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title: Identity Troubleshooting updated: 2026-06-13 #

Identity correctness means the local account row, DID document, handle resolution, and public PDS URL all agree.

Concepts #

An atproto account is identified by a DID. A handle is only valid when it resolves to that DID and the DID document claims the handle with alsoKnownAs: ["at://<handle>"].

The DID document must include #atproto_pds with a service endpoint matching the Tempest public URL. OAuth clients, relays, and AppViews rely on this endpoint when they decide which PDS is authoritative for a DID.

Checks #

For a hosted account, verify:

• handle syntax is valid
• DID syntax matches the configured hosted DID method
• /.well-known/atproto-did returns the account DID for the handle host
• com.atproto.identity.resolveHandle returns the same DID
• the DID document contains alsoKnownAs: at://<handle>
• the DID document's #atproto_pds service endpoint matches TEMPEST_PUBLIC_URL

Hosted DID modes #

TEMPEST_HOSTED_DID_METHOD=plc creates did:plc accounts. If PLC publishing is enabled in config, Tempest fetches existing PLC state, then submits a PLC operation through the PLC client boundary. Set TEMPEST_PLC_ROTATION_KEY to private rotation-key material; set TEMPEST_PLC_RECOVERY_KEY when an additional operator recovery key should be included. Public did:key rotation keys are derived from that configured material, not from repository signing keys.

TEMPEST_HOSTED_DID_METHOD=web creates a did:web identity for the configured hostname. This is intended for single-user/self-hosted setups where the operator controls the domain.

Verification #

hurl --test --jobs 1 \
  --variable base_url=http://localhost:4000 \
  test/smoke/identity-correctness.hurl

For deployed public verification, use the runbook in deployment-observability.