diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f824b7013..5b58a767d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -823,9 +823,13 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "cawg-identity"
 version = "0.1.1"
 dependencies = [
+ "async-trait",
+ "c2pa-crypto",
+ "ciborium",
  "hex-literal",
  "serde",
  "serde_bytes",
+ "thiserror 1.0.69",
  "wasm-bindgen",
  "wasm-bindgen-test",
 ]
diff --git a/cawg_identity/Cargo.toml b/cawg_identity/Cargo.toml
index de7db0004..c3d686195 100644
--- a/cawg_identity/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cawg_identity/Cargo.toml
@@ -25,9 +25,13 @@ all-features = true
 rustdoc-args = ["--cfg", "docsrs"]
 
 [dependencies]
+async-trait = "0.1.78"
+c2pa-crypto = { path = "../internal/crypto", version = "0.2.0" }
+ciborium = "0.2.2"
 hex-literal = "0.4.1"
 serde = { version = "1.0.197", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_bytes = "0.11.14"
+thiserror = "1.0.61"
 
 [target.'cfg(target_arch = "wasm32")'.dependencies]
 wasm-bindgen = "0.2.95"
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/builder/credential_holder.rs b/cawg_identity/src/builder/credential_holder.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c69a7ea3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/builder/credential_holder.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+// Copyright 2024 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+// This file is licensed to you under the Apache License,
+// Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+// or the MIT license (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT),
+// at your option.
+
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// this software is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+// WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+// implied. See the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE files for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+// each license.
+
+use async_trait::async_trait;
+
+use crate::{builder::IdentityBuilderError, SignerPayload};
+
+/// An implementation of `CredentialHolder` is able to generate a signature over
+/// the [`SignerPayload`] data structure on behalf of a credential holder.
+///
+/// Implementations of this trait will specialize based on the kind of
+/// credential as specified in [§8. Credentials, signatures, and validation
+/// methods] from the CAWG Identity Assertion specification.
+///
+/// [§8. Credentials, signatures, and validation methods]: https://cawg.io/identity/1.1-draft/#_credentials_signatures_and_validation_methods
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_arch = "wasm32"), async_trait)]
+#[cfg_attr(target_arch = "wasm32", async_trait(?Send))]
+pub trait CredentialHolder {
+    /// Returns the designated `sig_type` value for this kind of credential.
+    fn sig_type(&self) -> &'static str;
+
+    /// Returns the maximum expected size in bytes of the `signature`
+    /// field for the identity assertion which will be subsequently
+    /// returned by the [`sign`] function. Signing will fail if the
+    /// subsequent signature is larger than this number of bytes.
+    ///
+    /// [`sign`]: Self::sign
+    fn reserve_size(&self) -> usize;
+
+    /// Signs the [`SignerPayload`] data structure on behalf of the credential
+    /// holder.
+    ///
+    /// If successful, returns the exact binary content to be placed in
+    /// the `signature` field for this identity assertion.
+    ///
+    /// The signature MUST NOT be larger than the size previously stated
+    /// by the [`reserve_size`] function.
+    ///
+    /// [`reserve_size`]: Self::reserve_size
+    async fn sign(&self, signer_payload: &SignerPayload) -> Result<Vec<u8>, IdentityBuilderError>;
+}
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/builder/error.rs b/cawg_identity/src/builder/error.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c40288b2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/builder/error.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+// This file is licensed to you under the Apache License,
+// Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+// or the MIT license (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT),
+// at your option.
+
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// this software is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+// WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+// implied. See the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE files for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+// each license.
+
+use std::fmt::Debug;
+
+use c2pa_crypto::raw_signature::RawSignerError;
+use thiserror::Error;
+
+/// Describes errors that can occur when building a CAWG identity assertion.
+#[derive(Debug, Error)]
+pub enum IdentityBuilderError {
+    /// The box size provided for the signature is too small.
+    #[error("the signature box is too small")]
+    BoxSizeTooSmall,
+
+    /// An error occurred while generating CBOR.
+    #[error("error while generating CBOR ({0})")]
+    CborGenerationError(String),
+
+    /// An error occurred when generating the underlying raw signature.
+    #[error(transparent)]
+    RawSignerError(#[from] RawSignerError),
+
+    /// An unexpected internal error occured while requesting the time stamp
+    /// response.
+    #[error("internal error ({0})")]
+    InternalError(String),
+}
+
+impl<T: Debug> From<ciborium::ser::Error<T>> for IdentityBuilderError {
+    fn from(err: ciborium::ser::Error<T>) -> Self {
+        Self::CborGenerationError(err.to_string())
+    }
+}
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/builder/mod.rs b/cawg_identity/src/builder/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4cfe2c7bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/builder/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+// Copyright 2024 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+// This file is licensed to you under the Apache License,
+// Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+// or the MIT license (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT),
+// at your option.
+
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// this software is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+// WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+// implied. See the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE files for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+// each license.
+
+//! This module contains the APIs you will use to build a
+//! C2PA Manifest that contains one or more CAWG identity assertions.
+
+pub(crate) mod credential_holder;
+pub use credential_holder::CredentialHolder;
+
+mod error;
+pub use error::IdentityBuilderError;
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/lib.rs b/cawg_identity/src/lib.rs
index fad44a640..9131d32c4 100644
--- a/cawg_identity/src/lib.rs
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/lib.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #![deny(warnings)]
 #![doc = include_str!("../README.md")]
 
