When initialising a Waku node, it must connect with other peers to enable message sending, receiving, and retrieval. To achieve this, a discovery mechanism is employed to locate other peers in the network. This process is known as bootstrapping.
Once a connection is established, the node must actively seek out additional peers to have:
- Sufficient peers in the [Relay](/learn/concepts/protocols#relay) mesh: The goal is to have at least 6 peers in the mesh. This ensures a robust network where messages can be efficiently relayed.
- Reserve peers for backup: It is essential to have a surplus of peers available as reserves. These reserves are backups when the current peers become overloaded or experience unexpected disconnections.
- Peers with specific capabilities: The node seeks out peers with specific capabilities, such as [Store](/learn/concepts/protocols#store), [Light Push](/learn/concepts/protocols#light-push), or [Filter](/learn/concepts/protocols#filter). This allows for targeted interactions and enhanced functionality based on the desired capabilities.
Waku supports multiple peer discovery mechanisms, such as:
