Protocol deep-dive
This section is the full design behind the network — for protocol developers who want every layer. Most builders won't need it to ship: the Using DIG tracks cover the day-to-day with plain-language concepts. Read on when you want the why.
The one idea: the capsule
A single concept runs through everything: the capsule = (storeId, rootHash). A store is a sequence of capsules; each is an immutable, on-chain-anchored generation. Compilation, pricing, retrieval, caching, and provenance are all defined per capsule.
Three properties, end to end
- Blind — hosts only ever see indistinguishable ciphertext keyed by hashes; a miss returns a decoy, never a 404.
- Verified — every byte is checked against an on-chain root with a Merkle inclusion proof before it is trusted.
- Client-side — verification and decryption happen on the reader's device; trust never rests on the host.
How the three whitepapers fit
The network is specified by three normative whitepapers, each a layer:
- Consensus — the Proof-of-Stake Layer-2 on Chia: finality, L1 anchoring, validator lifecycle.
- DFSP — the Decentralized File Storage Protocol: availability-audited capsule hosting.
- Digstore — the content-addressable WASM store format the capsule is built from.
Read each layer in full
- The capsule & store model → Store structure
- The
.wasmstore format → What is DigStore? · Format overview - URNs & encryption → URNs & encryption
- Proofs & security → Proofs & security
- On-chain anchoring as trust root → On-chain anchoring
- The dig RPC (Network Content Interface) → What is the dig RPC? · Methods · Conformance · Streaming
- Inclusion vs execution proofs → Inclusion vs execution proofs
- The §21/§22
dig://remote → The dig:// remote - The
window.chiaprovider (normative) → Provider spec - CHIP-0035 spends & delegation → CHIP-0035 store-coin spends & delegation
- The whitepapers → Whitepapers
Related
- Concepts & glossary — the shared spine: every entity defined once
- Using DIG — the task-oriented tracks