427e7578-d7bf-49c8-aee9-2dd999e25316/specs/archived/007-peer-discovery/README.md

status, created, tags, priority, created_at, depends_on, updated_at, transitions

status	created	tags	priority	created_at	depends_on	updated_at	transitions
archived	2026-03-16	p2p discovery	medium	2026-03-16T07:51:50.076Z	002-p2p-networking 003-user-identity-profiles 012-lightweight-server	2026-03-16T09:31:19.812Z	status at archived 2026-03-16T09:31:19.812Z

Peer Discovery by Tags

Status: 📦 Archived · Priority: Medium · Created: 2026-03-16 · Tags: p2p, discovery

Overview

Enable poll owners to discover other users to invite, based on user tags (location, interests, expertise). This is P2P—there's no central user directory. Discovery works by asking connected peers for introductions.

Design

Discovery Mechanism

1. Direct invite: Share a poll link or paste a peer ID manually
2. Directory server: Lightweight server where users can register their profile for discoverability
   • Users opt-in to being listed (toggle in profile)
   • Server stores: peer ID, name, tags, discoverable flag
   • Query endpoint: GET /api/users?tag=location:Berlin&tag=expertise:UX
   • Minimal server—just a thin REST API over a key-value store (e.g., Cloudflare Workers + KV, or a simple SQLite API)
3. Peer-chain discovery (secondary): Ask connected peers "who do you know matching these tags?"
   • Supplements the directory for users who are connected but not listed

Privacy Controls

• Users opt-in to being discoverable (setting in profile)
• Directory only stores public profile data (name, tags)—no private keys, no bio
• Users can remove themselves from directory at any time

Plan

• Build lightweight directory server (REST API + KV store)
• Add discoverable toggle to user profile
• Implement directory registration (opt-in publish profile)
• Implement directory search (query by tags)
• Build discovery UI (search by tags, browse results)
• Implement "invite from discovery" flow
• Implement peer-chain discovery as fallback

Test

• Discovery request returns matching peers from connected contacts
• Non-discoverable users are not shared
• Discovered peer can be invited to a poll

Notes

• DECIDED: Adding a lightweight directory server for discoverability
• Directory server can be reused for poll snapshot storage (see spec 009)