Discovery Nodes
Distributed search engines for structured content.
No single search engine controls what users find. Discovery Nodes are independently operated, specialized search indexes that match content to user goals.
How distributed search works
Instead of one central search engine, roadbeat distributes content discovery across multiple independent nodes. Each node can specialize in specific content types or regions.
Teaser-only indexing
Discovery Nodes only store teasers (title, description, hero image, key metadata) - never full content. Full content stays on publisher servers.
Specialization
Nodes can specialize in specific content types (e.g., Events in Bavaria) or serve as general-purpose indexes.
Redundancy
Content is indexed on multiple nodes. If one goes down, others continue serving results.
Goal-based discovery
The core innovation: content is matched to user-defined goals, not engagement signals.
User defines goals in their Context Directory (e.g., "Learn Spanish", "Find cycling events near Munich")
Goals are translated into structured filtersets (content type + location + category + time horizon)
Filtersets are sent to Discovery Nodes as Elasticsearch queries
Matched teasers are returned with transparency reasons ("Why am I seeing this?")
Faceted search & filtering
Discovery Nodes provide rich search capabilities powered by Elasticsearch:
- Full-text search across all indexed fields
- Faceted filtering by content type, category, location, date range
- Geo-distance queries ("Events within 50km of Munich")
- Aggregations for filter counts and statistics
- Semantic search via vector embeddings (optional)
Geographic distribution
Discovery Nodes can be operated by organizations in different regions, creating a geographically distributed search network. Regional nodes provide lower latency and can specialize in local content.
Publisher verification
Publishers are verified through a 4-level trust system: Unverified → Email-verified → Domain-verified → Organization-verified. Trust levels affect content visibility and ranking.
License: AGPL 3.0
Run a Discovery Node
Help build the decentralized search network. Run a Discovery Node for your region or content specialization.
Apply to run a nodeDiscovery Node Documentation
Explore the search API, federation protocol, content ingestion pipeline, and deployment guides. Complete reference for running and integrating with Discovery Nodes.
Read the Documentation