For tradespeople · Self-taught practitioners

Public ledger · Independent steward review

Your work is the credential. The audit is what proves it.

If you learned your trade on the shop floor, on a job site, or in your own garage — without a formal apprenticeship, a degree, or a North-American certificate — Proofworks is the way you turn that body of work into a portable, auditable record. One sentence names the capability. The artifacts prove it. An independent panel of stewards decides whether it stands. The result is a numbered Degree of Proof, minted into the public ledger, readable on a phone anywhere it needs to be.

Open the Trades intake Look up a live credential

SAMPLE · Sample

Use /dashboard/new (signed-in holders)

If you have an account, the step-one intake at /dashboard/new pre-aligns your track selection.

What a Degree of Proof is

A recorded decision of what you demonstrably can do. Not a diploma. Not a certificate of attendance.

A Degree of Proof is a numbered, time-stamped record that says: this person demonstrated this capability against this set of artifacts, and an independent panel of reviewers weighed the evidence and decided whether it stood. The credential itself is short — half a dozen fields anyone can read off a public URL. The record under it is what gives the credential its weight — a written audit trail on the public ledger that is independently verifiable and tamper-evident while protected evidence stays private.

You send one sentence (at least 20 characters) naming the capability and what it does, plus the artifacts that prove it — work orders, employer letters, recorded test runs, expert affidavits, uncut footage with timestamps, third-party test records. The artifacts stay with the steward panel; the public surface shows an audit hash, the claim id, and a stewardship-curated one-line of what was reviewed. The Degree travels with you; the platform does not retain it.

A Degree is revocable. Any party with standing may contest one, a fresh steward panel reviews the challenge, and if the contest is sustained, the credential is revoked and the audit log records the change, the date, and the reason. The credential only enters the public ledger after minting — there is no internal "pending" state on the public side to read as a soft yes. Unsuccessful claims do not produce a credential; the decision stays in the audit log so the same claim cannot be silently re-filed.

Tracks, in plain English

PoT- vs PoO-. Two gates for two kinds of proof.

Trades (PoT-)

Conventional evidence. Bring work orders, an employer letter on letterhead, a recorded test run or inspection slip (a weld coupon, an electrical inspection, an HVAC commissioning report), or an expert affidavit from a credentialed practitioner. The panel reads the artifacts on their own signal — there is no checklist that pre-decides what weight any single artifact carries. The Degree carries a PoT- serial. Most tradespeople file here: welders, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, automotive techs, machinists, locksmiths with North-American certification, HVAC installers.

Oddities (PoO-)

Signal-led evidence. Bring uncut footage, field recordings, spectrograms or process shots that exhibit the capability on their own — together with affidavits from a domain expert who can describe the capability in plain terms. The artefact of the trade doesn't have to look conventional; the gate keeps the commitment to the same audit bar. Craftspeople without a North-American certification, cross-border locksmiths, artisans with no formal apprenticeship — practice the panel can read on its own signal.

Every field, in plain English

The six fields anyone can read off the public URL.

Every Degree renders the same six fields. None of them requires an account or a phone call — anyone with your credential ID resolves the record. Below is what each field means and where it comes from.

Credential ID

The public, serialised identifier.

A Degree is named PoT-00042 or PoO-00012 — "PoT-" tracks Trades, "PoO-" tracks Oddities, followed by the serial number. Five digits. Anyone holding the ID can resolve the record independently, on a phone or in a vetting system.

Holder

The named holder of the record.

The legal name recorded at issuance sits in the holder field. A holder profile at /u/[handle] collects every Degree you carry, cross-track — Trades and Oddities alike.

Capability

The skill statement the panel approved.

General Stewards approve or reject; Specialists may request revisions when the Specialist route is used. Every decision is recorded in the audit history.

Track

The evidence gate the claim cleared.

Trades (PoT-) is the conventional-evidence gate: work orders, employer statements, recorded test runs. Oddities (PoO-) is the signal-led gate for capabilities with no fixed curriculum. The track tells you what shape of evidence the panel weighed.

Issued

When the credential was minted.

A UTC timestamp stamped at minting. "Issued" is the minting date, not the date you first did the work — the credential registers the audit, not the apprenticeship.

Status

What the ledger says today.

