Developer docs vs. Help Center articles — coverage gaps
Comparison between:
- Articles (Help Center, 86 articles):
/Users/raymond/tmp/learn/articles/ — indexed in INDEX.md
- Dev docs:
/Users/raymond/dev/dfinity/developer-docs/docs/concepts/ (14 files)
/Users/raymond/dev/dfinity/developer-docs/docs/reference/ (17 files)
The articles are educational/conceptual; the dev docs are developer-facing concepts + spec references. About 27 articles (NNS dapp UI, wallet flows, network stats, vision/history) are end-user content and appropriately absent from dev docs — they are listed in the Out of scope section and are not gaps.
Summary
- Well covered: Cycles, HTTPS outcalls, randomness, timers, vetKeys, orthogonal persistence, chain-key cryptography (intro), chain fusion (intro). Dev docs are equal or better than articles.
- Partially covered: Canisters, governance (NNS), SNS basics, principals — dev docs cover the topic but the articles go deeper on architecture, mechanics, or rationale.
- Major gaps: The entire Blockchain Protocol section (consensus, P2P, message routing, execution layer, state sync), Node Infrastructure (TEEs, IC-OS), Edge Infrastructure (boundary nodes), Evolution & Scaling (fault tolerance, subnet creation, chain evolution), and several Chain Fusion sub-topics (Bitcoin architecture, EVM RPC, SOL RPC, Dogecoin, exchange rate canister, ckBTC, chain-key tokens internals) have no dev-doc equivalent.
- Reference vs. concept: The dev docs have strong reference/spec material (interface spec, candid spec, ICRC standards, management canister, execution errors) that has no article counterpart — that asymmetry is fine.
Major gaps (no dev-doc coverage)
Blockchain protocol layers
The five articles under articles/How does ICP work/Blockchain Protocol/ have essentially zero dev-doc counterpart. concepts/network-overview.md mentions consensus and message routing in passing but does not constitute coverage.
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| Consensus protocol |
Blockchain Protocol/consensus.md |
— |
Block making, notarization, finalization, random beacon, finality |
| Peer-to-peer |
Blockchain Protocol/peer-to-peer.md |
— |
Abortable Broadcast, QUIC transport, registry integration |
| Message routing |
Blockchain Protocol/message-routing.md |
— |
Induction, XNet streams, per-round/per-checkpoint state certification |
| Execution layer |
Blockchain Protocol/execution-layer.md |
— |
Deterministic Time Slicing, instruction limits, checkpoint intervals |
| State synchronization |
Blockchain Protocol/state-synchronization.md |
— |
Checkpoints, catch-up packages, chunked state sync |
| Blockchain protocol overview |
Blockchain Protocol/blockchain-protocol.md |
— |
Layered model intro |
Node infrastructure
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| Trusted Execution Environments |
Node Infrastructure/trusted-execution-environments.md |
— |
SEV-SNP, attestation, sealing keys, disk encryption |
| Node architecture / IC-OS |
Node Infrastructure/overview.md |
— |
SetupOS / HostOS / GuestOS |
Evolution & scaling
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| Fault tolerance |
Evolution & Scaling/fault-tolerance.md |
— |
Subnet failure modes and recovery |
| Subnet creation |
Evolution & Scaling/subnet-creation.md |
— |
Governance-driven subnet creation flow |
| Chain evolution |
Evolution & Scaling/chain-evolution.md |
— |
Forkless protocol upgrades via threshold crypto |
| Evolution & scaling overview |
Evolution & Scaling/evolution-scaling.md |
— |
Horizontal scaling story |
Edge infrastructure
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| Edge infrastructure |
ICP and the Internet/icp-edge-infrastructure.md |
— |
Boundary nodes, gateway, edge caching |
| HTTP gateway protocol (concept) |
ICP and the Internet/http-gateway-protocol.md |
reference/http-gateway-spec.md (spec only) |
Reference is a normative spec; there is no conceptual guide |
| Asset certification |
ICP and the Internet/asset-certification.md |
— |
Conceptual coverage of asset trees / response verification |
| ICP and the internet (overview) |
ICP and the Internet/icp-and-the-internet.md |
— |
How ICP serves web content directly |
Chain Fusion sub-topics
concepts/chain-fusion.md is a strong overview but only mentions most of these in a sentence or table.
