Glossary
Short definitions of the terms used in these docs, with a link to the page that covers each one in depth.
Platform and entry points
Section titled “Platform and entry points”Product
Section titled “Product”An app published to the Devnet under a .dot domain and opened inside the
Polkadot app or the web gateway. These docs say "Product" when they mean the
published, named app, and not a web app in general. See
App delivery.
Polkadot Products Devnet
Section titled “Polkadot Products Devnet”The public developer preview these docs describe. It runs on the community-operated Paseo network. Product developers mainly use Asset Hub for contracts and assets, People for identity, and Bulletin for app bundle storage.
Polkadot app
Section titled “Polkadot app”The app people use to reach the platform, on mobile and desktop. Products run inside it, and it handles signing, storage, chain access and identity for the user. Download links are in More resources.
dev-dot.li
Section titled “dev-dot.li”The web gateway that serves .dot apps in an ordinary browser, reachable at
https://dev-dot.li. It resolves a .dot domain, fetches the app bundle, and
renders it in a sandboxed iframe.
Naming and discovery
Section titled “Naming and discovery”.dot domain
Section titled “.dot domain”A readable name, such as calculator.dot, that points to a deployed app
bundle. For users it works like an app name. For developers it is the name you
register, update and publish with the DotNS tools.
The .dot naming system. You use it to register an app name, point that name
at content, or look up where an app is published. See the
naming architecture.
Browse / Publisher
Section titled “Browse / Publisher”Browse is the app-discovery directory for the Devnet
(https://browse.dev-dot.li). Use it to find published Products, or to check
that your own app appears after you list it. Publishing requires ownership of the
.dot domain and may require personhood checks.
Contracts
Section titled “Contracts”PolkaVM / revive
Section titled “PolkaVM / revive”PolkaVM is the contract execution layer on Asset Hub, available through
pallet-revive. If your Product needs custom on-chain logic, this is most
likely where your contracts run. See the
contracts architecture.
Storage and delivery
Section titled “Storage and delivery”Bulletin
Section titled “Bulletin”The Bulletin chain stores published web-app bundles and contract metadata. Stored content is addressed by CID. Uploads need a storage authorization: a deploy account must hold a live one before it can upload, and authorizations expire and must be refreshed.
The content identifier of a stored bundle or file. A .dot domain resolves to
a CID, and the CID is what the client fetches. See
App delivery.
Statement store
Section titled “Statement store”A People-chain store of short signed statements. The app uses it as the transport for encrypted chat messages and call signalling. See Messaging & calls.
Developer SDKs
Section titled “Developer SDKs”Product SDK
Section titled “Product SDK”@parity/product-sdk is the main TypeScript SDK for building Products. It
gives your app the wallet, chain, storage, contract and identity services that
the host provides. It runs inside the Polkadot app or the web gateway, and is
not a standalone wallet. See Packages & tools.
TrUAPI (host protocol)
Section titled “TrUAPI (host protocol)”TrUAPI is the protocol between a Product and its host (the Polkadot app or the
web gateway). It covers accounts, signing, permissions, storage, chat, payments
and chain access. @parity/truapi is the Product-side client, and
@parity/product-sdk-host speaks it for you. It replaced the earlier Host API
(@novasamatech/host-api). See
Packages & tools.
Deploy CLI (pad)
Section titled “Deploy CLI (pad)”@polkadot-community-foundation/polkadot-app-deploy (bin: pad) is the CLI
that publishes a built static bundle and points a .dot domain at it. On this
Devnet, use the devnet preset: pad and dotns take it with
--env devnet.
Identity and personhood
Section titled “Identity and personhood”Proof of personhood
Section titled “Proof of personhood”How an account is recognized as a distinct human without revealing who that human is. It has two tiers, and either can unlock product flows such as app listing, naming, rewards or rate limits.
- Lite: an attested username. Most users hold this tier.
- Full: a stronger guarantee of one account per human, reached by redeeming an invitation. See Username & proof of personhood.
A per-application pseudonym derived for your account, so an app can recognize a returning person without learning who they are or linking them across apps. See Identity & personhood.
People / Asset Hub
Section titled “People / Asset Hub”Two of the system parachains Products use. Asset Hub hosts contracts, assets and DotNS. People hosts identity and personhood.
Accounts and addresses
Section titled “Accounts and addresses”The Substrate address format an account is shown in (Devnet prefix 42).
Faucets and chain tools take the SS58 address. Contract tooling uses the mapped
EVM 0x… address instead. See Addresses & registries.
The name users see for a Devnet digital-dollar asset. Users get CASH inside the Polkadot app, through in-app flows or rewards, depending on the current build. See Get & use CASH.
The native token of the underlying Paseo network, used to pay transaction fees and keep an account alive. It is not CASH. It comes from the faucet: see Create an account & get funds.
The wallet surface in the Polkadot app: the screen holding your balances, including the CASH card and its top-up button.
Coinage
Section titled “Coinage”The privacy-preserving payment system on the People chain that CASH is spent through. See Money (CASH & funding).
Learn more
Section titled “Learn more”- Packages & tools: what to install
- Networks & endpoints: chains, the
devnetpreset and endpoints - More resources: apps, downloads and source