Publication identity registry

Free, permanent identifiers for published works and the products made from them. Built on ARK, so global uniqueness and resolution are handled by infrastructure that already exists rather than reinvented here.

This is a working prototype on a test namespace. ark:/99999/… is not a real assignment and nothing minted here should be printed on a book or given to a distributor yet. The public name is also unresolved.

What it does for you

One identity across every format. Ebook, paperback, hardcover, audio and box set hang off one Work — something an ISBN structurally cannot do, since it identifies each format separately.
A permanent link that isn't an ASIN. A retailer's identifier belongs to the retailer and dies when you delist. This one survives leaving a platform.
Withdrawn stays resolvable. Pull a book and its identifier returns a tombstone with the history intact, never a dead link.
Your metadata, exportable. JSON, NDJSON snapshots, and ONIX out of the box.

What it does not do

It does not replace an ISBN if you want print distribution, bookstore ordering, or library sales. Those systems run on ISBN and will keep running on ISBN. If you publish direct or digital-only, this stands on its own; if you need the print supply chain, buy the ISBN and carry both. Anyone who tells you otherwise is going to cost you a distribution deal.

API

POST /mint	Mint a Work or Product. Bearer token. Requires evidence the work exists.
GET /ark:/99999/…	Resolve. HTML or JSON by content negotiation. Tombstones return 410 with metadata.
GET /ark:/99999/…/history	The append-only event log.
GET /lookup?type=isbn13&value=…	Crosswalk from an existing identifier.
GET /onix/<blade>.xml	ONIX 3.0 Product record, ProductIDType 35.
GET /snapshot.ndjson	The whole public registry, one record per line.
GET /stats	Record and event counts.

Namespaces

Every publisher gets their own shoulder, issued by software, with no application and no review — not by the ARK Alliance and not by us. Shoulders are opaque and assigned rather than chosen, so nobody can claim /penguin and turn this into a trademark court. Your name lives in metadata, where a name is a claim rather than a grant of ownership.

Minting has a volume ceiling that rises when you verify an email or a domain. That limits the faucet, never the door: no one here decides whether your book deserves an identifier. If you dislike the limits, run your own node — the code and the data are both open.