Coverage vs Completeness in Blockchain History
Describe chain, asset, evidence and range coverage explicitly, and avoid turning a supported-network label into a claim of complete wallet history.
Overview
When translating these concepts into an integration, keep the scope described by the wallet history api with the result. The examples in wallet transaction history and smart contract event logs show how the same distinction affects neighbouring data questions.
Supporting a network does not mean every data type and historical range is available. Completeness is meaningful only relative to a declared query and evidence scope.
Define the dimensions
List networks, asset classes, movement types, historical boundaries and delivery states. Top-level transactions, token logs and execution traces cover different activity. A request can succeed while returning only the subset the service supports. Keep the response’s scope separate from the broader product or network label.
Worked example: transfers without traces
A history view contains all qualifying token logs over a checked range but does not include internal native-currency movements. It can claim complete token-log coverage within that range if validated. It cannot claim every wallet movement merely because the network is supported and the HTTP request succeeded.
Make completion verifiable
Record pagination completion and any skipped or failed ranges. Test an empty wallet, a partial scan and an unsupported evidence class. Do not infer completeness from a short result list. A machine-readable coverage statement helps downstream applications distinguish an established zero from a question the service did not answer.
A practical acceptance test
Provide complete token-log coverage over a bounded range but no trace coverage. The result can certify its token-log scan, not all wallet movements. Add an unfinished page and verify the scope becomes partial. A short or empty final response must not independently override a failed range or missing evidence class.
Questions about the topic
Frequently asked questions
Does a successful request prove complete history?
No. Success and evidence coverage are different contracts.
Can an empty result be complete?
Yes, within a completed and explicitly defined scope.
Standards & technical documentation