.

## Example

An industry association runs an anchor for mandate services. A merchant receives a mandate from a service unknown to it. Through the federation, it resolves the chain from the service up to the association's anchor and recognizes that the service is approved as an issuer.

## How it differs

A JWKS provides the keys of a single issuer. A [trust anchor](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/trust-anchor) is the root a verifying party trusts. OpenID Federation connects the two through signed chains, so even unknown issuers can be classified automatically.

## In practice

- Check whether a federation for issuers of credentials is emerging in your industry.
- Keep your services' keys ready so they can be admitted to a federation.
- Treat the federation as help in selecting issuers, not as a replacement for verifying each piece of evidence.

## Role in KYA

KYA does not resolve federation chains today. The verifying party provides the keys of the issuers it trusts; a federation can help it make this selection.

Related check: [Issuer](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/method/checks) (`issuer_resolution`). Is the key bound to the issuer – through a DID or because the verifying party trusts it?

[Verify now: open a matching example](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/verify?beispiel=paket)

## Frequently asked questions

### What is OpenID Federation?

A specification by the OpenID Foundation for signed trust chains. It shows whether an issuer or service belongs to a trusted federation.

### What is an entity statement?

A signed statement by an entity about itself or about a subordinate entity, with keys and metadata. Such statements form the trust chain.

### What are federations needed for?

So verifying parties do not have to know every issuer individually. They trust an anchor, and the chain shows who belongs to it.

### Is OpenID Federation used for wallets?

The approach is being discussed and piloted for wallet ecosystems and the exchange of credentials.

### Does KYA support OpenID Federation?

Not yet. KYA verifies against keys the verifying party provides. A federation can help in selecting these keys.

## Sources

- [OpenID Federation 1.0 (OpenID Foundation)](https://openid.net/specs/openid-federation-1_0.html)

## Related terms

- [Trust anchor](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/trust-anchor)
- [OpenID for Verifiable Presentations (OID4VP)](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/oid4vp)
- [EUDI wallet](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/eudi-wallet)
- [JWKS (JSON Web Key Set)](https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/jwks)

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Quelle: https://knowyouragent.ch/en/knowledge/glossary/openid-federation · KYA – Know Your Agent