The Index / standard
C2PA Content Credentials
Publishers and creative tools use C2PA to record an asset's origin and edits in a signed Content Credential. A reviewer can inspect the signer and check whether the associated data passes validation. The specification defines how applications bind those assertions to media. A publisher still needs to verify the depicted events and establish permission to use the asset; a valid provenance record cannot settle either question on its own.
At a glance
- Provider
- Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity
- Status
- Specification 2.4 documented
- Availability
- Public specification and implementation guidance. Support depends on the creation, export and verification tools in the publishing workflow.
- Works with
- Digital-media provenance, Signed manifests
- Last checked
- Sep 9, 2026
- Topics
- Provenance
What to check
- Provenance can be incomplete, and metadata can be removed.
- A missing credential alone does not establish that an image is false.
- Content Credentials do not impose access or usage restrictions.
History and changes
Specification 2.4
Added AI-disclosure assertions, HTML embedding and a JSON-derived representation.
Specification 2.3
Added live-streaming support and expanded text and audio embedding.
Specification 2.2
Added soft-binding recovery guidance and multipart-asset support.
Specification 2.1
Clarified manifest trust states and expanded ingredient workflows.
Specification 2.0
Introduced a default C2PA trust list and revised signing and validation rules.
Specification 1.4
Added ZIP-based formats and metadata assertions covering IPTC, Exif, XMP and Schema.org.
Specification 1.3
Expanded actions, ingredients, asset types and supported media formats.
Specification 1.2
Expanded DNG and TIFF guidance and digital-source-type metadata.
Specification 1.1
Revised hashing and validation; added endorsement assertions.
Specification 1.0
Initial specification, dated December 2021 in the official version history.
Related records
No linked public coverage.