From 58caaeee676be1d334758966166ae2a06fd16072 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Karol Kokoszka Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2026 11:45:54 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] Add GLOSSARY.md --- GLOSSARY.md | 59 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 59 insertions(+) create mode 100644 GLOSSARY.md diff --git a/GLOSSARY.md b/GLOSSARY.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb918ab --- /dev/null +++ b/GLOSSARY.md @@ -0,0 +1,59 @@ +# Glossary + +Short, strict definitions of terms used in the technical docs: common +terminology across projects. A new definition must not introduce ambiguity +into the glossary: conflicting terminology must be resolved. An entry links +at most one external reference — the most authoritative source to research +further. Definitions should include the exact names a term goes by in other +places — code identifiers, crate or method names. + +Entries are alphabetical. + +--- + +**Bulletin** — The Polkadot Bulletin chain +([polkadot-bulletin-chain](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-bulletin-chain)): +a *system chain* that provides storage. Calls are feeless; instead they are +gated by an authorization model — +an account is authorized in advance to upload, and authorizations expire. +Data is uploaded by submitting extrinsics; the uploaded data itself is kept +in off-chain storage, not in the runtime state, and has a retention period. + +**Fellowship runtimes** — The production runtimes of Polkadot, Kusama and +their *system chains*, maintained by the Polkadot Technical Fellowship in +[polkadot-fellows/runtimes](https://github.com/polkadot-fellows/runtimes) and +enacted via on-chain referenda. The runtimes developed there are based on a +specific *SDK release* and released on their own cycle. + +**HOP** — Hand-Off Protocol: a JSON-RPC protocol (`sc-hop`) exposed by +*Bulletin* collators. Bulletin-authorized accounts submit data that resides +on that one collator node only, addressed to one or more recipients (one-time +public keys) who claim it. Data not claimed within a configurable retention +period is promoted best-effort: submitted to *Bulletin* as an extrinsic. + +**Node** — The binary running a chain: networking, database, consensus, RPC. +Runtime state is opaque data to it; a chain spec defines what it runs — +genesis state, including the runtime, chain id and bootnodes. It exposes +JSON-RPC on one port for external clients and the P2P protocols on another +for other nodes. It can run in different modes — collator/validator, bootnode, +or a regular RPC node; whether it prunes block history and runtime state, or +keeps all of it (archive node), is an orthogonal choice. + +**Pallet** — A FRAME module implementing one domain of runtime logic — its +storage, calls, events and errors. A runtime is composed of pallets +(`pallet-balances`, `pallet-staking`, …). + +**Runtime API** — A versioned interface (`sp-api`) the Wasm runtime exposes +to the node, invoked on a specific block's state (block building, transaction +validation, metadata, …). Not the node's JSON-RPC: RPC is served by the node +to external clients, a runtime API is called by the node into the runtime. + +**SDK release** — A versioned release (`stableYYMM`) of +[polkadot-sdk](https://github.com/paritytech/polkadot-sdk), the crate set that +node and runtime implementations build against. Ships on a regular cadence, +independent of *Fellowship runtimes* releases. + +**System chain** — A parachain that is part of the network's protocol itself. +Runs on behalf of the network; its runtime lives in the *Fellowship +runtimes*. Uses a para ID below 2000 — the range that is not publicly +registrable (`LOWEST_PUBLIC_ID` in polkadot-sdk).