<titledata-rh="true">Introduction to Waku | Waku Documentation</title><metadata-rh="true"name="viewport"content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1"><metadata-rh="true"name="twitter:card"content="summary_large_image"><metadata-rh="true"property="og:url"content="https://docs.waku.org/"><metadata-rh="true"property="og:locale"content="en_GB"><metadata-rh="true"name="docusaurus_locale"content="en-GB"><metadata-rh="true"name="docsearch:language"content="en-GB"><metadata-rh="true"name="keywords"content="waku, web3"><metadata-rh="true"name="image"content="https://docs.waku.org/_og/72693cb78bb2fc338e1b33f65d2401b760369ae8.png"><metadata-rh="true"name="docusaurus_version"content="current"><metadata-rh="true"name="docusaurus_tag"content="docs-default-current"><metadata-rh="true"name="docsearch:version"content="current"><metadata-rh="true"name="docsearch:docusaurus_tag"content="docs-default-current"><metadata-rh="true"property="og:title"content="Introduction to Waku | Waku Documentation"><metadata-rh="true"name="description"content="Waku is a family of robust, censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer communication protocols that enable privacy-focused messaging for Web3 applications, allowing you to integrate decentralised communication features into your dApp without compromising security or privacy."><metadata-rh="true"property="og:description"content="Waku is a family of robust, censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer communication protocols that enable privacy-focused messaging for Web3 applications, allowing you to integrate decentralised communication features into your dApp without compromising security or privacy."><linkdata-rh="true"rel="icon"href="/theme/image/favicon.ico"><linkdata-rh="true"rel="canonical"href="https://docs.waku.org/"><linkdata-rh="true"rel="alternate"href="https://docs.waku.org/"hreflang="en-GB"><linkdata-rh="true"rel="alternate"href="https://docs.waku.org/"hreflang="x-default"><scriptdata-rh="true">functioninsertBanner(){varn=document.createElement("div");n.id="__docusaurus-base-url-issue-banner-container";n.innerHTML='\n<div id="__docusaurus-base-url-issue-banner" style="border: thick solid red; background-color: rgb(255, 230, 179); margin: 20px; padding: 20px; font-size: 20px;">\n <p style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 30px;">Your Docusaurus site did not load properly.</p>\n <p>A very common reason is a wrong site <a href="https://docusaurus.io/docs/docusaurus.config.js/#baseUrl" style="font-weight: bold;">baseUrl configuration</a>.</p>\n <p>Current configured baseUrl = <span style="font-weight: bold; color: red;">/</span> (default value)</p>\n <p>We suggest trying baseUrl = <span id="__docusaurus-base-url-issue-banner-suggestion-container" style="font-weight: bold; color: green;"></span></p>\n</div>\n',document.body.prepend(n);vare=document.getElementById("__docusaurus-base-url-issue-banner-suggestion-container"),s=window.location.pathname,o="/"===s.substr(-1)?s:s+"/";e.innerHTML=o}document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){void0===window.docusaurus&&insertBanner()})</script><linkrel="alternate icon"type="image/png"href="/theme/image/favicon.png">
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="what-isnt-waku">What isn’t Waku?<ahref="#what-isnt-waku"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to What isn’t Waku?"title="Direct link to What isn’t Waku?"></a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Waku is not a blockchain but a network composed of protocols designed for Web3 communication, operating without the need for gas fees.</li>
<li>Waku is not just for messaging applications; it supports the development of complex applications that require secure and private data transmission.</li>
<li>Waku is not a long-term data storage network; it focuses on short, ephemeral, real-time messaging.</li>
</ul>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="what-can-waku-be-used-for">What can Waku be used for?<ahref="#what-can-waku-be-used-for"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to What can Waku be used for?"title="Direct link to What can Waku be used for?"></a></h2>
<ol>
<li><strong>Chat Messengers</strong>: Waku can be used to build private, decentralised chat apps resistant to censorship.</li>
<li><strong>Voting and Proposals</strong>: Exchange votes on proposals off-chain via Waku to save gas fees, then submit aggregated results to the blockchain.</li>
<li><strong>NFT Marketplaces</strong>: Use Waku to handle off-chain NFT bids and offers for gas savings, and to integrate social interactions like likes and comments.</li>
<li><strong>State Channels</strong>: Establish and maintain state channels with Waku, facilitating seamless message exchanges and updates without blockchain interaction.</li>
