Discovery.md

Discovery: Finding Peers

The hardest part of a peer-to-peer network is finding where your friends are. Since IPv6 addresses are long and can change, we need a "phonebook."

The "Bootstrap" System

VX6 uses a Distributed Bootstrap Registry.

1. Registry: A small database stored on a VX6 node that contains "Signed Endpoint Records."
2. Records: A piece of data that says: "I am node 'surya', my current address is [2001:db8::1], and I signed this at 2:00 PM."
3. Bootstrap Nodes: These are VX6 nodes with stable, well-known addresses. They act as the initial meeting points.

How Discovery Works

• Publishing: When you start your VX6 node, it automatically sends its signed record to your configured Bootstrap nodes.
• Resolving: When you want to send a file to surya, your node asks the Bootstrap: "Where is 'surya'?" The Bootstrap sends back the signed record.
• Verification: Your node checks the signature. If it matches surya's public key, your node knows the address is authentic and connects.

Local Cache (The Registry.json)

Your node keeps a local copy of every record it hears about in registry.json. Over time, nodes "gossip" these records to each other, meaning the network becomes less dependent on the original Bootstrap nodes.