Open Identity Symbols (OIS) gives you a globally unique, human-readable ID — derived from a passkey your hardware generates. No email. No password. No server.
OIS uses your device's built-in security hardware — the same technology behind Face ID and Windows Hello — to derive a permanent, globally unique identity. No registration. No password.
The OIS app is a Progressive Web App (PWA) that runs entirely in your browser. Tap "Generate Your Identity" above. No sign-up form. No email confirmation.
Your phone, laptop, or hardware key generates a P-256 key pair inside its secure enclave. The private key never leaves your device — not even to OIS servers, because there are none.
The app takes a SHA-256 hash of your public key's SPKI bytes and slices it into three indices into a 5,390-symbol Unicode pool. The same key always produces the same identity — deterministic and verifiable by anyone.
SHA-256(pubkey) → ⚙-🌊-🔥 · gear-wave-fire
Your identity is fully functional offline. If you want others to look you up by symbol or alias, you can publish a proof of ownership to any compatible discovery server — including one you self-host.
Works on Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. On mobile, your fingerprint or face secures the passkey.
▶ Open the PWAMost identity systems require you to trust a company with your account. OIS puts the key — literally — in your pocket.
Your identity is anchored to a passkey stored in your device's secure chip — the same standard used for banking and government apps (WebAuthn / FIDO2).
Symbol IDs are derived algorithmically, not allocated by a registry. No company can revoke, transfer, or claim your identity.
Identity generation works with no internet connection. A service worker caches the entire app so it works even on a plane or underground.
Every symbol ID has a matching word alias (e.g. gear-wave-fire). Easy to say over a voice call, type on a keyboard, or tattoo on your arm.
The 5,390-symbol pool excludes religious, political, national-flag, and gendered symbols — designed to feel equally foreign and equally approachable to everyone on Earth.
The derivation algorithm is fully documented in specs/. Anyone can independently implement a compatible client or verification library in any language.
OIS is more than a PWA — it's a foundation for a standardized, decentralized identity layer that any application can adopt.
Multiple discovery servers can coexist and eventually federate, similar to how email servers work — no single chokepoint, no single operator. Anyone can run a node.
The long-term goal is to formalize OIS as an open protocol specification — an RFC-style document that vendors, browsers, and platforms can implement independently.
Your OIS identity should work across apps and services the same way an email address does today — except it requires no inbox, no password reset, and no platform lock-in.
Future versions will let you share specific profile fields with specific apps — a cryptographic permission model where you control exactly who sees what.
The discovery server is optional and open source. If you want a community or organization to have its own registry, spin one up with Docker in under a minute.
git clone https://github.com/PRYSYM/open-identity-symbols cd open-identity-symbols docker compose up
Discovery API at http://localhost:8001 —
full documentation →
OIS is in active early development. The PWA and discovery server are working today — the protocol layer is next.
OIS is MIT-licensed and developed entirely in the open. Whether you want to fix a bug, expand the Unicode pool, improve the PWA UX, or help design the federation protocol — there is a place for you here.
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