# Arkova > Arkova is the trust layer for humans and AI agents: a privacy-first document verification platform that turns documents into checkable records. Direct uploads are fingerprinted in the browser using SHA-256 and stay on the user's device. Selected documents from connected sources are fingerprinted in server memory, then discarded. Arkova publishes verification records linked to public-network receipts. Teams that own audits get records they can check without trusting Arkova. Software and AI agents get the same records through an MCP server, a REST API and SDKs. The homepage walks through three jobs: contracts and legal workflows, changelogs and audit evidence and AI agent logs, and individuals keeping dated copies of wills, tax documents and credentials. A public ID lookup reports record details and does not compare a file. Someone with the file can compare fingerprints when the recorded value is available. The reported issuer and status are record data, cached status may lag, and a network receipt alone is not a complete per-document offline proof. - Website: https://arkova.ai - App: https://app.arkova.ai - Contact: founders@arkova.ai - Field Notes: https://arkova.ai/research - Verification guide: https://arkova.ai/verification-guide — distinct checks for file fingerprints, anchor evidence, issuer authority, status, and network time; the sample has no self-contained offline proof bundle. - API v2 migration guide: https://arkova.ai/docs/v2-migration (API v2 is current at https://api.arkova.ai/api/v2 and v1 stays supported until 23 April 2027; the guide covers the dates, scoped keys, endpoint mapping, rate limits and error format) - Newsletter: https://arkova.ai/newsletter - Demos (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/@Arkova-q3y - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arkovatech - X: https://x.com/arkovatech - Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/Arkova_/ - Pitch deck: https://docsend.com/view/4fic8mg92fwaci9x - Privacy: https://arkova.ai/privacy - Terms: https://arkova.ai/terms ## API Base URL: `https://api.arkova.ai/api/v1` - `GET /verify/:publicId` — Look up a credential or document by public ID. Returns reported status, issuer and timing fields, and a network receipt when available. - `POST /verify/batch` — The [OpenAPI contract](https://app.arkova.ai/api/docs/spec.json) accepts up to 100 public IDs with an API key. It describes synchronous results for 20 or fewer IDs and an asynchronous job for larger requests. On October 21, 2026 a two-ID request returned synchronous results, 101 IDs returned HTTP 400 and a request without a key returned HTTP 401; the asynchronous job path was not exercised. The TypeScript SDK's `verifyBatch` sends at most 20 IDs per call. - `GET /usage` — OpenAPI-described usage stats for an authenticated key. - `GET /verify/search?q=` — Search with an API key. On October 21, 2026 it returned HTTP 200 in `lexical_substring` mode; the response's `search_mode` says which mode answered. Auth: Protected calls take an API key in `X-API-Key` or in an `Authorization: Bearer` header; both were accepted on October 21, 2026, and a request without a key received HTTP 401. Public-ID GET verification requires no auth. Handle HTTP 429 and its `Retry-After` header when provided. Inspect response headers and confirm effective throughput with the API owner before relying on a numeric tier. ## MCP Server Endpoint: `https://edge.arkova.ai/mcp` Transport: Streamable HTTP Packages: `arkova` (SDK, npm and PyPI), `arkova-mcp-server` (npm; a local stdio MCP server with its own tool set, separate from the hosted endpoint), `arkova-api-cli` (npm). Publisher: https://www.npmjs.com/~crseeger ### MCP discovery The [published server card](https://arkova.ai/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json) provides endpoint and authorization discovery, without a static tool list. An authorized client should use MCP [`tools/list`](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2026-07-28/server/tools) after connecting to discover the tools currently offered and confirm its granted scopes. Do not infer search access from the card. Credentials: send an Arkova API key in `X-API-Key`. Current-format API keys (`ak_live_v1_` and `ak_test_v1_`) are also accepted as `Authorization: Bearer`; older keys without the `v1` segment are rejected with HTTP 401 when sent as Bearer, so send them in `X-API-Key`. A session-token Bearer path exists only for first-party Arkova clients: it needs an MFA-verified session and an operator-enabled allowlist entry per user, so it is not an integration credential. No OAuth authorization-code flow or public OAuth client registration is offered. Checked October 21, 2026: `X-API-Key` was accepted and an older key sent as Bearer was rejected; Bearer acceptance of current-format keys comes from the deployed service source. An unauthenticated request receives HTTP 401 with a `WWW-Authenticate` challenge pointing to the [protected-resource metadata](https://edge.arkova.ai/mcp/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource). Follow that challenge: the path-derived URL `https://edge.arkova.ai/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource/mcp` is not served. Requests with the default Python `urllib` user agent are refused with HTTP 403; set a descriptive `User-Agent`. ## Field Notes - [Field Notes index](https://arkova.ai/research) — analysis from the Arkova team on document verification, agentic infrastructure, and compliance evidence. - [The Missing Gap in the Agentic IAM Discussion](https://arkova.ai/research/missing-gap-agentic-iam) — agent identity and document integrity are separate checks. - [The State of Compliance in 2026: Why More Frameworks Won't Fix the Evidence Problem](https://arkova.ai/research/state-of-compliance-2026) — rules and evidence needs vary by sector. - [The Rise of the Agentic Economy: How AI Agents Are Becoming Economic Participants](https://arkova.ai/research/rise-of-agentic-economy) — payments, authority, identity, and document integrity need distinct controls. - [The Real Cost of Audit Verification: Why Compliance Teams Are Drowning in Manual Checks](https://arkova.ai/research/real-cost-of-audit-verification) — audit fees and internal evidence work need separate measurement. - [Modernizing Government Records: Cryptographic Verification for Public Trust](https://arkova.ai/research/government-records) — file-version checks need issuer and status context. - [The Convergence Stack: Why Public Ledgers + AI Are Infrastructure, Not Hype](https://arkova.ai/research/convergence-stack) — a network anchor is one part of a wider record check. - [Agentic Recordkeeping: Why Autonomous AI Needs Verifiable Audit Trails](https://arkova.ai/research/agentic-recordkeeping) — reviewable authority, input versions, and outcomes. - [Anchoring Compliance to a Public Network: Why Critical Records Need a Stronger Foundation](https://arkova.ai/research/anchoring-compliance-bitcoin) — network checkpoints support wider evidence packages. ## Newsletter - [Arkova Monthly](https://arkova.ai/newsletter) — monthly product, security, and partnership updates. Latest: September 2026. Past issues at https://arkova.ai/newsletter/, from 2026-06. ## Publicly Announced Collaborations - HakiChain (https://hakichain.com) — announced Arkova document-integrity checks for its HakiDocs workflow. - ComputeID (https://compute-id.com) — said its credential-revocation webhook integration with Arkova is moving into staging. - Certen Protocol (https://certen.io) — announced plans to connect Arkova document checks to its authorization workflow. ## Privacy Direct uploads are fingerprinted in the browser and stay on the user's device. For selected connected-source documents, Arkova processes file bytes in server memory to compute a fingerprint, then discards the file. Arkova retains the fingerprint and limited metadata, not the original document. See https://arkova.ai/privacy for processing details. ## Structured Data Organization and WebSite markup identify the site across routes. The homepage also has WebPage, visible FAQ, SoftwareApplication, VideoObject, and visible-team Person markup. Article and newsletter-issue pages have Article and BreadcrumbList markup. Structured data describes pages; it does not certify records or guarantee a search feature.