diff --git a/docs/code-structure.md b/docs/code-structure.md
index 8196c035e..6de055532 100644
--- a/docs/code-structure.md
+++ b/docs/code-structure.md
@@ -1,3 +1,58 @@
 # Code structure
 
-An overall look at the structure of the Domain Registry code.
+This document contains information on the overall structure of the code, and how
+particularly important pieces of the system are implemented.
+
+## Dagger dependency injection
+
+## Bazel build system
+
+## Flows
+
+## Commit logs and backups
+
+## Cursors
+
+## Mapreduces
+
+## Actions and servlets
+
+## Foreign key indexes
+
+## Point-in-time accuracy
+
+## Guava
+
+## EPP resource hierarchy
+
+## Poll messages
+
+Poll messages are the mechanism by which EPP handles asynchronous communication
+between the registry and registrars. Refer to
+[RFC 5730 Section 2.9.2.3](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5730#section-2.9.2.3)
+for their protocol specification.
+
+Poll messages are stored by the system as entities in Datastore. All poll
+messages have an event time at which they become active; any poll request before
+that time will not return the poll message. For example, every domain when
+created speculatively enqueues a poll message for the automatic renewal of the
+domain a year later. This poll message won't be delivered until that year
+elapses, and if some change to the domain occurs prior to that point, such as it
+being deleted, then the speculative poll message will be deleted and thus never
+delivered. Other poll messages are effective immediately, e.g. the poll message
+generated for the owning registrar when another registrar requests the transfer
+of a domain. These messages are written out with an event time of when they were
+created, and will thus be delivered whenever the registrar next polls for
+messages.
+
+`PollMessage` is the abstract base class for the two different types of poll
+messages that extend it:
+
+*   **`Autorenew`** - A poll message corresponding to an automatic renewal of
+    a domain. It recurs annually.
+*   **`OneTime`** - A one-time poll message used for everything else.
+
+Queries for poll messages by the registrar are handled in `PollRequestFlow`, and
+poll messages are ACKed (and thus deleted) in `PollAckFlow`.
+
+## Security
diff --git a/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollAckFlow.java b/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollAckFlow.java
index 2038a8ebe..5080671ae 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollAckFlow.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollAckFlow.java
@@ -35,12 +35,18 @@ import google.registry.flows.TransactionalFlow;
 import google.registry.model.eppoutput.EppOutput;
 import google.registry.model.poll.MessageQueueInfo;
 import google.registry.model.poll.PollMessage;
+import google.registry.model.poll.PollMessageExternalKeyConverter;
 import google.registry.model.poll.PollMessageExternalKeyConverter.PollMessageExternalKeyParseException;
 import javax.inject.Inject;
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 
 /**
- * An EPP flow for acknowledging poll messages.
+ * An EPP flow for acknowledging {@link PollMessage}s.
+ *
+ * <p>Registrars refer to poll messages using an externally visible id generated by
+ * {@link PollMessageExternalKeyConverter}. One-time poll messages are deleted from Datastore once
+ * they are ACKed, whereas autorenew poll messages are simply marked as read, and won't be delivered
+ * again until the next year of their recurrence.
  *
  * @error {@link PollAckFlow.InvalidMessageIdException}
  * @error {@link PollAckFlow.MessageDoesNotExistException}
diff --git a/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollRequestFlow.java b/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollRequestFlow.java
index 03ea8946e..a1e38ba1f 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollRequestFlow.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/flows/poll/PollRequestFlow.java
@@ -28,10 +28,17 @@ import google.registry.flows.LoggedInFlow;
 import google.registry.model.eppoutput.EppOutput;
 import google.registry.model.poll.MessageQueueInfo;
 import google.registry.model.poll.PollMessage;
+import google.registry.model.poll.PollMessageExternalKeyConverter;
 import javax.inject.Inject;
 
 /**
- * An EPP flow for requesting poll messages.
+ * An EPP flow for requesting {@link PollMessage}s.
+ *
+ * <p>This flow uses an eventually consistent Datastore query to return the oldest poll message for
+ * the registrar, as well as the total number of pending messages. Note that poll messages whose
+ * event time is in the future (i.e. they are speculative and could still be changed or rescinded)
+ * are ignored. The externally visible id for the poll message that the registrar sees is generated
+ * by {@link PollMessageExternalKeyConverter}.
  *
  * @error {@link PollRequestFlow.UnexpectedMessageIdException}
  */
diff --git a/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessage.java b/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessage.java
index ebfe7895d..9ed27be2d 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessage.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessage.java
@@ -50,11 +50,30 @@ import google.registry.model.transfer.TransferResponse.DomainTransferResponse;
 import java.util.List;
 import org.joda.time.DateTime;
 
-/** A poll message that is pending for a registrar. */
+/**
+ * A poll message that is pending for a registrar.
+ *
+ * <p>Poll messages are not delivered until their {@link #eventTime} has passed. Poll messages can
+ * be speculatively enqueued for future delivery, and then modified or deleted before that date has
+ * passed. Unlike most other entities in Datastore, which are marked as deleted but otherwise
+ * retained for historical purposes, poll messages are truly deleted once they have been delivered
+ * and ACKed.
+ *
+ * <p>Poll messages are parented off of the {@link HistoryEntry} that resulted in their creation.
+ * This means that poll messages are contained in the Datastore entity group of the parent {@link
+ * EppResource} (which can be a domain, application, contact, or host). It is thus possible to
+ * perform a strongly consistent query to find all poll messages associated with a given EPP
+ * resource.
+ *
+ * <p>Poll messages are identified externally by registrars using the format defined in {@link
+ * PollMessageExternalKeyConverter}.
+ *
+ * @see "https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5730#section-2.9.2.3"
+ */
 @Entity
 @ExternalMessagingName("message")
-public abstract class PollMessage
-    extends ImmutableObject implements Buildable, TransferServerApproveEntity {
+public abstract class PollMessage extends ImmutableObject
+    implements Buildable, TransferServerApproveEntity {
 
 
   public static final Converter<Key<PollMessage>, String> EXTERNAL_KEY_CONVERTER =
@@ -158,7 +177,11 @@ public abstract class PollMessage
     }
   }
 
-  /** A one-time poll message. */
+  /**
+   * A one-time poll message.
+   *
+   * <p>One-time poll messages are deleted from Datastore once they have been delivered and ACKed.
+   */
   @EntitySubclass(index = false)
   public static class OneTime extends PollMessage {
 
@@ -252,7 +275,13 @@ public abstract class PollMessage
     }
   }
 
-  /** An autorenew poll message which recurs annually. */
+  /**
+   * An auto-renew poll message which recurs annually.
+   *
+   * <p>Auto-renew poll messages are not deleted until the registration of their parent domain has
+   * been canceled, because there will always be a speculative renewal for next year until that
+   * happens.
+   */
   @EntitySubclass(index = false)
   public static class Autorenew extends PollMessage {
 
diff --git a/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessageExternalKeyConverter.java b/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessageExternalKeyConverter.java
index 8dced7be9..033e8c245 100644
--- a/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessageExternalKeyConverter.java
+++ b/java/google/registry/model/poll/PollMessageExternalKeyConverter.java
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ import google.registry.model.reporting.HistoryEntry;
 import java.util.List;
 
 /**
- * A converter between external key strings for PollMessages and Objectify Keys to the resource.
+ * A converter between external key strings for {@link PollMessage}s (i.e. what registrars use to
+ * identify and ACK them) and Datastore keys to the resource.
  *
  * <p>The format of the key string is A-B-C-D-E as follows:
  *