Issue Your First Certificate

This guide walks through the full certificate issuance workflow — from institution setup to issuing a verifiable credential with all optional entities included. By the end, you will have a live certificate with a public verification URL.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

API credentials (email + password)
Your X-Tenant identifier
A signed PDF of the certificate

Set these environment variables for the examples below:

export API=https://api.dokstamp.com
export TENANT=your-tenant-domain
export TOKEN=""  # Will be set after Step 1

Step 1 — Authenticate

TOKEN=$(curl -s -X POST $API/auth/login \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"email":"admin@myschool.edu","password":"secret"}' \
  | jq -r '.access_token')

echo "Token: $TOKEN"

Step 2 — Create the Institution

INSTITUTION=$(curl -s -X POST $API/institutions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Federal University of Technology",
    "country": "Brazil",
    "status": "active"
  }')

INSTITUTION_UUID=$(echo $INSTITUTION | jq -r '.data.uuid')
echo "Institution UUID: $INSTITUTION_UUID"

Step 3 — Create a Module

MODULE=$(curl -s -X POST $API/modules \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -d "{
    \"name\": \"Software Engineering\",
    \"code\": \"SE301\",
    \"institution_uuid\": \"$INSTITUTION_UUID\",
    \"workload\": 60,
    \"credits\": 3,
    \"modality\": \"hybrid\",
    \"level\": \"undergraduate\"
  }")

MODULE_UUID=$(echo $MODULE | jq -r '.data.uuid')

Step 4 — Create the Course

COURSE=$(curl -s -X POST $API/courses \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -d "{
    \"name\": \"Bachelor of Computer Science\",
    \"code\": \"BCS-2024\",
    \"institution_uuid\": \"$INSTITUTION_UUID\",
    \"workload_hours\": 3200,
    \"status\": \"active\"
  }")

COURSE_UUID=$(echo $COURSE | jq -r '.data.uuid')

Step 5 — Attach the Module to the Course

curl -X POST "$API/courses/$COURSE_UUID/attach/modules" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -d "{
    \"modules\": [
      { \"uuid\": \"$MODULE_UUID\", \"order\": 1, \"is_required\": true }
    ]
  }"

Step 6 — Create a Cohort

COHORT=$(curl -s -X POST $API/cohorts \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -d "{
    \"course_uuid\": \"$COURSE_UUID\",
    \"code\": \"BCS-2024-1\",
    \"modality\": \"hybrid\",
    \"start_date\": \"2024-02-01T00:00:00Z\",
    \"end_date\": \"2027-12-31T00:00:00Z\"
  }")

COHORT_UUID=$(echo $COHORT | jq -r '.data.uuid')

Step 7 — Create the Student

# Check if student already exists
EXISTING=$(curl -s "$API/students?where[user][email]=maria@email.com" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT")

STUDENT_UUID=$(echo $EXISTING | jq -r '.data[0].uuid // empty')

if [ -z "$STUDENT_UUID" ]; then
  STUDENT=$(curl -s -X POST $API/students \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
    -H "Accept: application/json" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
    -d '{
      "name": "Maria Fernanda Silva",
      "email": "maria@email.com",
      "date_of_birth": "1998-05-20",
      "gender": "female"
    }')
  STUDENT_UUID=$(echo $STUDENT | jq -r '.data.uuid')
fi

echo "Student UUID: $STUDENT_UUID"

Step 8 — Create an Enrollment

ENROLLMENT=$(curl -s -X POST $API/enrollments \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -d "{
    \"student_uuid\": \"$STUDENT_UUID\",
    \"course_uuid\": \"$COURSE_UUID\",
    \"cohort_uuid\": \"$COHORT_UUID\",
    \"enrolled_at\": \"2024-02-01\",
    \"completion_status\": \"completed\",
    \"grade\": 9.0,
    \"completed_at\": \"2027-12-20\"
  }")

ENROLLMENT_UUID=$(echo $ENROLLMENT | jq -r '.data.uuid')

Step 9 — Upload the PDF

FILE=$(curl -s -X POST $API/files \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -F "files[]=@/path/to/diploma-maria.pdf")

FILE_UUID=$(echo $FILE | jq -r '.data[0].uuid')
echo "File UUID: $FILE_UUID"

Step 10 — Issue the Certificate

CERTIFICATE=$(curl -s -X POST $API/certificates \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Tenant: $TENANT" \
  -d "{
    \"institution_uuid\": \"$INSTITUTION_UUID\",
    \"course_uuid\": \"$COURSE_UUID\",
    \"student_uuid\": \"$STUDENT_UUID\",
    \"cohort_uuid\": \"$COHORT_UUID\",
    \"enrollment_uuid\": \"$ENROLLMENT_UUID\",
    \"file_uuid\": \"$FILE_UUID\",
    \"finish\": true
  }")

echo "Certificate:"
echo $CERTIFICATE | jq '.data | {uuid, status, public_verification_url}'

Output:

{
  "uuid": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
  "status": "issued",
  "public_verification_url": "https://verificar.dokstamp.eu/a1b2c3d4"
}

The public_verification_url is ready to share — no authentication needed to access it.

Next steps

Batch issuance — process hundreds of certificates at once → Bulk Operations
Digital badges — emit Open Badges alongside certificates → Open Badges
Student portfolio — let the student publish their certificate → Student Portfolio

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Authentication

Institutions

Organizations

Courses

Modules

Students

Enrollments

Certificates

Certificate Templates

Files

Guides

Integration Guide

Issue Your First Certificate

Issue Your First Certificate

Before you start

Step 1 — Authenticate

Step 2 — Create the Institution

Step 3 — Create a Module

Step 4 — Create the Course

Step 5 — Attach the Module to the Course

Step 6 — Create a Cohort

Step 7 — Create the Student

Step 8 — Create an Enrollment

Step 9 — Upload the PDF

Step 10 — Issue the Certificate

Next steps

​Issue Your First Certificate

​Before you start

​Step 1 — Authenticate

​Step 2 — Create the Institution

​Step 3 — Create a Module

​Step 4 — Create the Course

​Step 5 — Attach the Module to the Course

​Step 6 — Create a Cohort

​Step 7 — Create the Student

​Step 8 — Create an Enrollment

​Step 9 — Upload the PDF

​Step 10 — Issue the Certificate

​Next steps

Issue Your First Certificate

Before you start

Step 1 — Authenticate

Step 2 — Create the Institution

Step 3 — Create a Module

Step 4 — Create the Course

Step 5 — Attach the Module to the Course

Step 6 — Create a Cohort

Step 7 — Create the Student

Step 8 — Create an Enrollment

Step 9 — Upload the PDF

Step 10 — Issue the Certificate

Next steps