certify(1)

💖 certify(1) — Sequoia Manual 💖

okay bestie, sit down, we're doing certify from the Sequoia Manual and it's literally the ✨ main character ✨ of the Web Of Trust. grab a boba, we're going in 🧚

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🌸 NAME 🌸

certify — Certifies a User ID for a Certificate

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

certify [-o|--output] [-B|--binary] [--time] [-d|--depth] [-a|--amount]
[-r|--regex] [-l|--local] [--non-revocable] [--notation] [--expires]
[--expires-in] [--allow-not-alive-certifier] [--allow-revoked-certifier]
[--private-key-store] [-h|--help] <CERTIFIER-KEY> <CERTIFICATE> <USERID>

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

Certifies a User ID for a Certificate

so like, with a certification, a keyholder can vouch for the fact that another certificate legitimately belongs to a user id. in email-land that means the same entity controls the key and the email address. and these certifications? they're literally the whole basis for the Web Of Trust 🫶 iykyk.

this command emits the certificate with the new certification. and the updated certificate has to be distributed — preferably by sending it to the certificate holder for attestation. also go peek at sq key attest-certification while you're at it 👑

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• -o, --output=FILE — Writes to FILE or stdout if omitted. no FILE? she just yells into stdout, iconic 💖
• -B, --binary — Emits binary data
• --time=TIME — Sets the certification time to TIME. TIME is interpreted as an ISO 8601 timestamp. To set the certification time to June 9, 2011 at midnight UTC, you can do:

$ sq certify --time 20130721 neal.pgp ada.pgp ada

To include a time, add a T, the time and optionally the timezone (the default timezone is UTC):

$ sq certify --time 20130721T0550+0200 neal.pgp ada.pgp ada

• -d, --depth=TRUST_DEPTH [default: 0] — Sets the trust depth (sometimes referred to as the trust level). 0 means a normal certification of <CERTIFICATE, USERID>. 1 means CERTIFICATE is also a trusted introducer, 2 means CERTIFICATE is a meta-trusted introducer, etc. it's giving trust inception 🌀
• -a, --amount=TRUST_AMOUNT [default: 120] — Sets the amount of trust. Values between 1 and 120 are meaningful. 120 means fully trusted. Values less than 120 indicate the degree of trust. 60 is usually used for partially trusted. so 120 is the full send, 60 is the situationship 💀
• -r, --regex=REGEX — Adds a regular expression to constrain what a trusted introducer can certify. The regular expression must match the certified User ID in all intermediate introducers, and the certified certificate. Multiple regular expressions may be specified. In that case, at least one must match.
• -l, --local — Makes the certification a local certification. Normally, local certifications are not exported. keep it in the group chat, don't post it 🫣
• --non-revocable — Marks the certification as being non-revocable. That is, you cannot later revoke this certification. This should normally only be used with an expiration. bestie this is the "no takebacks" button, be so serious ⚠️
• --notation=NAME VALUE — Adds a notation to the certification. A user-defined notation's name must be of the form "name@a.domain.you.control.org". If the notation's name starts with a !, then the notation is marked as being critical. If a consumer of a signature doesn't understand a critical notation, then it will ignore the signature. The notation is marked as being human readable.
• --expires=TIME — Makes the certification expire at TIME (as ISO 8601). Use "never" to create certifications that do not expire.
• --expires-in=DURATION — Makes the certification expire after DURATION. Either "N[ymwds]", for N years, months, weeks, days, seconds, or "never". [default: 5y]
• --allow-not-alive-certifier — Allows the key to make a certification even if the current time is prior to its creation time or the current time is at or after its expiration time. she's not alive but she's still serving 🧟♀️✨
• --allow-revoked-certifier — Don't fail if the certificate making the certification is revoked.
• --private-key-store=KEY_STORE — Provides parameters for private key store
• -h, --help — Print help information
• <CERTIFIER-KEY> — Creates the certification using CERTIFIER-KEY.
• <CERTIFICATE> — Certifies CERTIFICATE.
• <USERID> — Certifies USERID for CERTIFICATE.

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

Juliet certifies that Romeo controls romeo.pgp and romeo@example.org 💌 (yes it's giving the whole balcony situation, we love a canon couple)

sq certify juliet.pgp romeo.pgp "<romeo@example.org>"

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

For the full documentation see <https://docs.sequoia-pgp.org/sq/>.

sq(1) sq-armor(1) sq-autocrypt(1) sq-dearmor(1) sq-decrypt(1) sq-encrypt(1) sq-inspect(1) sq-key(1) sq-keyring(1) sq-keyserver(1) sq-packet(1) sq-revoke(1) sq-sign(1) sq-verify(1) sq-wkd(1)

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sq 0.26.0 · July 2022 — that's the version and the date bestie, and this has been your girl explaining certify(1) from the Sequoia Manual. go forth, vouch for your friends, distribute those certs responsibly 💖✨🎀 slay, periodt, bye 🫶