Verifying Your Identity

Identity verification on lightpaper.org is how you build Author Gravity — the trust signal that makes your content more discoverable. Three types of identity verification are available, plus agent-driven credential submission. Each works independently, and you can complete them in any order.

Domain DNS Verification

Domain verification proves you control a specific domain. This is the strongest identity signal for organizations, companies, and bloggers who publish under their own domain.

How It Works

Step 1: Request a verification challenge:

POST /v1/account/verify/domain
{
  "domain": "example.com"
}

The response includes a TXT record value:

{
  "domain": "example.com",
  "txt_record": "lightpaper-verify=abc123def456",
  "instructions": "Add a TXT record to your DNS..."
}

Step 2: Add the TXT record to your domain's DNS settings. This is done through your domain registrar or DNS provider (Cloudflare, Route 53, Google Domains, etc.).

Step 3: Check if the record has propagated:

GET /v1/account/verify/domain/check

DNS propagation typically takes a few minutes but can take up to 48 hours. The check endpoint queries DNS directly and returns whether verification succeeded.

Once verified, your domain appears as a badge on your published documents and contributes one identity toward your gravity level.

LinkedIn OAuth Verification

LinkedIn verification confirms you have a real professional identity. It's the fastest verification method — just an OAuth flow that takes about 30 seconds.

If you authenticated via LinkedIn OAuth, your LinkedIn is already verified. This section covers verifying LinkedIn for accounts that were created via email OTP.

How It Works

Step 1: Start the verification:

POST /v1/account/verify/linkedin

The response includes an authorization URL to open in a browser.

Step 2: Open the URL in a browser. LinkedIn asks for permission to share your basic profile information.

Step 3: On approval, LinkedIn redirects back to lightpaper.org's callback, which completes the verification.

Step 4: Check the result:

GET /v1/account/verify/linkedin/check

{
  "verified": true,
  "gravity_level": 1
}

LinkedIn verification sets verified_linkedin: true on your account and contributes one identity toward gravity.

ORCID Verification

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a persistent digital identifier for researchers. If you have an ORCID iD, linking it to your lightpaper.org account connects your publications to your scholarly identity.

How It Works

POST /v1/account/verify/orcid
{
  "orcid_id": "0000-0002-1825-0097"
}

The system verifies that the ORCID exists by querying the ORCID public API and retrieves your registered name:

{
  "verified": true,
  "gravity_level": 2,
  "orcid_name": "Josiah Carberry"
}

ORCID verification contributes one identity toward gravity. Combined with LinkedIn, that's gravity level 2 (1.25x search multiplier).

Agent-Driven Credential Submission

Beyond identity verification, professional credentials earn points toward higher gravity levels. Credentials are submitted through the API with an evidence tier that reflects how well the claim has been verified.

Credential Types

Evidence Tiers

Submitting Credentials

POST /v1/account/credentials
{
  "credentials": [
    {
      "credential_type": "degree",
      "institution": "MIT",
      "title": "BS Computer Science",
      "year": 2018,
      "evidence_tier": "confirmed",
      "evidence_data": {
        "source": "LinkedIn profile",
        "url": "https://linkedin.com/in/example"
      },
      "agent_notes": "Degree confirmed on LinkedIn profile with matching graduation year."
    }
  ]
}

The response includes updated gravity information:

{
  "credentials": [...],
  "gravity_level": 3,
  "gravity_badges": ["linkedin", "orcid", "degree:confirmed"],
  "credential_points": 3
}

How Agents Should Approach Credentials

The most effective workflow for AI agents:

1. Ask the user about their background — degrees, certifications, current/past positions
2. Research the claims — check LinkedIn profiles, university websites, professional registries
3. Assess evidence tier honestly — don't inflate tiers without evidence
4. Submit with notes — the agent_notes field explains your reasoning for the evidence tier

This creates a trust chain: the user states their credentials, the agent verifies what it can, and the evidence tier reflects the actual strength of verification.

Combining Verifications

Here are the most common paths to each gravity level:

Gravity 1 (1.1x): Verify LinkedIn. One OAuth flow, 30 seconds.

Gravity 2 (1.25x): LinkedIn + ORCID. Two minutes if you have an ORCID.

Gravity 3 (1.4x): LinkedIn + confirmed degree. The agent verifies your degree via LinkedIn and submits it as "confirmed" (3 credential points).

Gravity 4 (1.55x): LinkedIn + domain + confirmed degree. Or LinkedIn + two confirmed credentials (6 points).

Gravity 5 (1.7x): Two identities + 6 credential points. For example: LinkedIn + ORCID + confirmed degree + confirmed employment.

Checking Your Status

View your current gravity level and next steps:

GET /v1/account/gravity

The response includes context-sensitive advice about what verification would have the biggest impact on your gravity level.

References

• lightpaper.org API documentation
• ORCID — Open Researcher and Contributor ID
• ORCID public API
• Cloudflare DNS management
• OAuth 2.0 specification