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| Bitcoin integration architecture |
Chain Fusion/bitcoin-integration.md |
— |
Adapter, P2P, Bitcoin canister, UTXO/fee queries |
| Bitcoin checker canister |
Chain Fusion/bitcoin-checker-canister.md |
— |
Dedicated article, no dev doc |
| Chain-key Bitcoin (ckBTC) |
Chain Fusion/chain-key-bitcoin.md |
— |
ckBTC-specific mechanics |
| Chain-key tokens (mechanics) |
Chain Fusion/chain-key-tokens.md |
— |
Backing model, mint/burn, 1:1 peg |
| EVM RPC canister |
Chain Fusion/evm-rpc-canister.md |
— |
Provider queries, response handling, trust model |
| SOL RPC canister |
Chain Fusion/sol-rpc-canister.md |
— |
Solana RPC canister design |
| Dogecoin integration |
Chain Fusion/dogecoin-integration.md |
— |
Mentioned in a table only |
| Exchange rate canister |
Chain Fusion/exchange-rate-canister.md |
— |
XDR oracle, cycle pricing |
| Ethereum integration architecture |
Chain Fusion/ethereum-integration.md |
partial |
concepts/chain-fusion.md covers it but not at the article's depth |
Chain-key cryptography deep dives
concepts/chain-key-cryptography.md covers the basics well; these two articles go deeper.
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| Certified communication (theory) |
Chain-Key Cryptography/certified-communication.md |
brief |
SPV/light-client comparison, 32-byte certification, Merkle trees |
| Subnet keys & subnet signatures |
Chain-Key Cryptography/subnet-keys-and-subnet-signatures.md |
— |
NNS issuance, certificate chains |
| Chain-key signatures (deep) |
Chain-Key Cryptography/chain-key-signatures.md |
partial |
Threshold signing internals beyond what dev docs cover |
Tokens & ledgers
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| How token ledgers work |
Tokens & Governance/how-token-ledgers-work-on-the-internet-computer.md |
— |
Ledger architecture, accounts, sub-accounts |
| Cycles ledger (mechanics) |
Canister Smart Contracts/cycles-ledger.md |
one sentence in concepts/cycles.md |
Transfer semantics, ledger interface |
| Tokenomics (NNS) |
Tokens & Governance/tokenomics.md |
thin |
Supply schedule, reward curves |
| Tokenomics (SNS) |
SNS - Service Nervous System/tokenomics.md |
— |
SNS-specific tokenomics |
| Tokens & governance overview |
Tokens & Governance/tokens-governance.md |
partial |
Conceptual framing missing from dev docs |
Governance deep dives
concepts/governance.md covers NNS/SNS at a high level but is thin on:
| Topic |
Article |
Dev doc |
Notes |
| Neurons' Fund |
NNS .../neurons-fund-nf.md |
— |
Mechanism not in dev docs |
| Proposal topics & types |
NNS .../proposal-topics-and-types.md |
— |
Full taxonomy missing |
| Neuron attributes (age/dissolve bonuses) |
NNS .../neuron-attributes.md |
partial |
2× at 8y, 1.25× at 4y not stated in dev docs |
| Voting rewards (formula) |
NNS .../voting-rewards.md |
partial |
Reward distribution detail |
| SNS framework & architecture |
SNS .../framework-and-architecture.md |
— |
SNS-as-framework angle missing |
| SNS DAO settings |
SNS .../dao-settings.md |
— |
Configuration parameters not documented |
| SNS launch process |
SNS .../launch.md |
— |
Launch decentralization-swap mechanics |
| SNS rewards |
SNS .../rewards.md |
— |
SNS-specific reward mechanics |
| SNS proposals |
SNS .../proposals.md |
— |
Proposal flow specific to SNS |
| SNS neurons |
SNS .../neurons.md |
— |
SNS neuron model |
Partial gaps (covered but the articles add value)
These topics exist in the dev docs but the articles offer additional depth, rationale, or framing worth porting in.
- Canisters / computational model —
concepts/canisters.md covers execution and memory model but assumes the reader already knows what a canister is. Articles Canister Smart Contracts/canister-smart-contracts.md and computational-model.md provide the conceptual intro and Wasm-execution model framing.
- Canister control & principals —
concepts/canisters.md mentions principals; concepts/security.md mentions msg.caller; reference/glossary.md defines principal in two lines. The articles canister-control.md and what-is-a-principal.md provide a real explanation. The dev docs link out to the learn hub instead of covering this.
