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openbadgeslib is a Python library and CLI for signing and verifying Open Badges baked into SVG and PNG image files. It supports both OpenBadges 2.0 (JWS assertions) and OpenBadges 3.0 (W3C Verifiable Credentials as JWT-VC).

OB 2.0 (JWS) vs OB 3.0 (JWT-VC): OB2 embeds a JWS-signed assertion in the badge image; OB3 issues a W3C Verifiable Credential as a JWT-VC and bakes that token into the image instead. See OB2 vs OB3 for the full comparison.

Install

pip install openbadgeslib

All dependencies (pycryptodome, ecdsa, pypng, PyJWT[crypto], defusedxml) are installed automatically. See Installation for development setup and extras.

What next

• Installation — requirements and how to install
• Quick Start — init, generate keys, sign, and verify a badge in four commands
• CLI Reference — the five console scripts: openbadges-init, openbadges-keygenerator, openbadges-signer, openbadges-verifier, openbadges-publish
• Python API OB2 — Badge, Signer, Verifier for OpenBadges 2.0
• Python API OB3 — OpenBadgeCredential, OB3Signer, OB3Verifier for OpenBadges 3.0
• Security Model — algorithm pinning, trusted keys, and hardened parsing

Version

Current release: 1.1.1 (2026-06-27). This release normalises OB3 recipient identifiers through one shared helper, cross-checks the JWT iss/sub claims against the credential in verify(), and ships a flake8-clean repo with 258 tests at 92% line coverage on Python 3.10–3.13.

See the Changelog for full history and Releasing for the release process.