<li><strong>Signature Exchange for Multi-Signature Wallets</strong>: Allow multi-signature wallet owners to exchange signatures privately and securely through Waku.</li>
<li><strong>Game Mechanics Communication</strong>: Implement Waku as a communication layer for decentralised, peer-to-peer gaming, avoiding centralised infrastructure.</li>
<li><strong>Layer 2 Coordination (Open Market, Spam Protected Mempool)</strong>: Broadcast and aggregate Layer 2 transactions via Waku to enhance privacy and scalability, reducing network load.</li>
<li><strong>Social Media Platforms</strong>: Beyond chat messengers, use Waku for decentralised, censorship-resistant social media platforms like news feeds and multimedia sharing.</li>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="case-studies">Case studies<ahref="#case-studies"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Case studies"title="Direct link to Case studies"></a></h2>
<h2class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="getting-started">Getting started<ahref="#getting-started"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Getting started"title="Direct link to Getting started"></a></h2>
<divclass="video-container"><iframeclass="yt-video two-items"src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PYQaXCxUCwA"title="Waku Tutorial 001: Introduction to Waku"frameborder="0"allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe><iframeclass="yt-video two-items"src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sfmMcrbiX0c"title="Build a game using Waku Protocol"frameborder="0"allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>
<h3class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="run-a-waku-node">Run a Waku node<ahref="#run-a-waku-node"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Run a Waku node"title="Direct link to Run a Waku node"></a></h3>
<p>Waku is a decentralised, permissionless system where anyone can run a node, use the network, and contribute to its support. We recommend following the <ahref="/guides/nwaku/run-docker-compose">Run Nwaku with Docker Compose</a> guide and <ahref="/assets/files/Waku-NodeOperator-7fabb782473f2619b0b05dc209f12f53.pdf"target="_blank">Waku Node Operator Cheatsheet</a> to easily run a node.</p>
<divclass="video-container"><iframeclass="yt-video"src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fs0ynLk4z0I"title="How to run a Waku node using Nwaku Compose"frameborder="0"allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div>
<h3class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="integrate-using-sdks">Integrate using SDKs<ahref="#integrate-using-sdks"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Integrate using SDKs"title="Direct link to Integrate using SDKs"></a></h3>
<p>Waku is implemented in multiple SDKs, allowing it to integrate with different languages and address various use cases efficiently.</p>
<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Description</th><th>Documentation</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><ahref="https://github.com/waku-org/js-waku"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">@waku/sdk</a></td><td>JavaScript/TypeScript SDK designed for browser environments</td><td><ahref="/guides/js-waku/">JavaScript Waku SDK</a></td></tr><tr><td><ahref="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@waku/react"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">@waku/react</a></td><td>React components and UI adapters designed for seamless integration with <code>@waku/sdk</code></td><td><ahref="/guides/js-waku/use-waku-react">Build React DApps Using @waku/react</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
<h3class="anchor anchorWithHideOnScrollNavbar_WYt5"id="other-integrations">Other integrations<ahref="#other-integrations"class="hash-link"aria-label="Direct link to Other integrations"title="Direct link to Other integrations"></a></h3>
<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Description</th><th>Documentation</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><ahref="https://waku-org.github.io/waku-rest-api/"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">REST API</a></td><td>REST API interface provided by <code>nwaku</code> and <code>go-waku</code> to interact with the Waku Network</td><td><ahref="https://waku-org.github.io/waku-rest-api/"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">Waku Node REST API Reference</a></td></tr><tr><td><ahref="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@waku/create-app"target="_blank"rel="noopener noreferrer">@waku/create-app</a></td><td>Starter kit to bootstrap your next <code>@waku/sdk</code> project from various example templates</td><td><ahref="/guides/js-waku/use-waku-create-app">Scaffold DApps Using @waku/create-app</a></td></tr></tbody></table>
