Envelopes

Every record the SDK submits travels inside an envelope. The envelope is what makes a record readable by a counterparty running different software from yours, and its shape is specified by the SDX Protocol rather than by mintBlue.

This page is therefore a pointer. The definition, the structure and the rules that go with it live in one place, and it is not this one.

What this means when you are building

You rarely construct an envelope by hand. You choose an output type, and the SDK writes the envelope that type implies. The Quickstart's data output is the simplest case; a file, a hash and a document each have their own.

The formats the shipped SDK writes are documented under Reference, one page per format, because that is where wire detail belongs and where it can be checked against the code you installed. What belongs here is the sentence a reader needs before they get there: an envelope is a shared structure, not a mintBlue container, which is why a counterparty who never bought anything from mintBlue can still open what you send.

Which document applies to you

The specification linked above describes a later generation of the format than the one the shipped SDK writes, and the two are not wire-compatible. Read the specification to understand the model, and read the format pages in Reference for what your installed SDK emits. Generations explains the split, and why neither side claims the other's behaviour.