FAQ

Frequently asked questions about badges.ninja.

What are digital badges?

Digital badges are visual, verifiable representations of skills, achievements, or credentials. Each badge contains metadata about what was earned, who earned it, who issued it, and the criteria required. Unlike paper certificates, digital badges can be verified online by anyone with the badge URL.

What is the Open Badge v2.0 standard?

Open Badge v2.0 is an industry standard by IMS Global (now 1EdTech) that defines how digital badges are structured, issued, and verified. badges.ninja follows this standard so your badges are interoperable with other Open Badge platforms and verifiers. The standard defines three core data objects: Issuer (who awards), BadgeClass (what is awarded), and Assertion (the award to a specific person).

How does IPFS storage work?

Badge images are stored on IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), a decentralized storage network. Once uploaded, images are content-addressed — meaning they are identified by a cryptographic hash of their content. This makes them permanent, tamper-proof, and accessible through any IPFS gateway. Your badge images remain available even if badges.ninja is offline.

What does the free plan include?

The Free plan includes 1 issuer, 5 badge classes, 100 awards per month, 1 API key, 1 GB of badge image storage, and full access to the visual badge designer, IPFS storage, and Open Badge v2.0 compliance — at no cost, with no credit card required. The award allowance resets at the start of each month.

Can I use the API to automate badge creation?

Yes. badges.ninja provides a full REST API for creating issuers, badges, and awards programmatically. Generate an API key from your dashboard and include it in the X-Api-Key header. See the API Reference for complete documentation with examples.

What is blockchain verification?

Blockchain verification is an optional feature (available on the Pro plan) that records badge awards on-chain for an additional layer of authenticity. Currently, badges.ninja supports the Matchain blockchain. This feature provides a tamper-proof, independently verifiable record of each award beyond the standard hosted verification.

How do bulk awards work?

Bulk awards let you issue the same badge to hundreds or thousands of recipients by uploading a CSV file with names and emails. The system processes each row, shows real-time progress, and lets you pause, resume, or cancel. After processing, you can download CSVs of successful and failed awards. See Bulk Awards for the full guide.

How do recipients share their badges?

Each award has a public verification page and a share page. Recipients can share their badge on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, or by email. They can also copy the direct verification URL. Social media sharing includes rich previews with the badge image and description. See Sharing & Verification.

How is my data secured?

badges.ninja uses AWS infrastructure with encryption at rest and in transit. Authentication is handled by Amazon Cognito with secure password policies. API keys use cryptographic generation. Badge images on IPFS are content-addressed and tamper-proof. The platform follows security best practices including WAF protection and DDoS mitigation.

How do I get support?

If you need help, open the Support page from the sidebar in your dashboard. You can create a support ticket describing your issue, and the team will respond. You can also check this documentation and the Quick Start guide for common questions.