🗺️ Federation Topology Design
Choosing the right shape for your federation
What Is a Federation Topology?
A federation topology describes the shape of trust relationships — how Trust Anchors, Intermediates, and Leaf Entities are organized and connected. The right topology depends on your scale, governance model, and resilience requirements.
Explore Topology Patterns
Step-by-Step Topology Design
1. Identify the Problem
Anti-Patterns to Avoid
Single Point of Failure
Fix: Use multi-anchor or standby anchor.
Overly Deep Chains (5+ levels)
Fix: Keep 2-3 levels. Use max_path_length constraints.
Unrestricted Intermediates
Fix: Always set naming_constraints on subordinate statements.
Policy Conflicts Between Paths
Fix: Use subset_of/one_of instead of hard value operators.
Ignoring Key Rotation
Fix: Plan rotation schedules. Use the Historical Keys endpoint.
Real-World Analogy
Designing a federation topology is like designing a national postal system. Do you have one central sorting office (single anchor) or regional hubs (hierarchical)? Do you connect international networks through a bridge? Same trade-offs: speed, resilience, and cost.