DOKK / manpages / debian 12 / sq / sq-certify.1.en
certify(1) Sequoia Manual certify(1)

certify - Certifies a User ID for a Certificate

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>

Certifies a User ID for a Certificate

Using a certification a keyholder may vouch for the fact that another certificate legitimately belongs to a user id. In the context of emails this means that the same entity controls the key and the email address. These kind of certifications form the basis for the Web Of Trust.

This command emits the certificate with the new certification. The updated certificate has to be distributed, preferably by sending it to the certificate holder for attestation. See also "sq key attest-certification".

Writes to FILE or stdout if omitted
Emits binary data
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

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.
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.
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.
Makes the certification a local certification. Normally, local certifications are not exported.
Marks the certification as being non-revocable. That is, you cannot later revoke this certification. This should normally only be used with an expiration.
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.
Makes the certification expire at TIME (as ISO 8601). Use "never" to create certifications that do not expire.
Makes the certification expire after DURATION. Either "N[ymwds]", for N years, months, weeks, days, seconds, or "never". [default: 5y]
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.
Don't fail if the certificate making the certification is revoked.
Provides parameters for private key store
Print help information
<CERTIFIER-KEY>
Creates the certification using CERTIFIER-KEY.
<CERTIFICATE>
Certifies CERTIFICATE.
<USERID>
Certifies USERID for CERTIFICATE.


Juliet certifies that Romeo controls romeo.pgp and romeo@example.org


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

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)

July 2022 sq 0.26.0