+pub mod builder;
+
 mod identity_assertion;
 pub use identity_assertion::signer_payload::{HashedUri, SignerPayload};
 
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/tests/builder/error.rs b/cawg_identity/src/tests/builder/error.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6b345a6f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/tests/builder/error.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+// This file is licensed to you under the Apache License,
+// Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+// or the MIT license (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT),
+// at your option.
+
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// this software is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+// WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+// implied. See the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE files for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+// each license.
+
+use crate::builder::IdentityBuilderError;
+
+#[test]
+fn impl_from_ciborium_err() {
+    let ciborium_err: ciborium::ser::Error<String> = ciborium::ser::Error::Value("foo".to_string());
+    let builder_err: IdentityBuilderError = ciborium_err.into();
+
+    assert_eq!(
+        builder_err.to_string(),
+        "error while generating CBOR (Value(\"foo\"))"
+    );
+}
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/tests/builder/mod.rs b/cawg_identity/src/tests/builder/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..796328d55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/tests/builder/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// Copyright 2025 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+// This file is licensed to you under the Apache License,
+// Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+// or the MIT license (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT),
+// at your option.
+
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// this software is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+// WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+// implied. See the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE files for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+// each license.
+
+mod error;
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/tests/fixtures/mod.rs b/cawg_identity/src/tests/fixtures/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0c8f76572
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/tests/fixtures/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// Copyright 2024 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+// This file is licensed to you under the Apache License,
+// Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+// or the MIT license (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT),
+// at your option.
+
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// this software is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+// WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+// implied. See the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE files for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+// each license.
+
+mod naive_credential_holder;
+#[allow(unused)]
+pub(crate) use naive_credential_holder::NaiveCredentialHolder;
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/tests/fixtures/naive_credential_holder.rs b/cawg_identity/src/tests/fixtures/naive_credential_holder.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5add49e88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/tests/fixtures/naive_credential_holder.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+// Copyright 2024 Adobe. All rights reserved.
+// This file is licensed to you under the Apache License,
+// Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
+// or the MIT license (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT),
+// at your option.
+
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// this software is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+// WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
+// implied. See the LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE files for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+// each license.
+
+//! Naive implementation of credential-handling traits for
+//! proof-of-concept/testing purposes.
+//!
+//! The "signature" in this example is simply the CBOR encoding
+//! of the `signer_payload` struct. This is really intended to test
+//! the signature mechanism, not to be a meaningful signature itself.
+//!
+//! Not suitable for production use.
+
+use async_trait::async_trait;
+
+use crate::{
+    builder::{CredentialHolder, IdentityBuilderError},
+    SignerPayload,
+};
+
+pub(crate) struct NaiveCredentialHolder {}
+
+#[cfg_attr(not(target_arch = "wasm32"), async_trait)]
+#[cfg_attr(target_arch = "wasm32", async_trait(?Send))]
+impl CredentialHolder for NaiveCredentialHolder {
+    fn sig_type(&self) -> &'static str {
+        "INVALID.identity.naive_credential"
+    }
+
+    fn reserve_size(&self) -> usize {
+        1000
+    }
+
+    async fn sign(&self, signer_payload: &SignerPayload) -> Result<Vec<u8>, IdentityBuilderError> {
+        // Naive implementation simply serializes SignerPayload
+        // in CBOR format and calls it a "signature."
+        let mut result: Vec<u8> = vec![];
+        ciborium::into_writer(signer_payload, &mut result)?;
+        Ok(result)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/cawg_identity/src/tests/mod.rs b/cawg_identity/src/tests/mod.rs
index ad1e07c0f..91a2ad982 100644
--- a/cawg_identity/src/tests/mod.rs
+++ b/cawg_identity/src/tests/mod.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 #![allow(clippy::panic)]
 #![allow(clippy::unwrap_used)]
 
+mod builder;
+pub(crate) mod fixtures;
 mod identity_assertion;
 mod internal;