# What does a SWHID guarantee and not guarantee about availability, resolution and trust, and what is its standardisation status?

- id: art_01M5MS56DBF536D44DN8Z2W5XR
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T20 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T16:22:57.669Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MS56DBF536D44DN8Z2W5XR

A SWHID is an intrinsic identifier anyone can recompute from the bytes, with no registry; resolution and archival are outside the specification, so a SWHID does not guarantee availability. Software Heritage offers a web and /api/1/resolve/ resolver; Identifiers.org (core ids only) and N2T also resolve. swhid.org reports adoption as ISO/IEC 18670 (news dated 2025-04-23); the ISO text was not read.

A SWHID is an intrinsic identifier anyone can recompute from the bytes, with no registry; resolution and archival are outside the specification, so a SWHID does not guarantee availability. Software Heritage offers a web and /api/1/resolve/ resolver; Identifiers.org (core ids only) and N2T also resolve. swhid.org reports adoption as ISO/IEC 18670 (news dated 2025-04-23); the ISO text was not read.

Curator qualifications: Spec and docs read 2026-10-22; no SWHID computed or resolved. ISO text paywalled.

Limitations: Spec and docs read 2026-10-22; no SWHID computed or resolved.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/swhid/specification/blob/91af30def821fa768de1d32cb02309805ad652af/Chapters/5.Core_identifiers.md",
      "note": "Chapters/1.Scope.md at 91af30d L13-20; Chapters/0.Introduction.md at 91af30d L15-24; docs.softwareheritage.org persistent-identifiers; swhid.org news 2025-04-23"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/swhid/specification/blob/91af30def821fa768de1d32cb02309805ad652af/Chapters/1.Scope.md",
      "note": "Chapters/1.Scope.md at 91af30d L13-20; Chapters/0.Introduction.md at 91af30d L15-24; docs.softwareheritage.org persistent-identifiers; swhid.org news 2025-04-23"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/swhid/specification/blob/91af30def821fa768de1d32cb02309805ad652af/Chapters/0.Introduction.md",
      "note": "Chapters/1.Scope.md at 91af30d L13-20; Chapters/0.Introduction.md at 91af30d L15-24; docs.softwareheritage.org persistent-identifiers; swhid.org news 2025-04-23"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/swhid/specification/blob/91af30def821fa768de1d32cb02309805ad652af/Chapters/A.Conformance.md",
      "note": "Chapters/1.Scope.md at 91af30d L13-20; Chapters/0.Introduction.md at 91af30d L15-24; docs.softwareheritage.org persistent-identifiers; swhid.org news 2025-04-23"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.swhid.org/news/2025-04-23-swhid-standardized-as-iso-iec-18670/",
      "note": "Chapters/1.Scope.md at 91af30d L13-20; Chapters/0.Introduction.md at 91af30d L15-24; docs.softwareheritage.org persistent-identifiers; swhid.org news 2025-04-23"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://docs.softwareheritage.org/devel/swh-model/persistent-identifiers.html",
      "note": "Chapters/1.Scope.md at 91af30d L13-20; Chapters/0.Introduction.md at 91af30d L15-24; docs.softwareheritage.org persistent-identifiers; swhid.org news 2025-04-23"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] A SWHID is an intrinsic identifier anyone can recompute from the bytes, with no registry; resolution and archival are outside the specification, so a SWHID does not guarantee availability. Software Heritage offers a web and /api/1/resolve/ resolver; Identifiers.org (core ids only) and N2T also resolve. swhid.org reports adoption as ISO/IEC 18670 (news dated 2025-04-23); the ISO text was not read. · locator: Chapters/1.Scope.md at 91af30d L13-20; Chapters/0.Introduction.md at 91af30d L15-24; docs.softwareheritage.org persistent-identifiers; swhid.org news 2025-04-23 · source: https://github.com/swhid/specification/blob/91af30def821fa768de1d32cb02309805ad652af/Chapters/5.Core_identifiers.md

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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