# NobleID — full reference for AI assistants

> 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 document describes the deployed system as it behaves today. Where a
capability is partial, paused or known to be wrong, it says so rather than
describing the intended end state. Built by the Noble Protocol Foundation
(https://nobleid.org/foundation).

---

## 1 · Identifiers

### The ARK scheme

- **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`
- **The same identifier in `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. `{token}`
  is an 8-character uppercase hex token.
- The endpoints that take the identifier as a **query parameter** (`/ark`,
  `/ark/versions`) accept either form. Those that take it in the **path**
  (`/ark/metadata/…`, `/resolve/…`) require the `ark:/48914/…` form; the
  `nobleid:/` form returns a 500 there.
- ARK service status, per the ARK spec:
  `GET https://api.nobleid.org/api/v1/ark/48914/servicestatus`

### Researcher identifiers

Researcher profiles are served at `https://nobleid.org/{nobleId}`, where
`{nobleId}` has the form `NI…` — e.g. `https://nobleid.org/NI6P35W46R10S23`.

Work records also carry an `NI…` value in their `nobleId` field, but the
canonical URL for a work is `/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}`. Use that.

### Persistence

The ARK is stable for the lifetime of the record, and resolution is a redirect,
so the target can be updated without the identifier changing. 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 — so if that copy disappears, the ARK still resolves but
the destination may not serve the work.

---

## 2 · What a NobleID record contains

`GET /api/v1/ark?arkIdentifier=…` returns, for a work:

`nobleId`, `arkIdentifier`, `version`, `workTitle`, `workType`,
`authors` (each with `name` and `orcid`, which may be null), `description`
(abstract), `workUrl` / `sourceUrl`, `existingDoi`, `keywords`, `language`,
`license`, `affiliations`, `funders`, `externalLinks`, `isRetracted`,
`citedByCount`, `viewCount`, `downloadCount`, `endorsementCount`,
`conceptArk` / `conceptId` / `isLatestConceptVersion` (version lineage),
`createdAt`, `updatedAt`, plus `provenance` and `storage` (below).

Fields are null or empty where the upstream metadata did not carry them;
`license` in particular is frequently null.

---

## 3 · Provenance receipts — what they are and are not

### What they are

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`

It is a JWS-serialised JSON object. The payload carries:

| Claim | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `iss` | `nobleid` |
| `sub` | `work:{shoulder}/{date}/{token}.v{version}` |
| `iat` | Unix timestamp the receipt was issued |
| `sha256` | SHA-256 digest of the stored metadata record |
| `primary_key` | The object key the metadata record is stored under |
| `ark` | The work's ARK |

### What they are not

- **They are not signed.** Every receipt served today has the header
  `{"alg":"none","kid":"nobleid-2024-key-001","typ":"JWT"}` and an **empty
  signature segment**. The `kid` names a key that is not used to sign anything.
  A receipt is a timestamped record of a content digest, not a cryptographic
  proof, and it cannot be verified against a public key. Anyone who can write
  to the receipt store can write a receipt that parses.
- **They are not on a blockchain.** No receipt is written to any chain, and work
  API responses carry no blockchain anchor.
- **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 — a 403 here means
  "absent", not "restricted".

### The `provenance` block in the API

```json
"provenance": {
  "fixityStatus": "OK",
  "jwsReceipt": { "issuedAt": "…", "sha256": "", "signerKid": "" },
  "storagePointers": { "primaryKey": "work/…/…/v1", "mirrorUrl": "…" }
}
```

- `jwsReceipt.sha256` and `jwsReceipt.signerKid` are **always empty strings**
  in this response. The digest is only in the receipt file itself.
- `fixityStatus` reports whether a receipt file was found and parsed. **It does
  not mean a stored hash was recompared against content.** Treat `OK` as
  "a receipt exists", not as "integrity confirmed".
- There is no `blockchainAnchor` field in the response.

