---
title: "SVID"
description: "SPIFFE Verifiable Identity Document: a short-lived cryptographic identity document, either an X.509 certificate or a JWT, that proves a workload's SPIFFE ID and is issued and rotated through the…"
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/svid
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# SVID

SPIFFE Verifiable Identity Document: a short-lived cryptographic identity document, either an X.509 certificate or a JWT, that proves a workload's SPIFFE ID and is issued and rotated through the SPIFFE Workload API, which SPIRE implements [1]. A credential that expires in minutes need not be hunted down after an incident, only not reissued.

- Developed in: [ch. 23, Short-lived, attested credentials](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-agents#short-lived-attested-credentials)
- Chapters: [ch. 23, AI Agents](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-agents)
- Contrast with: [Workload identity](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/workload-identity)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-svid

## Sources

[1] SPIFFE overview (short-lived cryptographic identity documents called SVIDs, as X.509 certificates or JWTs; the Workload API issues and rotates them; SPIRE implementation). SPIFFE project. 2026. https://spiffe.io/docs/latest/spiffe-about/overview/ (verified: primary)