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Claiming a Credential

When an organization issues a credential to your email address, it becomes immediately public and verifiable — but claiming it permanently links it to your account. Claiming takes two clicks.

You'll receive an email

The email comes from the organization that issued the credential and includes:

  • The badge image and name.
  • The issuing organization.
  • The credential ID (e.g. CRD-ZBUYQMTA).
  • A primary call-to-action button: View & Verify Credential → https://credentials.certdirectory.io/verify/{credential-id}.

For renewals, the email is differentiated to make the context obvious — for example "Your credential has been renewed 🔄" instead of "You've earned a new credential 🏆".

Claim flow

  1. Click View & Verify in the email — this opens the public verification page.
  2. The page shows the credential as Pending (unclaimed) at first.
  3. Click Sign In to Claim (or Create an Account if you're new).
    • The login flow preserves where you came from with ?redirect=/verify/{credential-id}, so you'll land back on the same page after signing in.
  4. After signing in, click Claim This Credential.
  5. The page updates: status becomes Valid and shows a "Claimed on" date.

The credential now also appears in your Dashboard under "Your Credentials" and (if marked public by the issuer) on your public profile.

What happens if…

…you sign in with a different email?

Claiming requires your signed-in email to exactly match the recipient email the issuer entered. If they differ, you'll see an EMAIL_MISMATCH error.

Fix it by either:

  • Signing out and signing in with the email the credential was sent to.
  • Asking the issuer to re-send it to your correct email.

…the credential has already been claimed?

If someone else (or you, on a previous device) already claimed it, you'll see ALREADY_CLAIMED. Each credential can only be claimed once. If this happens to you in error, contact the issuing organization.

…the credential is private?

If the issuer marked the credential as private, the verification page shows a "Private credential" message and you'll need to be signed in (and own it) to view full details.

…you don't have an account yet?

The verification page detects this and offers Create an Account. After registration and email verification, you'll automatically return to the credential page to claim it.

…the credential has expired or been revoked before you claimed it?

You can still claim valid (non-revoked, non-expired) credentials. Expired or revoked credentials remain visible and verifiable, but cannot be newly claimed.

After claiming

  • The credential appears on your Dashboard and on your Public Profile (if the issuer made it public).
  • Use the Share button on the verification page to post to LinkedIn or X, or to grab embed code. See Sharing Your Credentials.
  • Download the JSON (raw OB3 payload), the baked PNG (badge image with embedded credential data), or a QR code (paid-tier issuers only).

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