docs.waku.org/docs/guides/js-waku/configure-discovery.md

title
Bootstrap Nodes and Discover Peers

This guide provides detailed steps to bootstrap your your node using Static Peers and discover peers in the Waku Network using DNS Discovery.

:::tip Until node incentivisation is in place, you should operate extra nodes alongside the ones provided by the Waku Network. When running a node, we recommend using the DNS Discovery and Static Peers configuration to connect to both the Waku Network and your node. :::

Default Bootstrap Method

The @waku/sdk package provides a built-in bootstrapping method that uses DNS Discovery to locate peers from the waku v2.prod ENR tree.

import { createLightNode } from "@waku/sdk";

// Bootstrap node using the default bootstrap method
const node = await createLightNode({ defaultBootstrap: true });

Configure Static Peers

To bootstrap a node using static peers, first install the @libp2p/bootstrap package:

import Tabs from '@theme/Tabs';
import TabItem from '@theme/TabItem';

npm install @libp2p/bootstrap

yarn add @libp2p/bootstrap

Then, use the bootstrap() function to provide a list of multiaddr to bootstrap the node:

import { createLightNode } from "@waku/sdk";
import { bootstrap } from "@libp2p/bootstrap";

// Bootstrap node using static peers
const node = await createLightNode({
	libp2p: {
		peerDiscovery: [
			bootstrap({ list: ["[PEER MULTIADDR]"] }),
		],
	},
});

For example, consider a node that connects to two static peers on the same local host (IP: 0.0.0.0) using TCP ports 60002 and 60003 with WebSocket enabled:

// Define the list of static peers to bootstrap
const peers = [
	"/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60002/ws/p2p/16Uiu2HAkzjwwgEAXfeGNMKFPSpc6vGBRqCdTLG5q3Gmk2v4pQw7H",
	"/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60003/ws/p2p/16Uiu2HAmFBA7LGtwY5WVVikdmXVo3cKLqkmvVtuDu63fe8safeQJ",
];

// Bootstrap node using the static peers
const node = await createLightNode({
	libp2p: {
		peerDiscovery: [
			bootstrap({ list: peers }),
		],
	},
});

:::tip For local development using a nwaku node, use a ws address instead of wss. Remember that this setup is functional only when your web server is running locally. :::

Configure DNS Discovery

To bootstrap a node using DNS Discovery, first install the @waku/dns-discovery package:

npm install @waku/dns-discovery

yarn add @waku/dns-discovery

Then, use the wakuDnsDiscovery() function to provide a list of URLs for DNS node list in the format enrtree://<key>@<fqdn>:

import { createLightNode } from "@waku/sdk";
import { wakuDnsDiscovery } from "@waku/dns-discovery";

// Define DNS node list
const enrTree = "enrtree://[PUBLIC KEY]@[DOMAIN NAME]";

// Define node requirements
const NODE_REQUIREMENTS = {
	store: 3,
	lightPush: 3,
	filter: 3,
};

// Bootstrap node using DNS Discovery
const node = await createLightNode({
	libp2p: {
		peerDiscovery: [
			wakuDnsDiscovery(
				[enrTree],
				NODE_REQUIREMENTS,
			),
		],
	},
});

For example, consider a node that uses the waku v2.prod and waku v2.test ENR trees for DNS Discovery:

import { enrTree } from "@waku/dns-discovery";

// Bootstrap node using DNS Discovery
const node = await createLightNode({
	libp2p: {
		peerDiscovery: [
			wakuDnsDiscovery(
				[enrTree["PROD"], enrTree["TEST"]],
				NODE_REQUIREMENTS,
			),
		],
	},
});

Configure DNS Discovery and Static Peers

You can also bootstrap your node using DNS Discovery and Static Peers simultaneously:

import { createLightNode } from "@waku/sdk";
import { bootstrap } from "@libp2p/bootstrap";
import { enrTree, wakuDnsDiscovery } from "@waku/dns-discovery";

// Define the list of static peers to bootstrap
const peers = [
	"/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60002/ws/p2p/16Uiu2HAkzjwwgEAXfeGNMKFPSpc6vGBRqCdTLG5q3Gmk2v4pQw7H",
	"/ip4/0.0.0.0/tcp/60003/ws/p2p/16Uiu2HAmFBA7LGtwY5WVVikdmXVo3cKLqkmvVtuDu63fe8safeQJ",
];

// Define node requirements
const NODE_REQUIREMENTS = {
	store: 3,
	lightPush: 3,
	filter: 3,
};

// Bootstrap node using DNS Discovery
const node = await createLightNode({
	libp2p: {
		peerDiscovery: [
			bootstrap({ list: peers }),
			wakuDnsDiscovery(
				[enrTree["PROD"]],
				NODE_REQUIREMENTS,
			),
		],
	},
});

:::info If you do not set up a bootstrap node or discovery mechanism, your node will not connect to any remote peer. :::