diff --git a/crypto/envelope.go b/crypto/envelope.go
index 86181fd..1f9cf41 100644
--- a/crypto/envelope.go
+++ b/crypto/envelope.go
@@ -9,14 +9,40 @@ import (
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p-core/peer"
 )
 
+// SignedEnvelope contains an arbitrary []byte payload, signed by a libp2p peer.
+// Envelopes are signed in the context of a particular "domain", which is a string
+// specified when creating and verifying the envelope. You must know the domain
+// string used to produce the envelope in order to verify the signature and
+// access the contents.
 type SignedEnvelope struct {
+
+	// The public key that can be used to verify the signature and derive the peer id of the signer.
 	PublicKey PubKey
+
+	// A binary identifier that indicates what kind of data is contained in the payload.
+	// TODO(yusef): enforce multicodec prefix
 	TypeHint  []byte
+
+	// The envelope payload. This is private to discourage accessing the payload without verifying the signature.
+	// To access, use the Open method.
 	contents  []byte
+
+	// The signature of the domain string, type hint, and contents.
 	signature []byte
 }
 
+var errEmptyDomain = errors.New("envelope domain must not be empty")
+
+// MakeEnvelope constructs a new SignedEnvelope using the given privateKey.
+//
+// The required 'domain' string contextualizes the envelope for a particular purpose,
+// and must be supplied when verifying the signature.
+//
+// The 'typeHint' field indicates what kind of data is contained and may be empty.
 func MakeEnvelope(privateKey PrivKey, domain string, typeHint []byte, contents []byte) (*SignedEnvelope, error) {
+	if len(domain) == 0 {
+		return nil, errEmptyDomain
+	}
 	toSign := makeSigBuffer(domain, typeHint, contents)
 	sig, err := privateKey.Sign(toSign)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -31,6 +57,8 @@ func MakeEnvelope(privateKey PrivKey, domain string, typeHint []byte, contents [
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// UnmarshalEnvelope converts a serialized protobuf representation of an envelope
+// into a SignedEnvelope struct.
 func UnmarshalEnvelope(serializedEnvelope []byte) (*SignedEnvelope, error) {
 	e := pb.SignedEnvelope{}
 	if err := proto.Unmarshal(serializedEnvelope, &e); err != nil {
@@ -48,15 +76,20 @@ func UnmarshalEnvelope(serializedEnvelope []byte) (*SignedEnvelope, error) {
 	}, nil
 }
 
+// SignerID returns the peer.ID of the peer who produced the SignedEnvelope.
 func (e *SignedEnvelope) SignerID() (peer.ID, error) {
 	return peer.IDFromPublicKey(e.PublicKey)
 }
 
+// Validate returns true if the envelope signature is valid for the given 'domain',
+// or false if it is invalid. May return an error if signature validation fails.
 func (e *SignedEnvelope) Validate(domain string) (bool, error) {
 	toVerify := makeSigBuffer(domain, e.TypeHint, e.contents)
 	return e.PublicKey.Verify(toVerify, e.signature)
 }
 
+// Marshal returns a []byte containing a serialized protobuf representation of
+// the SignedEnvelope.
 func (e *SignedEnvelope) Marshal() ([]byte, error) {
 	key, err := PublicKeyToProto(e.PublicKey)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -71,6 +104,9 @@ func (e *SignedEnvelope) Marshal() ([]byte, error) {
 	return proto.Marshal(&msg)
 }
 
+// Open validates the signature (within the given 'domain') and returns
+// the contents of the envelope. Will fail with an error if the signature
+// is invalid.
 func (e *SignedEnvelope) Open(domain string) ([]byte, error) {
 	valid, err := e.Validate(domain)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -82,6 +118,7 @@ func (e *SignedEnvelope) Open(domain string) ([]byte, error) {
 	return e.contents, nil
 }
 
+// makeSigBuffer is a helper function that prepares a buffer to sign or verify.
 func makeSigBuffer(domain string, typeHint []byte, content []byte) []byte {
 	b := bytes.Buffer{}
 	domainBytes := []byte(domain)