Elements of a chilli sauce first post here on Seasoned Advice and I'm just after a wee bit of insight in to the elements of a chilli sauce.

I've been looking in to making chilli sauces at home, but am yet to give it a go - I'm a huge fan of chilli sauces and would really love to nail the flavours I like in a sauce of my own.

I've checked out countless recipes in search of the key elements of a chilli sauce and then stumbled upon this article that stated the 4 key ingredients were fresh chillies, acid, aromatics (carrots, onions, etc.), and salt. 

My Questions

1) If these are the core ingredients, what role do they play in creating the sauce? (Chillies are obvious, but the acid and salt I'm curious about)

2) Are there any other core ingredients that go towards making a good sauce?
Acid and Salt are preservatives. A bag of fresh chillies will rot within a month even in the fridge, a proper chilli sauce won't.

Also acid and salt are part of the common taste profile of most savoury dishes anyway, and if the sauce is used as an actual sauce e.g. on protein, these are welcome seasonings too.

Some famous types are rather close to the basic recipe: Sambal Oelek, Sriraja Panich etc.