- Cycles —
concepts/cycles.md is excellent on mechanics; the article version contextualizes the model (reverse-gas, why it exists). Add the "why" to the dev doc intro.
- HTTPS outcalls — Both sides cover this well; articles add rationale and the consensus-on-responses story in slightly more accessible language.
- NNS overview —
concepts/governance.md covers neurons/proposals/voting at ~250 lines; the articles split this into 6+ documents with much more depth on each.
Out of scope (intentionally absent from dev docs)
These articles are end-user content and should not be added to dev docs. Listed for completeness so they are not flagged as gaps in future passes.
- Wallet & NNS-dapp flows (
How can I use ICP/Governance/*, Tokens & wallets/*) — login, send/receive ICP, sub-accounts, ICRC import, neuron stake/configure/top-up/disburse, maturity disbursement, custody options, quill flows. ~16 articles.
- Network stats (
How can I use ICP/Network stats/*) — cycle burn, network topology, tx/s. 3 articles.
- Dashboards — Internet Computer dashboard, community-built dashboards. 2 articles.
- Project framing (
What is ICP/Overview/*) — what is ICP, the vision, history. 3 articles.
- Performance & decentralization narratives (
What is ICP/Performance/*, Decentralization/*) — performance, performance comparison, "not all transactions are equal", decentralization, ICP subsystems. 5 articles.
- SNS inspection (user-facing) —
How to Inspect an SNS and Its Dapp Canisters (developers would use programmatic APIs).
Suggested fix priorities
High — fill these before anything else; they are entire missing pillars:
- Protocol stack section (consensus / P2P / message routing / execution / state sync) — likely 4-5 new files under
concepts/ or one combined concepts/protocol-stack.md.
- Node infrastructure (TEEs + IC-OS) —
concepts/node-infrastructure.md.
- Chain Fusion expansion — Bitcoin architecture, EVM RPC, exchange rate canister, ckBTC mechanics. Either expand
concepts/chain-fusion.md or add reference/chain-fusion-integrations.md.
- SNS framework — framework, DAO settings, launch flow. New section under
concepts/ or a guides area.
Medium:
5. Expand concepts/governance.md with Neurons' Fund, proposal taxonomy, neuron-attribute bonuses, voting-reward formula.
6. Certified variables / certified communication conceptual guide (companion to the existing spec).
7. Edge infrastructure (concepts/edge-infrastructure.md).
8. Evolution & scaling — fault tolerance, subnet creation, forkless upgrades.
Lower:
9. Promote the principal/canister-control material into the dev docs proper instead of linking out.
10. Tokenomics + token ledger architecture write-up.
11. State sync / checkpoints / catch-up packages (protocol-level; may belong in reference rather than concepts).
Developer docs vs. Help Center articles — coverage gaps
Comparison between:
/Users/raymond/tmp/learn/articles/— indexed inINDEX.md/Users/raymond/dev/dfinity/developer-docs/docs/concepts/(14 files)/Users/raymond/dev/dfinity/developer-docs/docs/reference/(17 files)The articles are educational/conceptual; the dev docs are developer-facing concepts + spec references. About 27 articles (NNS dapp UI, wallet flows, network stats, vision/history) are end-user content and appropriately absent from dev docs — they are listed in the Out of scope section and are not gaps.