Active means the credential is in good standing. Revoked means it has been struck — the audit log records when and why. The public ledger only ever shows active or revoked; a credential only enters the books after minting, with no "pending" state to interpret.

Usable evidence, by trade

What the steward panel reads across common trades.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of the artifact shapes the panel reads on either gate. The order is not a ranking — every line item, on its own signal, carries the same weight. Pick what you have. Pair item types where you can. The panel does not require every kind.

Trades · conventional evidence, by trade

01
Weld
Work orders or fabrication logs naming you as the welder of record on the listed jobs — a fab shop's PO list, on-site structural-weld logs, signed shop tickets.
02
Weld
Weld coupons and inspection slips per AWS D1.1, ASME IX, or the welding code your jurisdiction uses, with the procedure specification referenced.
03
Weld
An affidavit from a CWI or equivalent credentialed practitioner who witnessed and signed off on your work.
04
Electric
Signed inspection slips or commissioning records from an ESA, a master electrician, or the authority having jurisdiction in your area.
05
Electric
Work orders or contracts identifying you as the installer, on letterhead with the contractor's licence number.
06
Plumb
Inspection cards or cross-connection test records signed by the local plumbing inspector.
07
Plumb
Letters on letterhead from the licensed plumbing contractor under whom you worked, addressed to Proofworks, naming the jobs and dates.
08
Carpentry
Plan-of-supervision sign-offs, framing inspection cards, or commissioning documents where you were the lead carpenter.
09
Carpentry
Work orders from GCs confirming your role on structural-timber, cabinetry, or finish work.
10
Auto
Record of diagnostic passes from a manufacturer training programme (ASE, Snap-on, factory-specific) or service tickets where you were the technician of record.
11
Auto
Letters from a shop owner or service manager on letterhead confirming the class of work and the period.
12
Machinist
Setup sheets, first-article inspection reports, or signed-off tolerance charts where you were the operator.
13
Machinist
Work orders from a shop's production log naming you and the part number.
14
Locksmith
Letters from a locksmith-distributor or shop owner confirming your ALOA, MLA, or province-issued certification work, with dates.
15
HVAC
Commissioning records, refrigerant-cycle logs, or load calculations you performed and signed.
16
HVAC
Letters from the licensed mechanical contractor under whom you worked, addressed to Proofworks.

Oddities · signal-led evidence, by practice

01
Cross-border locksmith
Eleven years' documented work in your home jurisdiction, with prior-client affidavits and recorded drill runs on the relevant tools.
02
Auto restoration
Uncut walkaround videos with timestamps, before-and-after photos in context, and a domain-expert affidavit describing the body of work.
03
Independent machinist
Video of a setup-to-first-article run with timestamps, your drawings and prints, and a peer affidavit describing the practice.
04
Blacksmith / bladesmith
Process footage with timestamps (forging, heat-treat, quench, grind), an affidavit from a credentialed smith, and order or commission records.
05
Marine / rigger
Field recordings and photographs of the work onboard, with affidavits from a credentialed marine surveyor or master.
06
Sign / type
Type sample or sign-portfolio photos annotated with hardware, scale, and process notes, plus a craftsperson affidavit.
07
Tuner / rebuilder
Before-and-after recordings, voicing notes, and an affidavit from a credentialed tuner or conservator.
08
Industrial / instruments
Loop-check sheets, calibration records, and an affidavit from a control-systems engineer describing the work.
09
Pattern / mould-maker
Process shots of the pattern from raw stock through finished tooling, with a foundry or composite-shop affidavit.

What the credential does

What a Degree of Proof proves. And what it does not.

It proves

01That you demonstrated the named capability against specific artifacts an independent panel weighed and approved.
02That the review was paid for by the platform at intake, with the submission fee matched to the receipt — Stripe captures the fee before any review. A claimant pays for adjudication, not for an outcome.
03That your record is held by the public ledger and is independently verifiable and tamper-evident, while protected evidence stays private; no platform call required.
04That the credential travels with you — attached to your name, not to the platform that issued it.
05That anyone can challenge it, and a sustained challenge triggers a fresh panel and (when warranted) a revocation logged with reason and date.

