--- title: Polkadot Web Reference description: Reference for Polkadot Web (dot.li), the browser-based Host that loads Polkadot Products by their .dot name without requiring a desktop installation. categories: - Apps - Reference url: https://docs.polkadot.com/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/ word_count: 706 token_estimate: 1059 version_hash: sha256:dc3d064bc144536ccffd21f72a6f7454034302ffc1ae1e054655a40c5934608b last_updated: '2026-06-16T14:17:44+00:00' --- # Polkadot Web ## Introduction Polkadot Web is the browser-based Host that loads Polkadot Products from any browser tab — no install required. Served at `dot.li`, it is the third sibling alongside the [Polkadot App](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-app/) and [Polkadot Desktop](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-desktop/). Its job is the same as theirs: load a Polkadot Product inside a sandbox, mediate everything it touches (signing, chain access, storage, outbound requests) through the Host API. What makes Web different from Desktop is not the _model_ — it is the _delivery_. Web runs in a regular browser instead of an installed application, which changes: - **The trust surface**: The browser is the runtime. - **The visiting flow**: A Product is loaded by navigating to it in a browser tab, not from an installed address bar. - **The upgrade path**: Products and the Host itself update on page load, not via an OS installer. The Product surface a developer targets, including `.dot` name addressing, the TrUAPI surface, and the per-Product sub-account model, is the same in either Host. !!! warning "Provisional" Polkadot Web is being actively built and several of its developer-facing surfaces are not yet finalized. Pages in this subsection document the conceptual model and the parts that are stable; surface-level specifics carry per-page provisional callouts and will be filled in once confirmed. ## Architecture At a high level, three properties matter to a Product developer building for Web: - **Browser-tab runtime**: Polkadot Web is a regular browser page at `dot.li`. Products are loaded inside it, not as standalone tabs. - **Same sandbox contract as Desktop**: A Product running on Web sees the same per-Product account model, the same TrUAPI surface, and the same permission system as a Product running on Desktop. Code that works in Desktop will work on Web, with surface differences called out per-page in this subsection. - **Pairs with the Polkadot App for signing**: Like Desktop, Polkadot Web does not hold the user's signing key. A browser session pairs with the user's paired App, and every signed action goes through the App for per-transaction approval. ## Visiting and Shield States Two concepts are specific enough to Web to deserve their own pages: - [Visiting a Product](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/visiting/): How a `.dot` name is resolved and a Product is loaded into a browser tab, and how this differs from Desktop's address-bar flow. - [Shield States](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/shield-states/): The security-indicator UI that surfaces the trust posture of the loaded Product, including bundle verification and Host state. ## Host API on Web The TrUAPI surface a Product calls on Web is materially the same as on Desktop. There are a small number of capabilities where the underlying behavior differs because of the browser context (storage, outbound requests, media access), and those are documented at [Host API](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/host-api/). ## On-Chain `polkadot.com` A Polkadot Product can also serve as the meta-surface that points to other Products: a discovery layer running as a Product itself. The canonical instance of this is [On-Chain polkadot.com](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/onchain-polkadot-com/), which is the on-chain-published presence backing the `polkadot.com` site. ## Upload Journeys !!! warning "Provisional" The flows for publishing content from a Polkadot Web Host are still being defined, including uploading assets, registering a `.dot` Product, and updating a published bundle from within Web. They will be documented here once finalized. ## Where to Go Next
- Learn **Visiting a Product** --- How Polkadot Web resolves a `.dot` name and loads the resulting Product into a browser tab. [:octicons-arrow-right-24: Reference](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/visiting/) - Learn **Shield States** --- The security-indicator UI on Web and what each shield state means for a Product the user is interacting with. [:octicons-arrow-right-24: Reference](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/shield-states/) - Learn **Host API on Web** --- Where the Web Host's TrUAPI surface differs in behavior from Desktop because of the browser context. [:octicons-arrow-right-24: Reference](/reference/apps/hosts/polkadot-web/host-api/)