Credential Evidence

A credential says what a person did. Evidence shows the work behind it: the project, the report, the portfolio or the assessor’s note. Viewers see it in an Evidence card on the credential page, and platforms that read Open Badges get it too. You can add evidence to one credential, or to many when you issue them from a spreadsheet. You can also let recipients add their own work.

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What an item of evidence is

Each item has a title and one of these:

• Link: a web page, such as a GitHub repository, a portfolio or a video. Hyperstack never opens the link. Viewers see its site name, such as github.com, next to the title.
• File: a PDF, PNG, JPEG or WebP file, up to 10 MB.
• Text: a short note, such as an assessor’s comment, up to 2,000 characters.

A link or a file can also have a short description.

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Add evidence to one credential

You can add evidence while a credential is under review. Viewers see it once the credential is published.

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Edit or delete an item

Click ⋯ on the item.

• Edit: change the title, the link, the text or the description. To change a file, delete the item and add a new one.
• Delete: removes the item from the credential and its page, file included. This can’t be undone.

Each add, edit, delete, hide and show by your team is written to the audit logs.

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Add evidence when you issue

When you issue credentials, you can give each credential one item of evidence. Use three optional columns in your spreadsheet, or in the table when you add recipients by hand: A row needs a link or a text to get evidence. A row with neither gets no evidence. The CSV and Excel templates have these columns at the end, named evidence_title, evidence_url and evidence_text. The Studio also matches columns named Evidence title, Evidence link and Evidence text by itself. Check them under Match columns. The recipients table shows the evidence of each row. It marks a row with a problem, such as a link that does not start with https://. Fix the row, or remove it, before you continue. To add a file, or more than one item, open the credential after you issue it and add them there.

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Let recipients add their own work

Recipients can add their own work to their credential, such as a link to their portfolio or a file. This is a credential group setting, and it is off for new groups. What recipients can do:

• Add up to 5 items to each credential: links, files or text, with the same limits as yours.
• Add them from their wallet, or from the credential page when they are signed in.
• Edit and delete their own items. They can’t change your items.

They can add only to a published credential that is not revoked or suspended. The add form tells them that anyone who can see the credential can see what they add, and that your organization does not check it. You can’t edit or delete what a recipient adds. You can hide it. If you set the group back to Don’t allow, recipients can’t add new items. The items they added stay, and they can still edit or delete them.

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Hide an item a recipient added

In the Evidence panel, recipients’ items are under Added by the recipient.

1. Click ⋯ on the item.
2. Click Hide from page.

The item no longer shows on the credential page. The panel marks it Hidden, and the recipient sees Hidden by with your organization’s name. To bring it back, click Show on page.

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Removed by the recipient after it was hidden

A recipient can delete an item that you hid. Its title, link, text and file are then deleted. The panel keeps one grey row, Removed by the recipient after it was hidden, with no menu. This row still counts as one of the recipient’s 5 items on that credential, for good. So deleting a hidden item and adding it again can’t bring it back. Nobody can show it again, and it shows nowhere outside the Studio.

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What viewers see

The credential page shows an Evidence card after the dates.

• Your items come first, then the recipient’s, each in the order they were added.
• A line separates your items from the recipient’s. Each recipient item has the label Added by the recipient, and the card says that your organization did not check them.
• A link opens in a new tab. A file opens in the browser.
• A long text shows four lines, then Show more.
• When recipients can add, a visitor who is not signed in sees Is this your credential? Sign in to add your work. On your own domain, the line links to the wallet instead.

When a credential has no evidence and recipients can’t add any, the page looks as before. Evidence follows the credential:

• Private credential: only the recipient and your team can see the evidence and open its files.
• Suspended: the evidence is hidden from the page and the Open Badges downloads, and its files don’t open for others. It comes back when you lift the suspension. You can still add and edit evidence meanwhile.
• Revoked: the evidence is hidden in the same way. The Studio keeps it, read only.
• Expired: the evidence still shows.

Evidence never changes the certificate, the badge, the PDF, the credential ID or the blockchain record. It is not part of the PDF or the images.

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Open Badges

The Open Badges 2.0 and 3.0 downloads carry your items in an evidence list. A file item points to its address on the credential page.

• Items that recipients add are never in the downloads. Your organization signs the Open Badges 3.0 credential, so only your own items go in.
• A credential with no items from you has no evidence field.
• A change shows in the next download. A badge image downloaded before keeps what it had.

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Plans

Evidence is on the Premium and Enterprise plans. On the Standard plan, during a trial, or when your plan has ended:

• The Evidence panel shows an Upgrade plan button. Members without billing access see Ask an admin to upgrade your plan.
• The spreadsheet has no evidence columns, and the group setting Evidence from recipients does not show.

If you move to a plan without evidence, the evidence you have stays. It still shows on credential pages and in Open Badges, and you can still edit, hide and delete it. Only new items stop, from you and from recipients.

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Limits

The panel shows how much storage is used when it is 90% full. When it is full, you can still add links and text.

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Use the API or an AI assistant

• The REST API lists, adds and deletes evidence, and Issue Credential takes evidence when you issue.
• The MCP server has tools to list, add, change, hide and delete evidence. An assistant can add links and text, not files.

Credentials that apps issue for you, such as Moodle, LTI, forms or Zapier, get no evidence by themselves. Add it on the credential’s page.