It does NOT prove

01That you attended a particular course or licensing body — Proofworks records the work, not the curriculum. Proofworks runs alongside conventional credentials — it does not replace a degree, a licence, or a certificate.
02That you are licensed, insured, or currently operating in any jurisdiction — those are separate facts, not on the credential.
03That the underlying capability hasn't decayed — the ledger records what was true at the time the panel weighed it, not in perpetuity.
04That anyone reading the record will reach a positive conclusion — the public surface can also resolve to REVOKED. Unsuccessful claims are recorded in the audit log, not converted into a credential.
05Per-issuance value — there is no per-credential fee. The submission fee is matched to the receipt, not to the resulting Degree.

From claim to credential

What the lifecycle looks like end-to-end.

01From claim to credential
Submit your claim and artifacts
Open /trades/claim with one sentence naming the capability (at least 20 characters) and attach or link to your strongest piece or pieces of evidence — work orders, employer letters, test coupons, recordings, affidavits. The submission sits in a held state until the Stripe receipt confirms; only then does the claim enter the queue. A claimant pays for adjudication, not for a guaranteed outcome.
02From claim to credential
Independent steward review
General Stewards approve or reject; Specialists may request revisions when the Specialist route is used. Every decision is recorded in the audit history.
03From claim to credential
Mint or revision loop
An approved claim becomes a numbered Degree of Proof, minted into the public ledger with a UTC timestamp. A revisions request loops you back with the panel's notes on what was missing — the receipt stays matched, and the prior decision stays on the audit trail. A declined claim produces no credential; the decision stays in the audit log so the same claim cannot be silently re-filed.
04From claim to credential
Public, portable, revocable
The minted credential is publicly readable at /verify/[id], embeddable in a portfolio widget at /embed/[id], parseable as JSON via /api/verify/[id], and backed by a full audit trail at /audit/[id]. It travels with you across roles, employers, and borders — and remains revocable by a fresh panel if contested.

Verification, from the recipient's side

Anyone holding your ID can read the record.

The ledger is one artefact. The platform serves it four ways — a human URL, a JSON endpoint, a portfolio iframe, and a full audit-trail back-stop.

Human URL
/verify/[id]
The recipient pastes your credential ID — the one on your badge or in your email — and the public verify card resolves to holder, capability, track, status, audit hash, and source claim. No login required.
01 / 04
For ATS · systems
/api/verify/[id]
A recipient's HR or vetting system GETs the JSON envelope — credentialId, holderName, skill, track, status, issuedAt, verifyUrl. Unknown IDs collapse to a typed 404 envelope so the system can branch on CredentialNotFound without scraping HTML.
02 / 04
Portfolio badge
/embed/[id]
A ~320px iframe badge that drops into Linktree, a personal site, or a trade directory. SiteNav and SiteFooter hide on the embed surface; the badge reads as a clean third-party widget.
03 / 04
Audit trail
/audit/[id]
The full state-change log under your credential — every panel calendar, every contest, every revocation event, with timestamps. The back-stop surface when a recipient wants to read the rule that produced your record.
04 / 04

Continue from here

Where to go next.

Five destinations line up from this page — start the intake, read what the fee funds, see what the recruiter reads on the other side of the table, see how a reviewer weighs the work, or read the governance record on contest and revocation.

Open the Trades intake

Start with the form on /trades/claim. One sentence, one or more pieces of evidence, one Stripe receipt — held until the receipt confirms.

Open /trades/claim

What the fee funds

Facilitation, third-party steward time, the written audit trail — receipt matched, credential never charged. The canonical disclosure — $50 submission fee for independent claim review — appears on every surface that names the fee.

Submission fee for independent claim review.

What the recruiter reads

A walk-through of how the recipient side reads a Degree — every field, every status pill, every verification surface.

Read /for-employers

How the reviewer weighs

A walk-through of how the steward panel reads evidence — the four verdicts, the eligibility signals, the contest and revocation rules.

Read /for-stewards

Governance record

Reviewer independence, panel composition, recusal, compensation, decision thresholds, contest standing, public-vs-private surfaces, revocation.

Open /governance

Talk to a human

If your capability doesn't obviously fit either gate, or you have a question about what counts as evidence, write before you submit. Replies within two business days.

Open /contact

Direct line

Tradespeople & self-taught practitioners inbox.

If your trade is not on the list above, or you want to talk through what to submit before you start the form, write the inbox. Replies within two business days.

Email ProofworksThe Proofworks contact inbox