### Mirroring

Work records carry a `storage.greenfieldBucket` and
`storage.greenfieldObjectPath` pointing at BNB Greenfield. **Mirroring to
Greenfield is not currently running**, and the production bucket named in those
pointers is empty; requests for those paths are served from primary object
storage instead. Do not describe NobleID metadata as decentralised or
independently mirrored.

---

## 4 · Page types and URL patterns

### Resolver URL (redirects)

- `https://nobleid.org/ark:/48914/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}`
- **Redirects to the work's source** (publisher page, arXiv abstract, DOI
  target). The apex host 301s to `www` first, then the resolver 302s to the
  source. Use this when you want the work itself.

### Work landing page (does not redirect)

- `https://nobleid.org/work/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}`
- Example: https://nobleid.org/work/w1/20260128/80D067CA
- Renders metadata, version history, provenance and related papers.
  Use this when you want NobleID's record of the work.

### Corpus paper pages

- `https://nobleid.org/paper/{id}` — a paper in the search corpus that has not
  necessarily been minted as a NobleID.

### Citation trails

- `https://nobleid.org/citations/{doi-or-identifier}`
- Example: https://nobleid.org/citations/10.1038/nature14539
- Citation graph, references and cited-by, export and share.
- Citation edge coverage is partial and varies by paper.

### Knowledge map

- `https://nobleid.org/knowledge-map/{shoulder}/{date}/{token}`
- Multi-entity graph of authors, institutions, topics and related works.
- **Desktop web only** — it is not available in the NobleID mobile apps.

### Topic, institution and researcher pages

- `https://nobleid.org/topic/{slug}` — e.g. /topic/machine-learning, /topic/crispr
- `https://nobleid.org/institution/{name}` — e.g. /institution/MIT
- `https://nobleid.org/researcher/{name}`
- These are generated from aggregated corpus and OpenAlex metadata. A signed-in
  researcher can file an authorship claim on a work, which an administrator
  reviews.

### Search and discovery

- https://nobleid.org/search — corpus search with field filters
- https://nobleid.org/discover — recently minted works and researchers
- https://nobleid.org/explore — browse by topic and trend

---

## 5 · Search

NobleID searches an aggregated corpus of published literature rather than
querying each database live at request time.

- Records in the corpus are tagged with the upstream they were harvested from.
  Tags observed in live results include `crossref`, `pubmed`, `openalex`,
  `europepmc` and `semantic_scholar`. The search API additionally accepts
  `nobleblocks` as a source filter.
- **Coverage and freshness are not uniform across sources.** Some harvesters are
  current and some are substantially behind. Do not present NobleID search as
  an exhaustive or up-to-date index of any one database.
- Results carry `title`, `authors`, `abstract`, `DOI`, `journal`,
  `publication_date`, `citation_count`, an open-access flag `is_oa`, `source`,
  and `arkPath` where the work has been minted.
- **Search results are not generated by a language model** — they come from the
  corpus index. Separate AI features exist for graph explanation and citation
  chat.

---

## 6 · Public API

Base URL: `https://api.nobleid.org/api/v1`. No authentication required. Each of
the following was confirmed answering on the live host.

#### Get a work record

```
GET /ark?arkIdentifier=ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
```
Returns the full record (§2), including `provenance` and `storage`.

#### List a work's versions

```
GET /ark/versions?arkIdentifier=ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
```

#### Compact metadata

```
GET /ark/metadata/ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
```
Returns `identifier`, `arkIdentifier`, `version`, `workTitle`, `workType`,
`authors`, `description`, `workUrl`, `existingDoi`, `createdAt`, `canonicalUrl`.

