See https://whimsical.com/attestation-sequence-graphs-TpKSmozdByjqTztkLNKM4q@or4CdLRbgiyqcMvvQWhu5UHao5HRHeE2SHKptGj7a for more

1. Authorities

Authorities are trusted entities—such as organizations, developers institutions, or individuals—that create schemas for specific types of attestations. They may be verified (trusted and publicly recognized) or non-verified (community-driven or self-asserted).

• Verified Authorities: These authorities are trusted by the community, perhaps due to regulatory approval or a history of credibility. Their schemas are often adopted widely.
• Non-Verified Authorities: These entities can still create schemas, but their trustworthiness is determined by the ecosystem or individuals who choose to accept their attestations.

2. Schemas

Schemas are the formal rulesets that define how attestations are structured. They describe the types of data that can be attested to and provide details on whether the attestation is revocable, has an expiration date, or requires a levy (a fee or token for the process).

• Revocability: A schema may allow an attestation to be revoked (withdrawn or canceled), ensuring flexibility in the case of errors or changes.
• Expiration: Some schemas may set an expiration date, limiting the duration of the attestation’s validity.
• Data: A schema will require encrypted or non-encrypted data as part of the attestation requirement for an attestor
• Levy: Some schemas may require a payment or fee to generate an attestation, incentivizing authorities or funding specific services.

3. Attestations

Attestations are cryptographically verifiable records generated when someone adheres to a schema and signs it. Attestations serve as proof that a particular action, identity, or condition has been validated by the attestor.

• Immutability: Once created, attestations are stored immutably on the blockchain, ensuring that they can’t be tampered with.
• Verifiability: Attestations can be publicly verified by anyone on the blockchain, giving them a transparent and trustless nature.
• Open standard: Attestations can be created and read by anyone. Users, explorers, and smart contract developers have the freedom to choose which attestation reports they trust.

4. Attestors

Attestors are individuals or entities that create attestations by adhering to and signing schemas. An attestor interacts with the schema’s rules and provides the necessary proofs to generate an attestation. In a decentralized network, attestations can take two main forms:

• Delegated Attestations: An organization or entity can attest on behalf of an individual via proxy or through their own smart contracts, allowing a third party to validate claims or actions on the individual's behalf.
• Direct Attestations: Also known as Standard Attestations, where an individual directly attests to the schema themselves, without the involvement of an intermediary or proxy.

5. Packages

Packages are distributable code that execute on the Sui blockchain. They can request owner permissions and perform various functions:

• Deployer: An organization, entity, or developer can deploy a package to the Sui blockchain.
• Explorer: An explorer (e.g., SuiScan) can provide information about package transactions, wallet balances, history, smart contract code, and code audit / verification status.