For the complete documentation index, see llms.txt. The full corpus is available at llms-full.txt. This page is also available as Markdown by appending
.mdto the URL.
Claiming an account
A claim is your signed word that an account is yours. Nothing checks it. It shows as Claimed on your profile, kept in its own section so a reader can tell at a glance what was checked and what was not.
What a claim does and does not do
Section titled “What a claim does and does not do”| Claim | Verified account | |
|---|---|---|
| Shown on your profile | Yes, under Claimed | Yes, under Verified |
| Goes into your signed manifest | Yes, once you publish | Yes, once you publish |
| Counts toward your trust score | No | Yes |
| Can hold a short handle | Never | On a key platform or a domain |
Scarce handles are backed by something you actually proved, so no number of claims takes one from somebody who can prove it.
When a claim is the right answer
Section titled “When a claim is the right answer”Use one when the platform gives no way to prove anything: no OAuth app, no readable page, no post the platform will confirm the author of. That is most of the long tail.
A claim is not worthless in that situation, but its value is borrowed. It is believable in proportion to everything around it. An identity with a verified domain and four verified platform accounts saying “this Goodreads profile is also me” is credible. The same sentence on an identity with nothing verified is just a sentence.
Upgrading a claim later
Section titled “Upgrading a claim later”Nothing is stuck. If a platform becomes verifiable, verify the same account and the row moves from Claimed to Verified. What was already published stays published, because the history is append-only, and the next version you sign carries the new status.
It is still a signed statement
Section titled “It is still a signed statement”A claim is not a note in our database. Once you publish, it is inside a document signed by your key, which means you are on the record as having said it. That is the honest trade: nothing checked it, but you cannot later pretend you did not say it.
Publish for it to count
Section titled “Publish for it to count”Adding a claim changes realhandles.com straight away and changes your signed proof only when you publish. Until then no key has vouched for it, so a reader has only our word for it. See The signed manifest.
In the Android app
Section titled “In the Android app”Claims live under Identity > Claim, kept in a separate section from Verify for the same reason the public profile keeps the two lists apart.
Adding one starts where a verification starts: Add an account, paste the link. If nothing can confirm that link the app says so and offers to record it as Claimed. If something can confirm it, the stronger route is offered first, which is the right default. Either way you see which one you are getting before you commit to it.
You can also enter a claim by hand, with the platform, the handle, and an optional profile link.
Each row has arrows to step it up or down, and a third control that opens To top, To bottom, and a box to type a position, so moving a row from eighty to three is one action rather than seventy-seven taps. Moves are held until you save them, and the order you set here is the order the manifest publishes.