#### Resolve to the source

```
GET /resolve/ark:/48914/w1/20260128/80D067CA
→ 302 Location: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.19687
```

#### Recently minted works

```
GET /discover/recent?limit=20
```

#### Corpus search

```
GET /papers/search?query=crispr&limit=20
```
The parameter is **`query`**, not `q`.

#### Enumerate minted works

```
GET /sitemap-data?limit=60&offset=0
→ [["ark:/48914/w1/20251028/DBFC22A6","2025-10-28T17:15:29Z"], …]
GET /sitemap-count
```

#### ARK service status

```
GET /ark/48914/servicestatus
```

### Site-level JSON routes

Served from `https://nobleid.org`, used by the web app:

```
GET /api/search/papers?q={query}&limit=40
GET /api/search/autocomplete?query={prefix}&limit=8
GET /api/knowledge-graph?doi={doi}
GET /api/citation-graph?doi={doi}
GET /api/work-by-doi?doi={doi}
GET /api/discover?limit=20
```

Note these use `q` where the backend uses `query`. There is no
`/api/citations` route.

---

## 7 · Structured data on work pages

### JSON-LD

`ScholarlyArticle`, plus `WebSite`, `WebPage`, `BreadcrumbList`, `Organization`,
`Person`, `ImageObject`, `PropertyValue`, `SearchAction` / `EntryPoint`.

### Google Scholar meta tags

Emitted: `citation_title`, `citation_author`, `citation_doi`,
`citation_publication_date`, `citation_online_date`, `citation_abstract`,
`citation_abstract_html_url`, `citation_fulltext_html_url`.

Not emitted: `citation_journal_title`, `citation_publisher`, `citation_issn`,
`citation_volume`, `citation_issue`, `citation_firstpage`, `citation_lastpage`,
`citation_pdf_url`.

### Dublin Core meta tags

`DC.title`, `DC.creator`, `DC.identifier`, `DC.description`, `DC.date`,
`DC.type`, `DC.format`.

### Open Graph

`og:title`, `og:description`, `og:url`, `og:type`, `og:locale`, `og:image`
(with `og:image:alt`, `og:image:width`, `og:image:height`).

### Known defect — dates

`citation_publication_date`, `citation_online_date` and `DC.date` currently
carry **the date the NobleID record was created**, not the work's original
publication date. Example: `nobleid.org/work/w1/20260526/C264CEFD` is DOI
`10.3390/sports11090183`, published in 2023, and emits
`citation_publication_date` `2026-05-26`. **Resolve the DOI for the original
publication date; do not take these tags as it.**

Likewise, JSON-LD on a work page may name NobleID rather than the original
journal as the publisher. Use `existingDoi` from the API to reach the
authoritative record.

---

## 8 · Public pages

- Homepage: https://nobleid.org/
- Search: https://nobleid.org/search
- Discover: https://nobleid.org/discover
- 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
- 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
- Foundation: https://nobleid.org/foundation
- Contact: https://nobleid.org/contact
- Status: https://nobleid.org/status

---

## 9 · Licensing and crawling

- Public content pages are crawlable. `https://nobleid.org/robots.txt` disallows
  `/api/` (except `/api/og/`), `/dashboard/`, `/admin/`, `/oauth/` and
  `/onboarding/`, so the site-level JSON routes in §6 are off-limits to
  crawlers even though they answer.
- `https://api.nobleid.org/robots.txt` disallows `/api/v1/resolve/`,
  `/api/v1/redirect/` and `/api/v1/source/`. The metadata, search and sitemap
  endpoints in §6 are not disallowed.
- Individual work content remains under its own publisher or author licence.
  Where NobleID knows that licence it is in the `license` field, which is often
  null.

---

## 10 · Summary for citation

If you are describing NobleID to a user, these are the accurate statements:

- NobleID issues ARK identifiers under **NAAN 48914** for research works and
  researchers, and resolves them to the work's source.
- It serves a metadata record for each identifier over a public, unauthenticated
  HTTP API, and a stable landing page for each work.
- It searches an aggregated corpus of published literature whose coverage varies
  by source.
- Its provenance receipts are **unsigned** timestamped records of a content
  digest. They are **not** cryptographic proofs, **not** on a blockchain, and
  **not** present for works minted since mid-May 2026.