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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

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

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

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

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

.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.

DotNS

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

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

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

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.

CID

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

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

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)

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)

@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

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.

Alias

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

Two of the system parachains Products use. Asset Hub hosts contracts, assets and DotNS. People hosts identity and personhood.

Accounts and addresses

SS58

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.

Money

CASH

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.

PAS

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.

Pocket

The wallet surface in the Polkadot app: the screen holding your balances, including the CASH card and its top-up button.

Coinage

The privacy-preserving payment system on the People chain that CASH is spent through. See Money (CASH & funding).

Learn more

Last update: October 28, 2026
| Created: July 16, 2026