# Proof of creation (free tool)
Source: https://docs.aden.space/docs/help/more/proof-tool

A free tool at tools.aden.space/proof (also proof.aden.space). Drop any file and its SHA-256 fingerprint, worked out in the browser, is stamped by a qualified EU timestamp authority. Download a certificate zip, and check a file against its certificate later. The file never leaves the device and nothing is stored.
{/* Generated by `bun docs:publish` from docs/features/proof-tool.md: edit the spec, not this file. */}

## What it is [#what-it-is]

Proof that a file existed on a given day: a song, a beat, a project, lyrics,
artwork, anything. Open `tools.aden.space/proof` (or `proof.aden.space`). No account
needed.

Your browser works out the file's fingerprint (SHA-256) and only that is sent.
A **qualified timestamp authority**, the Belgian Federal Government's
time-stamping service on the EU trusted list, signs it with the time. Under
EU Regulation 910/2014 (eIDAS), Art. 41, that timestamp is presumed accurate
in its date and in the file being unchanged, in every EU member state.

It proves when, not who. Keep your project files and drafts too.

## Using it [#using-it]

* **Drop a file**, or choose one. Its fingerprint shows under its name; click
  it to copy the whole thing.
* **Title and names** (optional): add a title and who made it. They go on the
  certificate as you type them and nobody checks them.
* **Stamp**. The time appears once the authority has signed.
* **Download certificate**: a zip with three files. Nothing is kept on our
  side, so download it before you leave the page.
  * `certificate.pdf`: the readable record.
  * `manifest.json`: the exact text that was stamped.
  * `timestamp.tsr`: the authority's signed timestamp.
* **Save to Aden** (audio files) opens Aden in a new tab to upload the song
  as a track: every version you upload there is stamped by itself, with its
  credits, session and project.
* Ten stamps a day, five an hour, without an account.

### Checking a certificate [#checking-a-certificate]

Drop the file and its certificate zip (or its `manifest.json`) on the page,
together or one after the other. Dropping a certificate switches to
**Check a certificate** by itself. The page says whether the fingerprints
match, and when a match was stamped. It works for certificates downloaded from
a version in Aden too. Everything happens in your browser.

Without Aden:

1. `sha256sum your-file` matches the SHA-256 in the certificate and in
   `manifest.json`.
2. With Belgium Root CA6 (from repository.eidpki.belgium.be, SHA-256
   fingerprint printed on the certificate):
   `openssl ts -verify -in timestamp.tsr -data manifest.json -CAfile belgium-root-ca6.pem`