docs.waku.org/docs/overview/concepts/peer-discovery.md
2023-06-14 01:26:55 +01:00

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title: Peer Discovery
---
When initializing 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](/overview/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](/overview/concepts/protocols#store), [Light Push](/overview/concepts/protocols#light-push), or [Filter](/overview/concepts/protocols#filter). This allows for targeted interactions and enhanced functionality based on the desired capabilities.
Waku supports multiple peer discovery mechanisms, such as:
- [Configuring Predefined Nodes](/overview/concepts/predefined-nodes)
- [Peer Discovery via DNS](/overview/concepts/dns-discovery)
- [Discv5 Ambient Peer Discovery](/overview/concepts/discv5)
- [Peer Exchange](/overview/concepts/peer-exchange)