diff --git a/docs/architecture.md b/docs/architecture.md index a1c3d9678b70..b487f229d80d 100644 --- 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