# Verification Most themes need no verification at all. A person's theme lives on their own account, and their DID and PDS already authenticate it; a consumer just fetches it by their DID. There's nothing to prove. Verification matters in **one** case: when a **domain** (an app, a website, a brand) wants to claim *"this theme is ours."* Without a proof, any account could publish a theme and assert it speaks for `example.com`. The mechanism below ties a domain to the records it vouches for. :::note[Do you need this?] - **A person's own theme** → no. It's authenticated by their account; skip this page. - **An app or brand theme tied to a domain** → yes. Prove the domain owns the records. ::: ## The `.well-known` endpoint: the proof Serve a file at `https:///.well-known/place.mode.standard.profile` whose body is the AT-URI of your `profile` record: ``` GET https://example.com/.well-known/place.mode.standard.profile at://did:plc:abc123/place.mode.standard.profile/self ``` Because only the domain's owner can place a file there, this is the domain **endorsing** that record. A consumer verifies in two steps: 1. **Fetch the endpoint** → read the profile AT-URI → its DID is the claimed authority. 2. **Confirm the DID belongs to the domain**: the DID's handle resolves to `example.com` (ordinary AT Protocol handle verification). Together they're bidirectional: the domain points at the account, and the account's handle *is* the domain. Once the account is verified, its themes are the records in its `place.mode.standard.theme` collection, the app's baseline being the one saved at record key `default`. ### Serving it from a static site The file has no extension and its body is just the AT-URI. On a static host (Astro, Netlify, …) drop it in your `public/` directory so it's served verbatim: ``` public/.well-known/place.mode.standard.profile ``` ## A real example: `mode.place` This standard's own site is the reference deployment. `mode.place` serves the file like this: ``` GET https://mode.place/.well-known/place.mode.standard.profile at://did:plc:rvraq37xlwydvov7laldai6a/place.mode.standard.profile/self ``` Walk the two checks against it: 1. **Fetch the endpoint** → the body is a `profile` AT-URI whose account is `did:plc:rvraq37xlwydvov7laldai6a`. That DID is the claimed authority. 2. **Confirm the DID belongs to the domain** → resolve that DID's handle; it is `mode.place`. The account and the domain name each other, so the link holds. With the account verified, `mode.place`'s look is the theme in its `place.mode.standard.theme` collection saved at record key `default`. Notice there was nothing to *compute*: every value is fixed by facts you already have, the DID, the collection `place.mode.standard.profile`, and the profile's record key, which is always `self`. This *is* the file. :::note[Why serve it at all?] `mode.place`'s handle already resolves straight to its account, so an app could reach this theme without the file. It's served anyway as the canonical demonstration of the domain handshake, and for any consumer that begins with the bare domain rather than the account. ::: ## The `` discovery hint: *not* verification On a page that has a theme applied, add a `` in the `` so tools and indexers can discover which theme is in use: ```html ``` This is a **hint for discovery only**: it says "this theme is active here." It is not a trust signal; verification always comes from the `.well-known` endpoint above, never from a `` a page can claim freely. ## Why personal themes are exempt There's no domain to associate. A person's theme is reached through their DID, and the DID and PDS authenticate it end to end. Verification exists solely to bind a *domain* to records; where there's no domain claim, there's nothing to verify. ## Next steps - **[Publish a theme](https://standard.mode.place/docs/guides/publish-a-theme/)**: get the records this page verifies onto your account. - **[Schema reference](https://standard.mode.place/docs/reference/schema/)**: the `profile` and `theme` records this page points at. - **[The Mode Contract](https://standard.mode.place/docs/contract/)**: how a resolved theme is rendered.