Summary
Major gaps (no dev-doc coverage)
Blockchain protocol layers
The five articles under
articles/How does ICP work/Blockchain Protocol/have essentially zero dev-doc counterpart.concepts/network-overview.mdmentions consensus and message routing in passing but does not constitute coverage.Blockchain Protocol/consensus.mdBlockchain Protocol/peer-to-peer.mdBlockchain Protocol/message-routing.mdBlockchain Protocol/execution-layer.mdBlockchain Protocol/state-synchronization.mdBlockchain Protocol/blockchain-protocol.mdNode infrastructure
Node Infrastructure/trusted-execution-environments.mdNode Infrastructure/overview.mdEvolution & scaling
Evolution & Scaling/fault-tolerance.mdEvolution & Scaling/subnet-creation.mdEvolution & Scaling/chain-evolution.mdEvolution & Scaling/evolution-scaling.mdEdge infrastructure
ICP and the Internet/icp-edge-infrastructure.mdICP and the Internet/http-gateway-protocol.mdreference/http-gateway-spec.md(spec only)ICP and the Internet/asset-certification.mdICP and the Internet/icp-and-the-internet.mdChain Fusion sub-topics
concepts/chain-fusion.mdis a strong overview but only mentions most of these in a sentence or table.Chain Fusion/bitcoin-integration.mdChain Fusion/bitcoin-checker-canister.mdChain Fusion/chain-key-bitcoin.mdChain Fusion/chain-key-tokens.mdChain Fusion/evm-rpc-canister.mdChain Fusion/sol-rpc-canister.mdChain Fusion/dogecoin-integration.mdChain Fusion/exchange-rate-canister.mdChain Fusion/ethereum-integration.mdconcepts/chain-fusion.mdcovers it but not at the article's depthChain-key cryptography deep dives
concepts/chain-key-cryptography.mdcovers the basics well; these two articles go deeper.Chain-Key Cryptography/certified-communication.mdChain-Key Cryptography/subnet-keys-and-subnet-signatures.mdChain-Key Cryptography/chain-key-signatures.mdTokens & ledgers
Tokens & Governance/how-token-ledgers-work-on-the-internet-computer.mdCanister Smart Contracts/cycles-ledger.mdconcepts/cycles.mdTokens & Governance/tokenomics.mdSNS - Service Nervous System/tokenomics.mdTokens & Governance/tokens-governance.mdGovernance deep dives
concepts/governance.mdcovers NNS/SNS at a high level but is thin on:NNS .../neurons-fund-nf.mdNNS .../proposal-topics-and-types.mdNNS .../neuron-attributes.mdNNS .../voting-rewards.mdSNS .../framework-and-architecture.mdSNS .../dao-settings.mdSNS .../launch.mdSNS .../rewards.mdSNS .../proposals.mdSNS .../neurons.mdPartial gaps (covered but the articles add value)
These topics exist in the dev docs but the articles offer additional depth, rationale, or framing worth porting in.
concepts/canisters.mdcovers execution and memory model but assumes the reader already knows what a canister is. ArticlesCanister Smart Contracts/canister-smart-contracts.mdandcomputational-model.mdprovide the conceptual intro and Wasm-execution model framing.concepts/canisters.mdmentions principals;concepts/security.mdmentionsmsg.caller;reference/glossary.mddefines principal in two lines. The articlescanister-control.mdandwhat-is-a-principal.mdprovide a real explanation. The dev docs link out to the learn hub instead of covering this.concepts/cycles.mdis excellent on mechanics; the article version contextualizes the model (reverse-gas, why it exists). Add the "why" to the dev doc intro.concepts/governance.mdcovers neurons/proposals/voting at ~250 lines; the articles split this into 6+ documents with much more depth on each.Out of scope (intentionally absent from dev docs)
These articles are end-user content and should not be added to dev docs. Listed for completeness so they are not flagged as gaps in future passes.
How can I use ICP/Governance/*,Tokens & wallets/*) — login, send/receive ICP, sub-accounts, ICRC import, neuron stake/configure/top-up/disburse, maturity disbursement, custody options, quill flows. ~16 articles.How can I use ICP/Network stats/*) — cycle burn, network topology, tx/s. 3 articles.What is ICP/Overview/*) — what is ICP, the vision, history. 3 articles.What is ICP/Performance/*,Decentralization/*) — performance, performance comparison, "not all transactions are equal", decentralization, ICP subsystems. 5 articles.How to Inspect an SNS and Its Dapp Canisters(developers would use programmatic APIs).Suggested fix priorities
High — fill these before anything else; they are entire missing pillars:
concepts/or one combinedconcepts/protocol-stack.md.concepts/node-infrastructure.md.concepts/chain-fusion.mdor addreference/chain-fusion-integrations.md.concepts/or a guides area.Medium:
5. Expand
concepts/governance.mdwith Neurons' Fund, proposal taxonomy, neuron-attribute bonuses, voting-reward formula.6. Certified variables / certified communication conceptual guide (companion to the existing spec).
7. Edge infrastructure (
concepts/edge-infrastructure.md).8. Evolution & scaling — fault tolerance, subnet creation, forkless upgrades.
Lower:
9. Promote the principal/canister-control material into the dev docs proper instead of linking out.
10. Tokenomics + token ledger architecture write-up.
11. State sync / checkpoints / catch-up packages (protocol-level; may belong in reference rather than concepts).