# Authority

The **authority** is the account whose approval is required on the ENS side of
verification. A verifier determines this account from ENS ownership state, then
checks its signature on the claim.

The proof cannot choose its own authority. Permission to publish a record or
host a proof does not automatically grant permission to approve the claim.

## Why It Is Needed

Verification checks both sides of an association: approval from the ENS
name's authority and the evidence required by the target's verification method.
Neither side replaces the other.

For example, a website publishing a proof does not establish that the ENS owner
approved the connection. The authority's signature supplies that approval for
the specific name and record value.

## Authority Versions

The descriptor's `a` field selects an authority algorithm. Each version defines
which names it supports and how to find the account whose approval counts.

[Version 1](/docs/authority/version-1), selected by `a=1`, uses ownership in the
ENS v1 deployment on Ethereum mainnet. The number identifies the algorithm,
not the ENS generation. A client that does not support the selected version
cannot verify the record by choosing another version.

## Ownership Can Change

Authority is checked alongside the current record and descriptor. After a
transfer, a proof signed by the previous authority does not establish approval
from the new one. Registration expiry can also end an authority's validity.

A successful check describes the state that was checked. It does not grant
permanent verification to the name or its records.

## Implementer Guide

See [Authority for implementers](/implementers/authority) for shared inputs,
outputs, and chain-state requirements.