API documentation for KIP Document

KIP Documents enrich documents with encryption and signatures, in the most flexible way possible. When they are edited, security would only remain for the original parts of the document, but the new content can be woven in to guide later change inspection. Key management allows very flexible permissions to users over parts of a KIP Document. And no author needs to handle keys.

This is the API documentation for manipulating a KIP Document in general terms. An application would be mostly concerned with Literal data chunks and Reference inserts, but these are part of a larger CBOR document structure that can be manipulated as KIP Documents, and subsequently signed, encrypted and access-controlled.

The system is built around the Keyful Identity Protocol, or ARPA2 KIP for short. This system allows people to use their identity (and login) in places where they would normally work with a key. They never need to handle keys, but leave that to an online server that runs under their domain. A rather small and dumb server, we should add.

Mobile users can benefit greatly from not having keys on their devices. When such devices would be lost, their keys would enable the new owner great control over their work. Under KIP Document, this only reaches so far as login still works.