Progress Update: Bootstrap Discovery Implementation in py-libp2p

[sumanjeet0012]

Bootstrap Discovery Implementation Progress Report

🚀 Current Status

Hey @seetadev I've been working on implementing bootstrap-based peer discovery for py-libp2p as part of enhancing the peer discovery capabilities. Here's the current status of my implementation:

✅ What's Working:

1. Core Bootstrap Discovery is fully functional
   • Proper address validation and parsing implemented
   • Bootstrap peers are correctly added to the peerstore with appropriate TTL
   • Discovery events are properly emitted when new peers are found

2. Address Validation & Parsing
   • Robust validation of bootstrap address strings using multiaddr format
   • Comprehensive error handling for malformed addresses
   • Peer ID extraction and validation from p2p multiaddresses
   • Filtering of invalid or unreachable bootstrap addresses

3. Integration with py-libp2p Core
   • Seamless integration with the new_host() function
   • Proper initialization when bootstrap addresses are provided
   • Event system integration using existing peerDiscovery events
   • Clean lifecycle management (start/stop functionality)

🔧 Current Implementation Structure:

Following modular design principles:

libp2p/discovery/bootstrap/
├── bootstrap.py    # ✅ Complete - main BootstrapDiscovery class
├── utils.py        # ✅ Complete - address validation and parsing utilities
└── __init__.py     # ✅ Complete - module exports

examples/bootstrap/
└── bootstrap.py    # ✅ Complete - working demo with real bootstrap nodes

tests/discovery/bootstrap/
├── test_integration.py  # ✅ Complete - integration tests
├── test_utils.py       # ✅ Complete - utility function tests
└── __init__.py

🛠️ How it Works (Current Flow):

• On startup, if bootstrap addresses are provided:
◦ BootstrapDiscovery validates all provided bootstrap addresses
◦ Valid addresses are processed and peer information is extracted
◦ Bootstrap peers are added to the peerstore for connection attempts

• When a bootstrap peer is processed:
◦ A PeerInfo object is created and added to peerstore
◦ Peer discovery events are emitted for integration with the broader discovery system
◦ Duplicate peers and self-connections are properly filtered out

🧪 Testing Status:

✅ Complete:
• Unit tests for address validation and parsing functions
• Integration tests with actual host creation and bootstrap setup
• Error handling tests for malformed addresses
• Peer discovery event emission validation

Test Coverage:
• Valid and invalid address parsing scenarios
• Integration with new_host() function
• Bootstrap discovery lifecycle (start/stop)
• Event system integration

❌ Current Issue - DNS Resolution:

⚠️ Known Limitation:
The bootstrap discovery is working exactly as expected for all standard multiaddr formats, however, there is currently one issue that is not working: DNS resolution of py-multiaddr.

Details of the Issue:
• DNS-based multiaddresses (e.g., /dns4/bootstrap.libp2p.io/tcp/443/wss/p2p/QmPeerID...) are not properly resolved
• This affects bootstrap nodes that use domain names instead of direct IP addresses
• The issue is related to DNS resolution support in the current version of py-multiaddr used by py-libp2p

Root Cause:
This limitation stems from the multiaddr DNS resolution functionality that requires an updated version of py-multiaddr. The current implementation in py-libp2p uses an older version that doesn't fully support DNS resolution features.

Blocking Factor:
I am currently waiting for official support of the latest release of py-multiaddr in py-libp2p.