docs(architecture): augment gathering & artifacts a bit (#12368)

GoogleChrome · Apr 15, 2021 · 533fe24 · 533fe24
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commit 533fe24
Showing 1 changed file with 6 additions and 4 deletions.
diff --git a/docs/architecture.md b/docs/architecture.md
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@ _Some incomplete notes_
 ## Components & Terminology
 
 * **Driver** - Interfaces with [Chrome Debugging Protocol](https://developer.chrome.com/devtools/docs/debugger-protocol)  ([API viewer](https://chromedevtools.github.io/debugger-protocol-viewer/))
-* **Gatherers** - Uses Driver to collect information about the page. Minimal post-processing.
-  * **Artifacts** - output of a gatherer
-* **Audit** - Tests for a single feature/optimization/metric. Using the Artifacts as input, an audit evaluates a test and resolves to a numeric score. See [Understanding Results](./understanding-results.md) for details of the LHR (Lighthouse Result object).
-  * **Computed Artifacts** - Generated on-demand from artifacts, these add additional meaning, and are often shared amongst multiple audits.
+* **Gatherers** - Uses Driver to collect information about the page. Minimal post-processing.  Run Lighthouse with `--gather-mode` to see the 3 primary outputs from gathering:
+  1. `artifacts.json`: The output from all [gatherers](../lighthouse-core/gather/gatherers).
+  2. `defaultPass.trace.json`: Most performance characteristics come from here. You can view it in the DevTools Peformance panel.
+  3. `defaultPass.devtoolslog.json`: A log of all the [DevTools Protocol](https://chromedevtools.github.io/devtools-protocol/) events. Primary signal about network requests and page state.
+* **Audit** - The [audits](../lighthouse-core/audits) are tests for a single feature/optimization/metric. Using the Artifacts as input, an audit evaluates a test and resolves to a numeric score. See [Understanding Results](./understanding-results.md) for details of the LHR (Lighthouse Result object).
+  * **Computed Artifacts** - [Generated](../lighthouse-core/computed) on-demand from artifacts, these add additional meaning, and are often shared amongst multiple audits.
 * **Report** - The report UI, created client-side from the LHR. See [HTML Report Generation Overview](../lighthouse-core/report/html/readme.md) for details.
 
 ### Audit/Report terminology